The Sun.
London, England, 1868-02-29 00:00:00

MR. DISRAELI.

ooth to say, it enfranchises women as well as
negroes, and makes them alike competent as jurors.
March 15 is appointed as the day for voting on the
Constitution in the State, and the election of
officers under the new Constitution to be continued
for five days. The Florida Convention, having
adopted its Constitution, has divided into a ma-
jority and a minority, and there do not seem to be
any hopes of a reunion. The Ministry nominated
Colonel Billings, Governor, and William B. Saun-
ders, Lieut.-Governor, and the majority voted to
expel these candidates. The quarrel arose from a
desire to appropriate the spoils of office, and it has
been carried to such a pitch that a collision is im-
minent, and the troops have been called out to pre-
serve the peace.. By the Java, however, we learn
that General Meade has re-organized the Conven-
tion. The Louisiana Convention has increased the
original vote for the pay of each member 30 per
cent., and having thus disposed of the.public funds
it lingers, on doing nothing but swell the plunder to
as large a sum as possible. It recommends the re-
appointment of General Sheridan, if Hancock
should be removed. The Georgia Convention has
ejected the Boston negro lawyer, A. H. Bradley.

The resignation of Lord Derby and the pro-
motion of Mr. Disraeli to the Premiership has
necessitated very few changes in the Cabinet,
but it is not unlikely to lead to a freer de-
velopment of Mr. Disraeli's policy. However
severely he may have been criticized for what
his opponents term his spirit of tergiversation,
the present Prime Minister of England has
never been disloyal to his late chief or to his
party. He has a wonderful capacity of expan-
sion, and a fertility of resource which are not
the least qualities in a statesman. We do not
intend to enter now into a discussion of the
motives which led him to introduce and pass
a Reform Bill which certainly trumped Mr.
Bright's proposals, and took the wind out of
Mr. Gladstone's sails. Seeing that the de-
mand for Parliamentary Reform, whether
Conservatives liked it or not, could not
have been successfully resisted, may it not
have been an act of wisdom and of far-seeing
statesmanship on the part of Mr. Disraeli to
have projected such a Reform Bill as would
admit not only the seven pound house holders
—the greatest supporters of democratic Libe-
ralism in the country—but the class just
beneath them, who, as a rule, are more open
than any other to Conservative influences as
legitimately exercised by the great employers
of labour ? But to leave the past, what pro-
mise does a Ministry under the guidance of
Disraeli hold out for the future ? How will
Catholic interests be affected ? The Irish
Church and land questions and national edu-
cation in- England are matters of the deepest
moment, and their satisfactory settlement will
tax the resources to the utmost, even of so
bold. and fertile a brain as that of the Prime
Minister. We cannot help believing that Mr.
Disraeli, with a view to gain a hold on the new
Parliament, will invent a lever equal in power
to that of his Reform Bill to remove that long-
standing and much-abused abuse, the Irish
Establishment. There is a freedom in the use
even of what seem at first sight radical reme-
dies by a Conservative Government, and espe-
cially under such a leader as the present,
which is more likely to benefit so long-mis-
governed a country as Ireland, than the in-
effectual proposals of a sweeping character,
which Earl Russell invariably excogitates in
the cold. shade of Opposition, and as invari-
ably leaves unexecuted in the sunshine of
office.
The question of education in England, by
its sifting and dividing process, will lead in
the course of the coming struggle to a clearer
demarcation of parties than has existed for a
long time. The fight between rationalism and
Christian ethics has now to be fought out in
the political field, and no issue could be fraught
with more momentous consequences than the
success of the secular party over the upholders
of denominational education. What side will
Mr. Disraeli's Government take in this ques-
tion ? It is to be feared that Lord Stanley in-
clines to a compromise, but a compromise
such as must necessarily jeopardize the prin-
ciple which has hitherto guided education in
England would be to forfeit the confidence of
the staunchest supporters of a Conservative
Ministry. At such a moment when the policy
of a new Ministry is being shaped—when we
are on the eve of a new Parliament—no means
should be left untried to unite in common ac-
tion all the friends of Christian Education. On
this matter, at least, Catholics and Anglicans,
Englishmen and Irishmen, can work together
for a common purpose. Public opinion ought
to be thoroughly aroused on this subject, for
Mr. Disraeli is not a man to overlook the in-
dications of a genuine movement. Such test-
questions as these will try the metal of our
patient, bold, and aspiring Premier.
To appease Ireland by a just, and, by what
seems almost impossible to attain, a satisfactory
a cb e e
a o f w thehiork
Eh national
whichnplacegwith
England.
n among
would
couragem sys-
temon
w
ge
land-measure, by the disestablishment of the
Irish Church, by the endowment—a measure
already too long postponed—of the Catholic
University of üblin, by the preservation
of denominational education in England, and
itsi
substitutionin p
Ireland,
would
l
justlytahreeinm oensntet
need
td successfull c: Mf
a great
r .
statesmen Disraeli
statesman to a
of g
to carry out his ideas. Time will solve the
problem, which party-jealousy propounds,
whether Mr. Disraeli is a political mounte-
bank or a consummate master in the art of
Statecraft.—Westminster Gazette.

