The Sun.
London, England, 1850-06-12 00:00:00

tytranit

LONDON, WEDNESDAY.- JUNE 12, 1850.

but, unfortunately, there is no possibility of such
a result. We cannot enforce " teetotalism "
by Act of Parliament. Many persons require, or,
what is nearly the same thing, think they require a
stimulant, and the use of ardent spirits has become
so habitual that there is no prospect of their being
relinquished, or ceasing to become articles of general
consumption. If we subject the fair trader to pro-
hibitory duties or undue restrictions we only
furnish additional inducements to smugglers
and others anxious to defraud the public
revenue. The community in general, not merely
the producers and vendors, but also the pur-
chasers and consumers, are thus demoralized, and the
most mischievous consequences would follow a fiscal
mistake of so grave a nature. _ _

In ascertaining the amount of duties to be levied on
home-made spirits in different parts of the United
Kingdom, it was discovered that full allowance should
be made for the facilities existing for illicit distillation
in the various localities. It was not intended to
confer a boon upon Ireland or Scotland, or to enable
the inhabitants of those countries to indulge their
taste for ardent spirits at a cheaper rate than their
English brethren, that the duty was fixed at only
2s. Bd. in the former, and 4s. in the latter, while
7s. 101 per gallon was charged in England. Such
a distinction could not be justified on any other
grounds but those above alluded. to. If the revenue
laws could be fully enforced the duty would
be the same in all plata of- the kingdom. But
actual experience has proved, beyond the pos-
sibility of doubt, that any material increase in the
rates charged in Ireland or Scotland would not yield
additional revenue to the exchequer, but would merely
lead to formidable organization against the law.
There are, however, other points on which a judi-
cious minister of finance should act liberally toward,
the distilling trade. There are many excise regula-
tions that prove exceedingly injurious to the spirit
manufacturer, which might easily be altered ;
such a change is the more essential, since
the abolition of the protective duties on colonial
spirits. Some years since the heavy charge upon
rum operated as a practical prohibition to the use
thereof in the sister kingdom. But that having been
altered in 1848, and the differential duty having been
reduced to 4d. per gallon, so as to bring these articles
into full and fair competition, the home producer is
entitled to demand of the Legislature that he should
be exempted from annoyances and impediments in
his business from which his rivals are free,
for which scarcely any pecuniary allowance can
compensate, and which have driven many persons
altogether out of the trade.
It was to one of these points that Lord NAAS last
night directed the attention of the House. It ap-
pears that the duty on foreign and colonial spirits is
only levied on the amount actually brought into con-
sumption, and for which payment is received. The
Irish distiller, however, is obliged to pay on what
iesues from the worm's end. He is allowed to
place his spirits in bond, but he receives no
' compensation for what is wasted by leakage or eva-
poration while in the QUEEN'S stores. It was, there-
fore, reasonably demanded that he should only be
required to pay duty on what he could make actually
available—that which remained on hand when taken

nto stock. The Chancellor of the Exchequer resisted

this just and equitable proposition, which, if his own
statements be correct, would not amount to more than
a fraction of a . penny per gallon, and which
could not, therefore, be productive of any great
loss to the revenue, although it would afford
considerable relief to the distiller. The House, how-
ever, decided in favour of the motion by's majority of

22—there being 85 in its favour and 53 against. The
Right Hon. Gentleman now refuses to be bound by
that decision, declaring that he considers himself
" perfectly free to take whatever course he may con-
sider proper." His colleagues in the Ministry did
not thus set the House at defiance when they bowed
to the hasty and absurd resolution on Lord ASHLEY'S
motion for the total cessation of Post-office duty on
Sundays throughout the entire country, a resolu-
tion fraught with the greatest public inconvenience,
and carried by surprise the day after the Derby.
Sir CHARLES Woon, however, thinks that he can
despise the representatives of the people, and that all
must bow down to his ridiculous dogmas.

