The Sun.
London, England, 1868-01-16 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, "I HURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY 16, 1868

ac;io no. Yesterday morning news was received in
Lond on that the Senate had adopted a resolution
reinstating Mr. STANTON as Secretary for War, and
that he intended demanding the office of General
GraNT. Later in the day came the intelligence,
al xi dated the 14th, that, in consequence of the re-
so'tution of the Senate, General GRANT had vacated
the War-office, and Mr. STANTON had resumed
possession. There was never any doubt that Mr.
STANTON would seize the earliest opportunity of
rearming his office in defiance of the PRESIDENT.
Gen eral GRANT, never very willing to assume the
dignity which was thrust upon him by the PRESI-
DENT, seems ready to abandon the invidious post at
the first opportunity. He has, either from policy
or inclination, been always averse to assuming a
prominent position in the political disputes of the
day, and has shrunk from taking sides. All the
serenades and toasts and compliments that could be
paid him, on his visits to Northern cities, only
elicited a brief expression .of thanks in return.
Men the audience were looking eagerly for
his opinions on Reconstruction, or his views
on the Alabama question, or his senti-
ments with regard to the struggle be-
tween PRESIDENT and Congress, he would only
give them a " Thank you ; thank you, gentlemen,"
from which to decipher his political preferences.
Still there is not much doubt but that he is really
opposed to the extravagance of the Radicals and to
their harshness and injustice towards the South. He
was roused to indignation during his evidence in
the impeachment case, and insinuations that it was
possible to arrest General LEE as a political offen-
der. The staunch and straightforward soldier, who
had, as commander of the Federal army, accepted
the parole of his distinguished adversary, disposed
in a few stern words of the unworthy supposition.
What Mr. JOIINSON'S course will be with regard
to this unwarrantable interference of the Senate
with his Cabinet remains to be seen. He will hardly
submit to it patiently. Indeed, to do so would be
to sanction and acknowledge a right on the part of
Congress which is directly opposed to constitutional
law and precedent. It is never the office of a Legis-
lature to appoint the members of a Cabinet.
Such a course is altogether unexampled, and
would be simply impossible to maintain. Our
own Parliament, indeed, decides the policy
of the Ministry by the direction of its
votes, and thus exercises a legitimate influence
over the national action, but it would be strange in-
deed to find the House of Commons deciding who
should or should not be Home Secretary or Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer ? If this principle is sanc-
tioned, the whole form of government must be
changed. The office of a President without power
to form his own Cabinet would be a contemptible
sinecure. The members who, by no unscrupulous
means, succeed in getting a seat in Congress, would
be the real executive of the country, and
govern the whole national fortunes in a man-
ner that no one but themselves would wish. As
it is, they assume to be pre-eminent in their
wisdom, and have passed a bill declaring that the
concurrence of two-thirds of the Judges of the
Supreme Court is necessary to decide that any act
of Congress is unconstitutional. A while ago they
were not so ready to submit to the decisions of the
Supreme Court, but their constitutional doctrines
vary with every caprice of the hour. The Con-
stitution with them is nothing more than a name,
and the attempts which the PRESIDENT has made
to restrain their action on constitutional grounds
have always called forth their strongest indignation.
It will scarcely be possible for things to re-
main as they are. STANTON'S insolence and
insubordination were previously intolerable, but
now they will be increased tenfold, and the open
discord between the PRESIDENT and one of his
principal colleagues will form a serious obstacle to
the administration of public affairs. The direct
personal insult, too, is one which the PRESIDENT
cannot pass unnoticed. The hopes and expecta-
tions which had been formed of a returning pro-
sperity will be rudely crushed by this fresh proof
of Radical recklessness and assumption. It should
be the primary object of all to restore, if possible,
public confidence and internal tranquillity ; but
such acts as those can tend only to promote dis-
order and perplexity.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS, WEDNESDAT, Jan. 15.

Twenty-two of the workmen engaged in the printing•
office of M. Paul Dupont have had an interview with the
Emperor. The head of the establishment has been raised
to the rank of officer in the Legion of Honour, and
the whole of his employes, numbering eleven hundred,
subscribed an address of thanks to his Majesty. That
document having been read, the Emperor expressed his
pleasure at the demonstration which the nomination of M.
Dupont had produced, and remarked that in raising him
to a higher rank in the order he had desired to reward the
eminent printer whose productions had been so justly
approved at the Universal Exhibition. " I thank you,
gentlemen," he added, " for the step you have now taken;
it honours M. Dupont as much as it does yourselves,
because the distinction which has been conferred upon him
is awarded chiefly to the employer who has introduced
into his establishment the principle of solidarity of interests
between the master and the workman, and it proves that
you wisely appreciate the benefits which must result to
the working classes from the introduction of that principle
into industrial establishments."

There is a rumour prevailing that the documents of the
Italian Government referring to the invasion of the Pon-
tifical territory are about to be presented to the public in
the Comlitutionnel and the 3fonitcur.

In pursuance of a suggestion started at the Interna-
tional Monetary Commission, which held several sittingi
at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a gold coin has just
been struck as a common standard of money in England,
France, and the 'United States. One side is stamped with
the effigy of the Emperor crowned with laurels. On the
other side of the coin is the inscription : " Five dollars--
25 francs ;" and beneath—" Or : essai monaaire." Th;
coin is equal in value to an English sovereign.
In fashionable circles the latest item of gossip is the
approaching marriage of the widowed Duchess of Morny
to the Duke de Lesto, a Spanish grandee, said to be pos-
sessed of enormous wealth. Prior to changing her name,
the Duchess changes her faith.. A member of the Greek
Church, she is about to enter that of Rome.
In nearly all our large manufacturing towns the
present distress is ascribed to a large extent to
the operations of free trade. The general feeling
is well described by an article which appears in
a provincial journal under the heading, " What have we
gained and what have we lost by the Treaty of
Commerce ?" It is there argued that those who advocate
the system pretend that the large exports of silks and
woollen goods only took place since 1860, whereas, on the
contrary, the increase was as rapid, and even more so, from
1850 to 1857. The recent impetus has been given in spite
of the treaty of 1860, and, owing to the dearness of silk
and cotton, without the treaty, foreigners would not have
bought one yard less of French stuff. Before 1860
these articles entered England, the principal market
for them, free of duty, as they do now. In this branch of
trade, then, France has gained nothing. What has she
lost ? To speak only of the mixed cotton and woollen
textiles, which the English make to perfection, our manu-
facturers at Roubaix had managed to produce goods to
the amount of many hundred millions of francs, which
were sold in the French markets. During 1866 and 1867,
imports from England have amounted to half of what is
manufactured in that town ; and, if nothing is done
against so terrible a competition, the whole trade is
ruined. In fact, France may be said to have made a very
bad bargain.
In order somewhat to alleviate the sufferings of the dis-
tressed workmen in Paris, the Emperor has announce
that those who have been compelled to deposit their mat-
tresses, sheets, blankets, and articles of that description
at the Mont de Pia 4, may receive them back gratuitously.
The papers state that the child of the convict Frigard,
born in the Melun prison, has died.