The Sun.
London, England, 1868-03-12 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDDN, THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 12, 1868:

ENGLAND AND AMERICA.

A resolution has been adopted by the Senate of
California " asking the United States honourably to
acquire or annex British Columbia." It may ap-
pear visionary or wild on this side the Atlantic to
assert that Britain's best policy would be to encou-
rage the annexation to the United States of all her
North American dominions. The cherished idea
of the American is the oneness of his Continent ; he
desires the writ of the Supreme Court of the United
States to run from Panama to the North Pole ; the
law of Congress to operate from Heart's Content to
Vancouver's Island—the Washington mandate to
be alike in force in the Halls of Montezuma and in
the citadel of Quebec. The grandeur of one na-
tion occupying a continent captivates the imagina-
tion, but the motive is based on far more solid
grounds than mere magnitude and ambition. Be-
fore any great section of the North American people
diverges in language, customs, and laws, it is de-
sirable that this unity should be consummated.
There will then be no insurmountable prejudices to
overcome, and throughout America the races being
fused, separate nationalities—that barrier to human
progress—will have no existence. It requires little
effort of the imagination to conceive the advantages
which must accrue to the Continent if the idea can be
carried into effect. There will be but One Central
Government, One Executive, One Army and Navy,
and One Treasury. There will be but one language,
one code of laws,one system of taxation, one literature ,
one press, and one flag. The monetary medium will be
the same, as well as communication, postal, tele-
graph, and railway. If Europe, with its warring
nationalities—with its jealous Governments, nume-
rous languages—wholly dissimilar laws, manners,
and customs—with its fettered commerce, its forti-
fied sectional frontiers, guarded by armies and
barred by Custom-house officials—its restricted
travel, shackled by passports, by the changed cir-
culating medium, as well as by other tongues and
other habits—can so rapidly progress, what must
be the speed of a far larger and ricLer continent,
freed from such restraints and inhabited by a single
race, the most intellectual and energetic ? There is
no denying the grandeur of the idea, however it
may be sneered at as " spread - eagleism, high
faluten," and " manifest destiny." The American
may be told to reconcile his own Northern and
Southern feuds, to amalgamate the black man, and
to civilize off the face of the earth the red man,
before he aspires to this unity. He may be advised
to establish a Government that can work its pre-
sent field before it undertakes to make laws for a
peopled continent ; but Americans admit their
shortcomings, nor do they look for the realization
of their dreams except through many trials and
great mistakes ; while they truly say it is the one
grand chance of the human race, impossible of ac-
complishment elsewhere. Whatever aids in for-
warding this design appeals to the heart of the
American, and no help could be more effectual
than the entrance of England's North American
possessions into the Union of States, with the hearty
good wishes of the Empire. It is said that a Re-
public cannot be grateful; but the history of the
United States belies this assertion. Since the
day of its Independence generations have gone, yet
the gratitude in the United States towards France
for her aid in the War of Independence is almost
as lively now as ever, though all know that France
threw her sword into the scale not from love of
them, but from hatred of England. Still that great
service has had its influence for little short of a cen-
tury on the diplomatic relations between the na-
tions. We maintain that the surrender of England
of all sovereignty on the North American Continent,
and the influence of England in inducing the Do-
minion and British Columbia to apply for annexa-
tion to the United States, would create a revulsion
of feeling, the effects of which would be felt cen-
turies hence. This course would at once tend to
cement a friendship between the two sections of
the English-speaking race ; and it is difficult to
imagine how the question could arise which could
hereafter bring the nations into collision. What
would Great Britain be called upon to surrender in
this act, grand as would be the concession to the United