A novel and brilliant evidence of the diplomatic
genius of her MAJESTY'S Principal Secretary for
Foreign Affairs has just been afforded by the extra-
ordinary convention concluded on the 12th of April
between this country and the United States, through
the instrumentality of the respective negotiators at
Washington. The success with which this difficult
question has been brought to a satisfactory settlement
is not less remarkable than the project of which it is
at once the expression and the fulfilment—that project
being nothing less than the construction of a grand
inter-oceanic ship canal between the two Americas.
connecting together the waters of the Atlantic
and the Pacific. When this gigantic scheme
was originally agitated, it will be remembered
that a disposition was evinced by the United States
to secure its own aggrandizement at the expense of
Great Britain, and to acquire a monopoly of interest
in the proposed undertaking by certain flagrant en
croachments upon the minor principalities of the
Isthmus between the northern and southern conti•
nents. It will be recollected, for example, that a
company of American citizens having received exclu-
sive rights to open a route of communication across
Panama, and the United States having immediately
before that obtained possession of California, there
appeared an official report, the result of the delibera-
tions of the committee of Congress, in which it
was proposed to subsidize the association by a yearly
grant, with a view to secure certain privileges and
prerogatives, fur the exclusive enjoyment, the sole
advantage, and the superior convenience of the citi-
zens of the Republic. According to this, it was in-
tended that passengers in American vessels, and citi-
zens of the United States, generally, should be af-
forded better and cheaper facilities of conveyance
across Panama than any other individuals ; and a
Bill was ultimately introduced into Congress, by
which it was arranged that similar rights should be
accorded to the armed forces and munitions of war
appertaining to the United States Government.
Throughout all these preliminary steps of
the movement it was very perceptible that
the Cabinet at Washington was actuated by its
inordinate lust after territorial aggrandisement. Its
ambition, whetted by its successes in Mexico, and
exalted by the seeming embarrassment of England in
the midst of the revolutionary agitations of Europe,
rapidly gave forth tokens of its aggressive and ad-
venturous character. So large, indeed, was its au-
dacity in this particular, that its example inspired the
miserable little state of Nicaragua with the courage
of complicity. That principality willingly yielded
up to the demand of the United States the right to
construct either a railroad or a ship-canal through its
dominions (I) together with a power of navigating
a portion of the river St. John not included in that
possessions territory, thereby securing an exclusive benefit to the
United
States by encroaching upon the privileges and
psess
belonging to Musquito. Over this Mos-
quito, be it not forgotten, England had long exercised,
and still to this moment exercises, the influence of
her protection. Mosquito was not previouslyas
under
osly under the administration,butit w
unques-
tionablyou r
notoriushelter of a British
protectorate. Unprepared, it may be
raise any objection to the schemes entered
upon by
the United States, when those schemes alone affected
the then recent acquisition of California and the
neutral principality of Nicaragua, England felt
herself compelled to interfere in that audacious
enterprise immediately it touched upon the
rights and advanced beyond the boundaries
of the protected state of Musquito. The first
determination formed by the British Government
to interrupt the course of these p
soon afterwards proceedings was con-
firmed by a circumstance which
transpired to their astonishment, the circumstance of
a negotiation being on foot between the United States'
Ambassador and the authorities -of Nicaragua, em-
powering the Republic of which the former was the
accredited representative, to flank the whole of the
proposed canal with a continuous line of fortifications.
A resolute interposition became absolutely necessary
immediately these facts came to light ; and in the
conduct of such an interposition it was equally requi-
site that resolution should be tempered by the tokens
of our amicable disposition.
Under the audacious directiou of Lord PA-tuszsroN

Her MAJESTY'S Ministers haveagain sustained a
signal and decisive defeat, and that on a
fiscal ques-
tion. There was a time when such an event would
be a matter of grave importance, leading,
perhaps, to
change in the Government of the country. Sir
CHARLES WOOD has, however, contrived to
excite
to Much discontent and dissatisfaction on all subjects '
connectel with the important department over which
he presides, that the simple fact of the Government
being left in a minority has ceased to excite
any great astonishment, or to lead to any serious
apprehensions as to the probable results. We might
therefore, perhaps, consider it unnecessary to offer
any particular observations on a matter of such
frequent occurrence, but for some circumstances
connected with the question in which they have been
placed in a position so humiliating and unpleasant?
and also fur the manner in which the decision of a
majority of the House of Commons has been received
by the party representing the Government.
There is no single tax less objectionable than that
on spirits. It is, perhaps, the only one of the in-
direct imposts that can in any degree be justified.
The only limitation necessary in fixing the amount
duty is, that it should not be so great as to encou-
rage illicit distillation. If the trade could be alto-
gether suppressed, and that no such commodity could
be obtriined, it would, perhaps, be so much the better;

