The Sun.
London, England, 1868-02-07 00:00:00

RAILWAY BILLS.

Yesterday, in Mr. Imre s Court, held in Cam-
mittee-room No. 16, the standing orders were de-
clared to have been complied with in the case of
the St. Ives aad West Cornwall Junction Railway,
the Burry Port and G-wendeath Valley Railway,
the Belfast Central Railway, and the Newry and
Armagh Railway Bills. In the Court presided over
by Mr. Palgrave, Room 17, the standing orders
were declared to have been complied with in respect
of the North London Railway.

OUR FOREIGN POLICY.

(From the Round Table.)
The position of the United States, as one of the
leading nations of Christendom, has assumed such
vast proportions that the consideration of the gene-
ral principles determining our attitude toward
urges itself with
ando communities
upon
public attention than at any pre-
vious period of international
greaterforeign
force nations
np
The Monroe
in its wider.
doctrine, relating sense to the annihi-
lation of European influence and power on the
American continent, has lately been developed into
the Seward doctrine of downright acquisition of
powers, and whatever
races and
arguments
tntterritoriesidn gan still
addition
m held
a y be by
o
advancedforeignf regarding the perils
heterogeneous
of the expansion of the republic to an extent
ation, it must be
passion for an tehoanteesdeeed tmsaat
tiobetwhiisldenratthieeniamlagin
en-
largement of the national domain is only the reflex
of the lust of every individual citizen for greater
wealth ; and whether it be called manifest destiny
or inordinate ambition, this much seems to be cer-
tain, that if the sense of the people were taken at
any time in regard to the acquisition of any new
territory—whether it were Alaska or St. Thomas,
or Cuba or Porto Rico, or Canada or Greenland
—the chances would be in favour of an affirma-
tive vote. 'We believe that the dangers arising
from heterogeneous races awd from a formidable
addition of public officers are, on the whole,
counterbalanced by the advantages that are likely
to accrue to our safety,
from the annexation of these new arenas ; while a
civil the adoption ofcommerce, and industry
service system based
upon stringent tests of integrity and qualification
would tend to diminish the dangers of new addi-
tions to the appointing power and the consequent
abuses and demoralizations. At the same time, it
cannot be denied that if the various races scattered
upon this continent are to be elevated in the scale
of civilization, it can only be done under the in-
spiring auspices of American institutions. From
the broadest point of view of humanity there would
seem to be a clear gain to civilization when any of
these communities are admitted to American citi-
zenship, and, consequently, to education, political
liberty, and the avenues to industry and wealth.
Great Britain herself, according to De Foe, is
made up of the mud of all nations, and without
wishing to apply this disparaging
epithet to the
various races of our own community, it is not less
true that the Anglo-Saxon claim to the exclusive
parentage of Americans, at the present stage of our
census, ceases to have much practical value. The
Celtic and Teutonic elements are far more powerful
at this day than the English elements were in the
early days of the Republic ;
and apart from this
problem of preserving the institutions of our fore-
fathers under the co-operation of these in many
respects heterogeneous influences, there is the other
problem of lifting up the Africans and Asiatics to our
standard of civilization without crushing them as we
have crushed the aboriginal Indian races. Faith in the
stability of the republic is not wanting. What is want-
ing is comprehensive statesmanship, and a general de-
termination to select only the best qualified men for
executive, legislative, and administrative functions.
Another consideration suggests itself ,and in regard to
which there is, we fear, some misapprehension even
in official quarters. The opinion seems now to pre-
vail that, in order to proceed with the progreae of