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

;From the Anglo-American Times.)

The Virginia Convention has decided to elect the
Secretary of State, treasurer, and auditor by the Le-
gislature. The South Carolina Convention has asked
Congress to vote the State a loan of $1.,000,000 in
aid of the poor, and that of North Carolina has de-
feated a resolution to prohibit marriage_ between
blacks and whites.

The President lately gave an audience to com-
mittees appointed by the meetings in New York to

consider the naturalization question. They asked
—l. That where American citizens had been im-
prisoned by Great Britain for periods varying from
two to twenty months, and then discharged under
promise to quit Ireland at once, the American Go-
vernment should make a demand for exemplary
damages. 2. That where American citizens had
been tried and convicted by ordinary and not mixed
juries, a demand should be made either for their
release or for another trial by a mixed jury, half
British and half foreigners, and that in such trials
this Government should furnish them with compe-
tent counsel. 3. The committees protested against
General Banks' Bill pending in the House, as being
too lenient, and as devised so as to defeat the very
purpose it professes to have in view. 4. That the
word " adopted " before the word " citizen " be
stricken from all public documents, so as to place
native-born and naturalized citizens on complete
equality. In reply, Mr. Johnson stated that the
attention of the Government was directed to the
subject, and he informed them that a special com-
mission, consisting of Messrs. Charles O'Connor
and James T. Brady, leading lawyers of New York,
and other gentlemen, would be sent to England to
confer with English authorities, to examine into
the laws and facts, and to report the result. The
Times says that they will meet with every assistance
from the English Bench and Bar, and probably be
surprised to discover how little prejudice they have
to encounter, and how lightly we estimate the fig-
ment of perpetual allegiance which we are called
upon to surrender.
The Times correspendept wrote .from Berlin,
February 24, that Mr, Banerat, the Aniericau
Envoy, had just exalted a concession from the
Prussian Governrueat which will be highly accept-
able to many adopted' citizens among his country-
men. " In accordance with a treaty signed two
days ago, North German subjects emigrating to
America at any time of their lives, the period of
military service excepted, will, after an absence of
five years, be free to return, exempt from further
duties of the kind. A man, therefore, may leave
at the age of nineteen, though a few months longer
residence in the country would subject him to the
conscription laws ; but if he has once enterel the
army, he will be obliged to remain twelve years
longer, though he may be on furlough three-quar-
ters or eleven-twelfths of the time. Considering
the Government which concedes them, and the
ordinarily inexorable service they refer to, these
stipulations are unusually liberal. Not, however,
to make them act as an incentive to mere temporary
expatriation, it is provided that emigrants who have
gone away before fulfilling their military duty shall
lose the privilege of American citizenship two years
after returning to their former home. This, be-
sides enabling young men to emigrate just on the
verge of manhood, when they could not legally
have got away under the old legislation, will ob-
viate the recurrence of such distressing incidents as
the arrest and forcible enlistment of some Ameri-
can tourist who fondly fancied he had ceased to be
a German twenty years ago. But for the intimate
relations long existing between the Berlin and
Washington Cabinets, and which now seem to be
closer than ever, the endless quarrels arising out of
cases of this kind would have long resulted in a
serious difference."
The President, on the 13th of February, nomi-
nated Lieutenant-General Sherman to be General
by Brevet, which promotes him to a rank similar to
that of Grant, if it be confirmed by the Senate. In the
excited temper of the public mind, when rumours of
all kinds are afloat, this promotion has been laid
hold of to give colouring to extravagant statements.
It is said that General Grant is to be tried by
Court-Martial for insubordination—that troops are
to be massed in Washington—a new military dis-
trict has in truth been created, composed of the de-
partments of the East, the Lakes, and Washington,
with headquarters at the seat of Government, and
Sherman in command. Speculators in gold are
deeply interested in the manufacture of rumours
sufficiently probable to influence the quotations.
Just now they are as active as during the period
of the War, and affairs are taking so gloomy a turn
that they do not lack material. General Sherman
avoids rather than seeks the distinction the Presi-
dent desires to impose, and we believe he has even
exerted his influence in the Senate to procure the
rejection of the nomination, and it is now said he
has declined the promotion.
Dr. C. G. Page and James D. Linney arrived at
California on the 2d of January to test; practically,
Foot's invention for using petroleum for generat-
ing steam. At the same time a trial will be made
of the invention of Mr. White, of San Francisco,
which, as we reported some months ago, was suc-
cessfully tried on a stationary boiler at Santa Cruz.
The Mining and Scientific Press promises full reports
of the proposed trials of the rival inventions. James
D. Linney was the constructing and operating en-
gineer of Foot's patent in the experiments made in
the Atlantic cities. Secretary Welles, in his annual
Report, alluded to the fact that $5,000 had been ex-
pended in the trials for substituting petroleum for
coal in the Navy, but the conclusion arrived at was
not favourable to petroleum as a fuel.
We presume when Grant is riled, he lets off the
steam by fast driving; for he has again been fined
for this misdemeanour. Two ladies, the one in the
city of London, the other in the city of Mexico,
have also been fined for the same offence. Miss Rose
Phillips, of Hill-street, Knightsbridge, was sum-
moned to Marlborough-street for furious riding
in Rotten-row. She was galloping her horse as fast
as the whip could make it go, and she paid no at-
tention to the constables who endeavoured to stop
her or the danger to others. She was fined 40s. and
costs. The other case was that of the wife of
Juarez, who was arrested in Mexico and fined for
furious driving. Juarez,
it is said, thanked the
policemen who thus ckecked the fast pace at which
his wife was going.
The Freedmen's Bureau ceased to be in opera-
tion on the 15th inst. in the States of Maryland,
Kentucky, and Tennessee, in accordance with an
order issued by General Grant, when Secretary of
War. The law provides that it should continue in the
other Southern States until the lstJaly, 1868 ; and
nearly all the military officers and many prominent
and loyal citizens have ptaitioned for the con-
tinuance of the Bureau till then in these three
States. Secretary Stanton has not moved in the
matter nor has Congress, and in default of such
action the Bureau has ceased.
The Mechanics' State Council of California has
issued an address to the working men of the United
States, advising them to keep away from California,
and informing them that the average rate of wages
on the Pacific sea-board was less than on the At-
lantic. They give the following tariff, neglecting,
however, to state that the rate is in gold :—For