States ?—a sovereignty without prerogative, but
with liability ; a rule granting rights to the go-
verned, but none to the rulers ; a connection in-
volving jealousy and ceaseless danger, yet detract-
ing from, instead of adding to, the strength of the
Empire. Canada is a possession which may any
day involve England in humiliation. It is a
prize, worthless to the owner, within the grasp of
one who desires it, who can at any time take it, and
who holds this power in terrorem over his rival. Of
what benefit has Canada ever been to the British
Empire? England's emigrants do not go there ; no
greater field is open for England's commerce whe-
ther Canada be independent, a State of the Union,
or a province of the Empire. We maintain that
the concession, even in severing the connection,
would be a gain to Great Britain. But more might be
accomplished by such a policy than merely securing
the good-will of the United States, though that would
be by far the greatest gain. With it would go the
Alabama claims; and, what is vastly more important,
it might be made a means of pacifying Ireland.
The American Minister, Mr. Anams, observed, when
writing on Ireland, that a chief portion of the dis-
content arose from the inability of the poorer people
to attain the great object of their lives—the trans-
port across the ocean to the Republic on which all
their hopes of regeneration were built. If this be
so, and the United States undertook to transport
free of cost to the British taxpayer a million of
the Irish people, and to bestow on each family a
grant of land, the most effectual remedy would
be brought into operation to root out discontent
in Ireland. By this course England would be
shaken free from her connection with North
America, her most dangerous and vulnerable point,
a huge measure of relief would be extended to
Ireland without expense to the English Exchequer,
such questions as those of the Alabama claims and
Fenianism in the United States would at once be
settled, and all this without loss to England ; the
United States would obtain the darling object of
its citizens, and with but a paltry and distracted
country to the South, would be monarch of the
mighty Continent. What for such an end would
be the surrender of the Alabama claims, and the
cost of transporting even a million of people from
Ireland ? In every new citizen the United States
would make a gain, and they might well incur the
present outlay in view of the prospective. advan-
tage. The real difficulty would lie with the colo-
nies. Of course it is pleasant to them to have their
forts built with English money and garrisoned with
English soldiers, to have English capital em-
ployed in constructing their railways, and to enjoy
the dignity of independence when it suits them to
be independent, and dependence when they require
aid. Yet in spite of the heavy taxes which now
press on American citizens, they would find no
small gain in entering the Union. In the first place,
all chance of a devastating war would cease, and
they would be relieved from the night-mare of
Fenianism. In completing the United States, and
thus forming it into the most gigantic and com-
pact nationality ever known, they would become
part and parcel of a power such as the proudest
race has never yet created. Contrast this with their
straggling, weak Dominion, living that most mean
and detestable life, at the breath of another ; squab-
bling with the mother country over their fortifica-
tions and defence, making fitful and ineffectual,
though harassing efforts to organize their whole
population to repel the great invader their imagi-
nation incessantly depicts —an organization which
would break in pieces before the first strain of the
trial against which it is intended to provide. Those
who oppose our programme will base their argu-
mtheenfteeolnintgheofslitphpeousitniiotnedthsattateits wagoauiliclistn oEt
nclgliatinngde,
and that if the United States, asthe United States,re-
mained hostile—the United St ates,as in truth, Ame-
rica—would be but built up by England's aid into an
overwhelming power for the destruction of England.
All sound reasons are, however, opposed to this. In
the first place, the United States would nowhere be
brought into disagreeable contactwith her MAJESTY'S
dominions. There is a generosity in the people
which even their bitterest enemies are constrained
to admit, and this feeling would be deeply touched
by the open-handed confidence towards them die-
played by England's not. New States would bo