an explanation was adventured upon, and to the end I Besides the journey of the PRESIDENT to St. Quen-
that all existing difficulties might be brought to a tin, of M. THIERS to Eegldnd, and of M. GuizoT
satis actory se-dement, Sir HENRY LITTON I3ULWER through Normandy to Loteion, there is another which
1
r
was sent out as the British amhass.idor to the deserves particu:ar m: noon—I4:1. DE LAMARTINE hss
left on his way to Smyrna to edit! p. ,-tssion of his
Government of Washington. Desirous of removirq ,
Eastern e,,tate.
all obstacles to the desired arrangement, Sir haNEY The Five per Cents. opene,; 93F. 20c., and rot to
BULWER found his wishes in this matter cordially 93-. 35c., at winch pr;e,-, 'h. e ofc..,ed ; the Three per
Cent,. closed 56, 10: ; ••• ns 171,61r(yA
responded to by Mr. JOHN CLAYTON, the Secretary
4h :res
of State to the American Government. ihe 747 f ; Roo. a, 553 f.;
_ _sf , Av_g,,(,,,,
Northern, 44 ; ; hi yr, , 225 f. ; Gr-at
175" ; Vim cu, 342% 50o.;
result of their negotiations is the im- Basle, 110 t.; Bordeaux. 388 f. 75e.; PAris said S,rt,-
burg, 330 t.; Tours and Nantes, 217 t. 50o.; the New portant and highly satisfactory Convention
respecting the great inter-oceanic canal, a project Roman Loan, 771.
which is consequently doubly supported, by the BUSINESSODONLIN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THF.
L
Ols S .'O4lR' -k . JUNE 11.
United 2-• Orleans and Bordeaux,
United States on the one hand, and on the other by 2%--Paris and
Great Britain. In order to bring about this felici- Strasbourg,
tous result, it was, of course, incumbent upon both
parties to consent respectively to certain essential con-
cessions. Happily these concessions have been mad,
without any reservation whatever on the part of either
of the plenipotentiaries. The convention is full and
complete ; without a flaw or a hitch; every thing,
in fact, that could be reasonably desired.
England stimulates, instead of retarding, the
development of the scheme out of which the whole
of the previous misunderstanding had originated--
namely, the construction of a vast ship canal con-
necting the Pacific and the Atlantic. The United
States on the other side withdraws all its efforts to
encroach upon Musquito, acknowledging it to be
under a British protectorate ; it resigns moreover its
intention of claiming an 'erellegve monopoly of ad-
vantages, or of building up the intended line of forti-
fications. While yielding with spontaneous readi-
ness upon these several points, the two contracting
powers have decided also in like manner to co-operate
with all possible earnestness and energy in carrying
out a scheme which, once perfected, would tend to
the almost incalculable advancement of the mer-
cantile enterprize of the world, and would in-
evitably prove a stepand a gigantic step too
in the way of securing the 'further civilization of
both hemispheres. How far the convention commits
the United States and Great Britain to the prosecu-
tion of the enterprise may be perceived from the
nature of the seventh article, which runs verbatim as
ollows