So long as direct intelligence on the progress of
impeachment is withheld, we must judge of the
course of events by the price of gold. Last Satur-
day, when the resolution for Mr. Johnson's impeach-
ment was introduced, the price stood at 1431 ; on
Thursday it had fallen 2 per cent., being quoted at
141+. It will often be found that the anticipation
of an event injurious to the public inteerest has a
more disastrous effect on the funds than the realiza-
tion of that event, as the tendency of imagination
is to exaggerate the danger.
The news by the cable, to which we have not
elsewhere alluded, is to the effect that President
Johnson has nominated General M'Clellan as Minis-
ter to Great Britain. The Indiana Republican
Convention has passed resolutions in favour of the
nomination of. General Grant for the Presidency
and the payment of thes-20 Bonds in currency. The
Peterhoff prize case has been finally settled in the
United States District Court, and the moneys paid
over to the English claimants' agent. Washington's '
birthday was observed as a holiday throughout the
States. $500,000 in specie were shipped on board
the steamers that left for Europe on the 25th.
Messrs. Neill Brothers report on the 23c1 that the
week's receipts of cotton at all United States ports
have been 95,000 bales, and since Ist September
1,559,000 bales. The week's exports to Great Bri-
tain are 49,000 bales, and since Ist September
645,000 bales. The week's exports to France are
9,000 bales, and since Ist September 149,000 bales.
The week's exports to other foreign ports are 8,000
bales, and since Ist September 153,000 bales. The
total exports for the week are 66,000 bales, and
since Ist September 947,000 bales. Stocks at all
ports 370,000 bales.
The Judiciary Committee of the Senate has re-
ported, advising that the simple majority of the
vote shall decide all elections under the Recon-
struction Act. This would have been more effec-
tive before the defeat of the Alabama Convention,
but now it is like locking the stable door after the
steed has been stolen. Also a bill declaring that
the jurisdiction of the national civil courts does not
extend to political questions.
We learn by the Java, which brings news to the
19th inst., that the Senate has passed a bill gradu-
ally to reduce the army. Mr. Sumner presented a
memorial from Boston, praying the abolition of the
Presidency. The House voted $50,000 for the re-
lief of American citizens imprisoned in foreign
countries, and subsequently discharged. It has
also passed a bill authorizing the surrender of foreign
convicts who escape from justice and seek an asy-
lum in the United States. _

