The Sun.
London, England, 1868-01-28 00:00:00

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

Tsis DAY.—Morning, 4h. 16m.—Afternoon, 4h. 81m.
To-Monitow.-Morning, 4h. 46m.—Afternoon, sh. 2m.

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LONDON, 7 UESDAY, JAN. 28, 1868.

The continual arrivals of mail steamers from
America keep us acquainted with all the variations ,
of political life in the States. The steamer Ame-
rica, which left New York on the 15th inst., does
not bring us much later intelligence than we have ,
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already received, but it supplies some deficiencies
in the former accounts. For instance, we were left
in doubt what course Mr. STANTON himself had
pursued after his forced reinstatement at the
War Office, but it seems that up to the
date at which the America left he had not
issued any official orders. It is reported that Mr.
M'CuLoca has ordered his department to hold no
official communication with Mr. Swum until his
status is determined. The Secretary to the Trea-
sury is naturally opposed to the Radical interest,
as that party has done its best to complicate the
position of the already embarrassed finances, and
has stoutly resisted all his efforts to reduce the
debt and contract the currency. One of its latest
achievements has been a limitation of the authority
hitherto possessed by the Financial Minister. The
' Radicals are fully sensible of the charms of poli-
tical power themselves, but they are very unwil-
ling to allow any other person to enjoy it. They
make it one of their chief objects to restrict and
curtail the power of every one else. The office of
President, if they fulfil their designs, would be no-
thing more than a dignified sinecure. The Secretary
of the Treasury is no longer to be allowed to regu-
late the currency. Even the Supreme Court is not
beyond the reach of these ambitious reformers. Its
constitutional power to control the laws naturally
displeases the party which is constantly labouring
to reverse the whole order of things ; and the ver-
dict of the Court has more than once been given
against the innovations of Congress.' It has the
power to annul unconstitutional legislation, and
as there can be no question whatever that the
Southern Reconstruction laws are directly opposed
to the Constitution which all Americans profess
to cherish, the advocates of the measure are not
far wrong in apprehending the action of the
Court. If it were not for the political bias of
some of the Judges, and the desire of Mr. CHASE to
occupy the White House, it is probable that the
extravagances of the last few sessions would have
been less productive of mischief. It is thus we see
the danger of the American system of electing
judicial authorities for a term of years only in-
stead of for life. The excitement and
partiality of electioneering is thus carried into the
judicial world, and the best of judges are doubtless
more or less influenced by it. Nevertheless ou
more than one occasion the Supreme Court has
pronounced against Radical innovations, and the
PRESIDENT has not hesitated to refer vexed ques-
tions directly to its decision. The Radicals, there-
fore, have been wishing for a change, and latterly
. the Judiciary Committee have reported a bill alter-
ing the Judiciary system, and making it necessary
for " two-thirds of the Judges" to declare an act
of Congress illegal instead of " a majority" as
heretofore. By this means they hope to escape
the adverse influence of the more constitutional

judges. This bill is not yet law, and possibly may

never become law, since it meddles with matters
entirely out of the reach of Congress, and its object
is transparent. Meanwhile the effect produced by
three recent measures—the bill in question, the bill
destroying all civil government in the South, and

the reinstatement of Mr. STANTON at the War
Office—has been highly flattering to the Radicals,
and satisfactory, no doubt, to the public at large.
Gold, which stood at 133 premium, in a few days
rose to 1411—a proof how much confidence is
placed by the country in the good effects of
Radical legislation. GRANT and SHERMAN have,
it is said, been urging STANTON to resign. Un-
less he has learned moderation during his brief
absence from office, their efforts are not very
likely to prove successful.

M. MAGNE'S report upon the Financial Condi-
tion of France has just been published in the
Moniteur, and it appears, according to this state-
ment, that affairs are not so bad as some had sup-
posed them to be. The receipts of the Budget of
1867 show a deficit which is not to be wondered at,
considering the circumstances of the case, and the
unfortinate aspect of the year. It is here said that
it resulted from events beyond control, and the loss
amounted to the sum of twenty-six millions of
francs, as compared with the estimates. It is
necessary to add to this sum the " ex-
traordinary credit" voted by the Corps Le-
gislatif last May and the cost of the expe-
dition to Rome, and this brings a total of one
hundred and eighty-nine millions necessary to cover
the outlay of the past year. The report goes on to
say that there will be supplementary expenses to
be felt in the Budgets of this year and the next, and
that supplementary resources must be shared be-
tween these two periods. These will amount to the
sum of eighty-two million francs, and the report
then shows us that it will be better to reform
the war materiel and the fleet " in the interest of the
defence of the country and the national honour," or
a sum of one hundred and eighty-seven millions
must be devoted to that object. No one will be
surprised to hear that the report goes on to state
that it is idle to expect that this sum will cover all
requirements ; aud, finally, in order to meet all
exigencies, a loan of four hundred and forty mil-
lions of francs, and this will be negotiated by public
subscription, and the monthly payments divided
into twenty instalments. All this seems to pro-
mise fairly if it be possible to carry it out
after the manner proposed. The EMPEROR has evi-
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