It being desirable that no time should be unnecessa-
rily lost in commencing and constructing the said canal,
'.he Governments of the United States and Grew,
Britain determine to give their support and encou-
ragement to such perions or company as may,
first offer to commence the same with the ne-
cessary capital, with the. consent of the local authorities,
and on such principles as accord with the spirit and
intentions of this convention; and if any persons or
company should already have with any state through
which the proposed canal may pass a contract for the
construction of such a canal as that specified in this
convention, to the stipulations of which contract neither
of the parties in the convention have any just cause to
object, and the said persons or company shall have made
preparations and expended time, money, and trouble on
the faith of such contract, it is hereby agreed that such
persons shall have a priority of claim over every other
person or company to the protection of the United
States and Great Britain, and-be-allowed a year from
the date of the exchange of the ratifications of the con-
vention for concluding their arrangements and present-
ing evidence of sufficient capital subscribed to accom-
plish the undertaking; it being understood that if, at the
expiration of the aforesaid periods, such persons or com-
pany shall not be able to commence and carry on the
projected enterprise, then the Governments of the United
States and Great Britain shall be free to afford their
protection to any persons or company that shall be p! e-
pared to commence and proceed with the construction,
of the canal in question.'
From this it will be perceived that the dream of
beholding a vast ship canal threading a road through
the central isthmus of the Americas is at length ac-
tually approaching its realization. To its fulfilment
the Governments at London and at Washington have
now definitively pledged themselves in a convention
which not the less reflects honour upon the ability of
Mr. CLAYTON, and upon the capacity of Sir HENRY
BULWER, than it redounds to the glory of Lord PAL-
MERSTON as a statesman, an administrator, and a
diplomatist.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

SPAIN

Madrid j-urnals of tht. 6tti in3tlint h4.ve
at,hotoice, the appy,,,,ehiii;,.. t-”k the
11th of the Duke and Din,ht sA MotiTPI.;r4SIEn•
Orders hmi b,eii given to rec,,ivi- !nt-ir Royal 1-ligii-
iwssP. with .11 Ai, ii
Toe Heraido puldWu. A !etc row C'w ..t
31st ult., ),,:ewg that a Al.,,oriA arus, eowin,nded
by two paellas, one white and the other black, ,tis
marching toward.; the fr,ritik.r or Algeria, with kms-
tile intention* towards the prene.b.

The Three pur Cents. w;r4;Gl.;:ne at 33i for ;
thr, Four per Cent h'. at 12k.; the Five per Cots. ut
1123 for cmh ; the Dobt without Interest at 3 15-16;
and the Coupons at 71

..s.O • •41.0 V••
Some prettinded revelations of a conspiracy con-
nected with the attack on the KINe, made by a soldier
in custody or a military offence at Potsdam, had been
proved to be mere invention or a hoax.
This hoax is somewhat more detailed as follows :

GERMANY.

A Chasseor of the Gunid, while being escortod for a
military off-tx:! to the prison of Magdeburg, from some
unknown motive, told the officer accompanying him
that he knew of the conspiracy of which Sete-
loge's? ctim. was ihe result. adding some alarming
stnumet.ts of us fluent, stnt:ng veu that the v:IDle
First Regiment of the Guard was implicated to it.
He was br-Lgrtt back to Potsdam uud an inquiry
commenced, which proved that the whole story was
inv, nted.

Intelligenco from Berlinisto the 10th inst.

We have received the Paris journals of yesterday.
Much speculation was excited by the sudden de-
parture of M. THIERB to England for the purpose of
paying a visit to the Comte ma NEurra,y, his
former sovereign. The apparent cause for
this pilgrimage is the alarming state of the health of
the ex-King, and the solicitude of his old Minister

to visit him once more before the possibility of their
final separation by death. The imputed reason,
on the contrary, is said to be a wish on
the part of M. TRIERS to forward the negotiation
already commenced between the younger and the
elder branches of the Bourbon dynasty. Whether
,-his latter surmise be really the inducement we can
scarcely as yet understand, but it is indis-
putable that the Orleans family have of
late betrayed symptoms of a desire of reconcilia-
tion. Prior to his departure from Paris the historian
of NAPOLEON paid a visit to the PRESIDENT at the
Elysee, as if he would thereby have intimated to him
that his journey was rather sentimental than trea-
sonous. However it may be, the visit of M.
TRIERS at this particular time to the once
powerful monarch is the subject, naturally, of many
conflicting conjectures. Upon it the Opinion Publique
observes, " This journey may have more influence on
his destiny than could reasonably be expected from
a pilgrimage merely prompted by a sentimental
fidelity." iv.l. Titian is not expected to return to
Paris before Friday ; and M. G UIZOT, who left that
city for Normandy a short time since, it is thought
will proceed forthwith to London.
Tne second sitting of the Commission entrusted
with the duty of examining into the project of a
grant to the PRESIDENT terminated yesterday. It
is bexinning to be thought that the opinion of the
majority will prove favourable to the wishes of
Louis Neronitort. Several of the members of the
Commission, it is said, have, received urgent en..
treaties from their constituents to vote in favour of
the grant, the latter parties insisting that the grant
will be amply compensated by the manner in which
the additional sum of money will be employed—an
argument which receives some corroboration from the
following statements :
" Before quitting St. Quentin the PRESIDENT handed
to General ROQUET 400 f, to be distributed amongst
the small garrison of the places. There was not an
hospital nor a manufactory he visited during his late
journey where he did not leave Marks of his bounty,
and a sum of 4,000 f. was also distributed by him to
the most deserving and most necessitous of the work-
ing population. It is chiefly by acts like these that
his present difficulties have bean occasioned."
It was at half-past eight o'clock on Monday even-
ing that the Prince returned to his palace of the
Elysee, after his triumphal visit to St. Quentin.
On Monday a funeral service was performed at the
chapel of the Invalides in commemmoration of Mar-
shal BUGEAUD, the 10th being the first anniversary
of his death. The service was attended by the rela-
tives and comrades of the Marshal.