_
The Tennessee Conservative Convention has
adopted a resolution, recommending the nomina-
tion of Mr. Johnson for the
.Presidency. 'The
Ohio Senate, by a strict party vote, has passed.
a resolution in favour of the Reconstruction laws.
A Democratic mass meeting, to endorse the policy
of President Johnson, was held at New Orleans on
Saturday. Ddmocratic clubs are being organized
in Georgia. The Kentucky Legislature have elected
Mr. Thomas M`Creery, Democrat, as the Senator
to succeed Mr. Guthrie. _ . .

Mr. Seward has issued a Circular advising all
American citizens visiting Great Britain and Ire-
laud during the suspension of the Habeas Corpus
in Ireland to procure passports from the State De-
partment.

The Arkansas Convention has adjourned sine die
after completing and adopting the new Constitu-
tion by a vote of 45 to 1. It provides for a Legis-
lature of 20 Senators and 80 Representatives, the
election of executive officers every four years, and

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, FEW WARY 29, 1868.

sh ip-wright, 3, $2 81c. ; ship-joiners, $2 75c. ;
ca ulkers, $2 50c. ; house carpenters, $2 25c. ;
painters, $225c. ; bricklayers, $2 75c. ; plasterers, $2
50e:- ; "stonecutters, $3 ; blacksmiths, $3 23c. ;
boiler- makers, $2 50c. ; plumbers, $2 75c. ; gas-
fitters ,$2 75c. ; machinists, $2 75c. ; wood-turners

; E croll sawyers, $2 50c. ; stevedores, $2 50c. ;
:s, $2 50c. ; lathers, $2 ; pattern makers, $2
50c. ; moulders,
_.s2 50c. per day. On the 12th of

Yabr uary the Californian Legislature re-enacted the
e;,ght -hours' law, after an experience of a year's
v, •orking. It is stated that its operation has been
to throw many working men out of employment.
The Alabama Constitution has failed through
tr to white men having registered in large numbers,

esi 3ecially in Northern Alabama, to increase the list
of voters, and then refrained from voting, so that
the, ;majority required by the Reconstruction Act of

the :registered voters might not be obtained. They
have fully succeeded hi this manoeuvre, the defi-
ciency being 15,000 in the total vote. Under

70,00() votes have been polled, the proportion being

150 negroes to one white man. Of the 72,746
white persons who registered,about one in a hundred
vot ed. Not only did they refrain from giving their
vot ,:s, but, in some instances, they brought a strong
pressure to bear upon the negroes in their employ-
ment. Senator Sherman, of Ohio, has introduced
a bill declaring Alabama Reconstructed and entitled
to representation in Congress. If this be done,
Alabama will be admitted to the Union, practically,

without conditions, which in effect will throw the
Reconstruction Act overboard. The fact that the
whites could thus defeat the Congressional plan,