added to theetTnion with nearly four millions of people
strongly in with a love of the Old Country,
an element which would soon make itself felt in
American politics. England would frankly say,
"We trust you as our kindred with a power that
must overshadow the world, believing that you will
use it loyally and justly towards us, your kindred,
in particular, and the human race in general ;" and
few sNho know the American character can doubt
the rosult•—Anglo-Antericctn Times.,

1867 the company divided 6 per cent. ($1,837,668)
in cash, and $1,190,000 in new shares of stock,

reduced its indebtedness $460,000, and carried

forward $163,877 surplus. The money divided in
the form of new shares was expended in laying
extra lines of track to accommodate increased traffic.
The New Haven and Northampton Railroad has
opened the Williamsburg Extension, and trains
will leave that town at 6 and 10.30 a.m. for New

Haven, and at 4.30 p.m. in addition for Westfield.

The conductors' uniform on the New York and
New Haven Railroad will be a suit of navy blue,
with the road's initials in gilt letters on the lappets
of numerous pockets.
The project for a railroad from Whitehall to
Plattsburgh, New York, running along the west
shore of Lake Champlain through the counties of
Washington, Essex, and Clinton, is spoken of as
one of the most important enterprises now in pro-
gress in that State. It will lead to the iron mines

of that region, and afford an outlet for vast quan-

tities of lumber and wood.
The llartford and New haven Railroad Com-
pany have reduced the wages of their track labour-
ers from $1.75 to $1.50 a-day.
The stockholders of the Boston and Albany Rail-
road re-elected the present board of directors and
president at their annual meeting in Boston.
The reduced freight tariff on the Connecticut
River, Vermont Central, and connecting northern
railroads, which was agreed upon by the freight
agents of the different roads at their recent confer-
ence in Springfield, will be submitted to the super-

intendents at a meeting which they will hold at
Boston on the 18th, and if accepted by them was

to take effect on the Ist of March. The principa.

reductions are upon through freight, though the
_ ... .

Connecticut River road will also cut down its tariff

on local freight. This road likewise contemplates
a reduction of its passenger fares, to begin on the

Ist of May.
George A. Merrill, superintendent of the Rutland
and Burlington Railroad, has issued orders to its
employes requiring them to "do their work not
only well, but pleasantly, and to give every facility
to travellers by information and by acts." It is said
to work admirably, and it would not be amiss for
all superintendents to imitate the order.
The Rhode Island locomotive works at Provi-
dence have orders for 24 locomotives, 19 of them
for the Union and Central Pacific Railroads.
They will complete them in six months, about one
a week.
James E. Shepherd has been indicted by the
grand jury of Worcester, Massachusetts, for the
murder of his wife, Nov. 15. Mrs. Ellen Burke,
brutally shot by her husband, at Bennington, Ver-
mont, a month ago, is likely to recover. Green,
convicted of poisoning his wife, practises with suc-
cess ornamental penmanship in Litchfield Gaol,
Connecticut. Mrs. Timothy J. Spooner, of Barre,
Massachusetts, hung herself in the cellar, leaving
two children. The part her husband had in this
affair is not stated, but the fact is not encouraging.
In the newspaper that gives these items sympathy
is expressed for a Boston lady, who is considered a
sad warning w dilatory lasses, as she lost her en-
gagement by being ten minutes too late for a train !
Here is a New York " Speke" disappearance :—No
tidings have been received in regard to the missing
man Colton, nor has any clue to his whereabouts
been ascertained since he was seen on Broadway,
New York, December 21, the day he was expected
home. Search for him has been abandoned, and
the whole affair is still a mystery. The Lake Shore
disaster accounts for some of the late disappear-
ances. It is thought that Perry Stannard, of New
Marlboro, may have been one of the unrecognized
victims, as he left Michigan a month ago to return
home, and has not since been heard from. A Nevada
paper gives an account of the disappearance of John
'Williams, for whom Wm. Moile, foreman of the
Occidental Mine, offered a reward of $lOO. The
missing man is a native of the parish of St. Just,
Cornwall, England. He was temperate in habit,
and had left a Chinese wash-house to return with
some clothes to the mine when he disappeared.
A horse belonging to Mr. Leonard, of Meriden,
Connecticut, was on Jan. 27 frightened by a rail-
road train and ran a quarter of a mile race with it.
Reaching a crossing at the same time the horse
made a da,sh upon a platform car, and was carried
some rods before he jumped off and resumed his
own powers of locomotion. The animal was con-
siderably but not fatally injured by his wild ad-
venture.
Mr. Brewster Russell, an Englishman, employed
on the Mexican and Vera Cruz Railway was mur-
dered in a manner truly characteristic of Mexicans.
He was travelling to Mazatlan with Captain Ochoa,
of the Juarist army, who induced him to take an
unusual route, via Durango. Ochoa, when near
Mazas, persuaded Mr. Russell to let him carry
the pistol, by way of relieving the owner from part
of his burden. Ochoa, on obtaining the revolver,
shot Mr. Russell, and was aided in disposing of his
victim by two boys of the party. The trunks were
broken
of enopthene,
manudrdaelrlers have as yet been captured,that was valuable carried off.
None
nor is it known that any attempt has been made to
take them.