The Kolner Zeitung has telegraphic dispatches
from Berlin stating that after having been
confined to his bed for seventeen days, his MA-
JESTY at length so far recovered as to be
able to rise for a few hours. Still the
fatigue of getting up told on the KING'S nerves, and
the night which followed the first attempt passed less
quietly than might have been expected. The KING'S
rest was likewise disturbed in the night from the 9th
to the 10th of June, but still the wound is proceeding
favourably.

The Members of the Deputation to Copenhagen
were expected at Kiel on the Bth. The papers ex-
press a feeling of satisfaction that their " unhappy'
negotiation, which could not have led to any good
result, has been broken off; the settlement of the
question will evidently be made in Berlin, as no-
thing is expected from the reported conferences in
London, and in Copenhagen nothing is likely to be
concluded.

From Hanover we hear that the birthday of the
KING, who on the 6th instant entered his eightieth
year, was celebrated with more than ordinary re-
joicing. The number of guests present at the en-
tertainment given by the civic authorities was so
great that the dinner was laid out in spacious tents,
the civic hall being too small to accommodate them.

A circular of a most judicious character hss been
addressed by the Prefect of Police to the CAnmis.
series of Police of the ,department of the Seine,
calling their attention to the refugees in Paris, and
requesting that reports be regularly addressed to
him as to their conduct while residing on the French
territory.
The Aloniteur publishes a letter from M. Wel,
Lori, a Conservative Member fur the department of
the North, announcing his resignation of his seat in
the Assembly, in consequence of his having separated
from his party on an important question.
The venerable and episcopal benignity of FENELON
would have been somewhat agitated with surprise or
indignation, could the author of " Telemachus" have
heard the statement made on Monday in the Le-
gislative Assembly by M. PIERRE LEROUX,
to the effect that that exquisite classic inculcates
the doctrines of Socialism. The assertion was received
with shouts of laughter.
The director of the Republicaine de la Dordogne
has been sentenced by the Assize Court of Peri
guex to one year's imprisonment and I,ooof. fine for
a seditious libel.
It was reported yesterday in Paris, that the result
of the ballot at Strasburg was in favour of the
Conservative candidate; and a similar rumour was
abroad in regard to the military votes fur the election
of the Bas Rhin.

In illustration of this we have the following:par-
ticulars : •
The Ist battalion of the Gendarmerie Mobile con-
tains twenty electors, natives of that department ;
eighteen have voted for M. MuLLEB, and only one for
M. GIRAEDIN.
The 2d battalion of the same corps has given thirty
votes for M. MULLER, and n"t one for M. GIRARDIN.
The 3d battalion of the Chasseurs I Pied has given
18 votes to M. MULLER, and four to his Socialist
competitor.

The Garde Republican has given to Order 24
votes, and not one to Socialism.
The Field Train has given 13 votes to MULLEN,
and not one to M. GIRARDIN.
The garrison of Havre (but this was conjectured
many days since would be the case) has given to
MULLBIt 16 votes, and only one to GILIA.RDIN.
The garrison of Dieppe has given 25 votes to the
representative of Order, and nine to that of Socialism;
and the garrison of Vernon 10 to the former and
only three to the hitter.