aided by all the blacks, is a convincing proof of
their overwhelming power in the South, and the
vanity of Congressional legislation to nullify it.
The Reconstruction Act provided for but one Con-
vention and one election, and these have been held,
so that the measure cannot act further in this direc-
tion on Alabama. To reconstruct that State it
would be necessary to pass a new law.
Mr. Thaddeus Stevens called the Reconstruction
Committee together on the 13th February to con-
sider further evidence on the question of Impeach-
ment. A resolution was submitted, that Andrew
Johnson be impeached for high crimes and mis-
demeanours, and that the Senate be demanded to
take order for the appearance of said Andrew
Johnson to answer to the impeachment. On the
question being submitted, John A. Bingham, of
Ohio, moved that the resolutions be laid upon. the
table, which was carried against the strenuous op-
position of Mr. Stevens by 6 to 3, the ayes being
Messrs. Bingham, Beaman, Brooks, Beck, Hurl-
burd, and Paine ; the nays, Messrs. Stevens,
Boutwell, and Farnsworth. Mr. Stevens, although
still very weak, being carried to and from his place
in the House, exerted himself energetically to secure
the impeachment of the President. He considered
the order given by the President to the General
commanding the army to disobey the instructions
of the Secretary of War was a clear violation of the
Tenure-of-Office Law. Whatever might be
.the
question Of veracity between Grant and Johnson,
they both agreed on that point, the only one
material for the purpose of impeachment. It is
clear from the action of the Committee, con-
sisting as it- did of seven- Republicans and two
Democrats,that the impeachment afterwards decided
upon has been forced most reluctantly on the Re-
publican party.
The Times was moved on Wednesday into a re-
ply to the general attack made upon it for writing
Lord Derby's obituary before Lord Derby's death.
That obstinate nobleman, always grand in oppo-
sition, at once rallied to the confusion of the Times,
who, however, escaped from the yelping curs
at its heels under cover of the Earl's resignation.
It was only of his coming resignation, not of his
dissolution, that the Times had written—a statement
which really required all the well-known assurance
of the Thunderer to make. The Evening Stan-
dard gets a rap over the knuckles. After ob-
serving that it had been " the most spirited in its
contradictions, yesterday it was happy
,to state in
one column that the ' noble Premier's' health con-
tinues satisfactory, though as yet he is still confined
to his room, while a parallel passage in an adjoin-
ing column announces his resignation of office." It
was the political. career of the Premier that had
closed, and it was that obituary the Times had mit-
ten. This is not a bad piece of shuffling.
A scene strange to English eyes was enacted in
the House of Representatives on the 10th Feb.
The House, on the motion of Mr. Poland on the
preceding Friday, had ordered that the members
on that day should draw for seats for the Fortieth
Congress.. Mr. Poland had a seat far in the rear,
and the chances were that he would gain, while
he could not lose. Mr. Dawes moved that Messrs.
Stevens, Washburne, and Thomas, as the oldest
members, be permitted to retain their seats. To
this Mr. Eldridge said he would not object, pro-
vided Mr. Poland was permitted to retain his seat
also. The hall became a scene of such confusion
that the Speaker threatened to call the members
by name unless order was preserved, on which the
Representatives retired beyond the outer row of
sea's, and the drawing commenced. Mr. Eggles-
ton shouted, " Shake the box wall." A page was
blindfolded and commenced drawing the names.
As luck would have it the first that turned up was
that of Mr. Poland, of Vermont, the mover--a re-
sult that gave rise to much merriment. The fun was
mainly caused by the freaks of fortune which placed
wide barriers between the closest companions, and
seated bitter enemies cheek by jowl. Mr. Farn-
worth, of Illinois, who had been an active agent in
supporting Mr. Poland's motion, got the worst
place, and he was escorted by Mr. Spalding, amid
shouts of laughter, to his out-of-the-way seat on
the Democratic side of the House.
It is authoritatively stated and confirmed by the
Cable that the President has offered the English
mission to General George B. M'Clellan, who
is now in Europe, but it is improbable that
the Senate will confirm the appointment. Nor,
indeed, is it likely that the distinguished officer
would accept the post, as he may be wanted
to run for the Presidency on the Democratic
ticket. There is little chance, therefore, that
the General will represent the United States at
the Court of St. James's, whatever may be Mr.
Johnson's desire to get him out of the way. In-
deed, it is now said that S. S. Cox is not likely to
be confirmed as Minister to Austria, although the
Foreign Affairs Committee of the Senate reported
favourably on the nomination, as Senator Wade is
making a personal fight against him in return for
the defeat in Ohio.
The stipulations of the Treaty concluded between
Prussia and the United States are in the main be-
lieved to be as follows :—" The North German
Confederate Governments will consider North Ger-
mans naturalized in America as American citizens
after five years' residence in that country, with the
exception of criminals and deserters from their flag.
If a German, naturalized in America, returns to his
native country without intending to go back to
America, he will be regarded as having abandoned
his Americau naturalization rights. This clause
also applies to naturalized Germans who may re-
side for more than two years in North Germany
after returning from America. All clauses of the
Treaty equally apply to American citizens naturalized
in Germany. The Extradition Treaty of 1852, re-
specting criminals, is extended to the whole of
North Germany. The duration of the Treaty is
fixed at 10 years, and the ratifications are to be ex-
changed within six weeks.
Mr. Charles Mackay, in a pamphlet on the con-
venience, utility, and necessity of street-tramways
for London, allude., to the advantage they would
have in the English metropolis over the Empire
City, where there is no law against over-crowding,
and where the whole inner passage between the op-
posite seats i 3 blo:;ked up by standing passengers,
who hold on by straps fixed in the roof for the pnr-
pos of steadying them. Mr. Mackay will be
glad to hear that Mr. Bergh, the president of
the New York Association for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals, prosecutes all drivers of horse
cars, even when four horses are attached, if more
than the lawful number of passengers are allowed to
enter the cars.
The United States, when the circumstances are
at all similar, reproduce the same features as the
United Kingdom. When the Senate was trying to
abolish the State Departraeuts' corps of spies, Mr.