An extraordinary gaol mutiny took place at St.
Joseph, Missouri, Feb. 1, by which 18 prisoners
escaped, and the leader of the gang was killed by
the wife of the Sheriff. Mr. Andrew Craig entered
the gaol to lock the prisoners in their cells at 5 p.m.,
leaving a young man named Fish to bolt the outer
door after him. Mr. Craig instantly found him-
self in a cell and the door locked, and before young
Fish had time to lock the outer door Oscar Leland,
the leader, jumped into the cylinder, which was
rapidly revolved by accomplices, and he had gained
the hall. Fish ran up stairs to Mrs. Craig's room,
and she divining the danger seized a revolver, ran
down, and, seeing Leland outside, shot him, in-
flicting a mortal wound. With horrid imprecations
he turned upon her and knocked her down with a
billet of wood. Young Fish then appeared with a
revolver and shot Leland in the left shoulder. At
the same moment Leland who had obtained a
pistol, mortally wounded Fish, who fled, pursued
by Leland,till he was knocked down by the same bil-
let of wood. As soon as Mrs. Craig could recover
she rushed out and gave the alarm. Barker,
who followed Leland, stayed to protect Mrs. Craig,
down whose face blood was streaming, until the 18
prisoners had made their exit, when he fled. All
this was the work of a few seconds— Mrs. Craig
was severely injured, her brother in the agonies of
death, her husband locked up in a cell, and the 18
desperadoes gone. Deputy-Sheriff Springer coming
up Fifth-street heard the alarm, and saw the fugi-
tives running towards the Court-House. He gave
chase, and captured Leland, who was unable to
make much progress in his dying state. He was
brought back, and laid at the feet of the corpse of his
victim. Barker also was recaptured, when he was
fervently thanked by Mrs. Craig for the protection
he had given her.
In one of the singing saloons of Liverpool, a fort-
night ago, a young man named Carstairs, said to
be respectably connected, while singing the " Bon-
nie Blue Flag," a Confederate song, was interrupted
by an American captain named Howard, who in-
sisted upon Carstairs " shutting up." Carstairs
refused to comply with the demand, an altercation
ensued, and Howard struck Carstairs violently over
the head with a water bottle. Carstairs was re-
moved to his hotel, and afterwards taken home to
his mother's house, where he died.
A boy about. ten years of age, named Potter, was
instantly killed at South Adams by being run over
by three freight cars run down the grade from
Maple Grove by Oscar Marsh, station agent there.
The little fellow and several playmates were trying
to see how many times they could cross the track
before the cars came. He made one attempt too
much, and was literally torn to pieces.
The story of a convict in the Charleston State
prison, who has just died of consumption, is a sad
one. Six or seven years ago, in the western part
of the State, he fell in love with a young woman,
and, her friends opposing, eloped with her. They
were pursued and overtaken at a hotel, where they
begged one final interview alone, and then, he
asserts, mutually agreed to commit suicide. At the
last moment, however, her courage failed her, and
she called him, as he says, to do the deed for her.
He then cut her throat and his own. She died, he

recovered, and was tried at Lenox and convicted of
murder, but was saved from the gallows by a com-
mutation of his sentence to imprisonment for life.
Six years have elapsed, and now he has passed
away, after showing that he was contrite and peni-
tent for the crime which he committed.

The Niagara Falls Gazette says that workmen are
engaged in putting cables over the river for the new sus-
pension bridge at that place. The ice bridge, instead of
being a formidable rival, is a most valuable aid in this work.
The first wire cable was thrown across from the Canada
side on Monday. It is a two-inch wire rope, and is in-
tended as the pioneer of the largo cable, which will be
thrown over the chasm when milder weather comes.

AMERICAN MARKET S.

(From Belding, Keith, and Co.'s Circular.)

80, LOMBARD-STREET, LONDON, March 6, 18G8.

Our advices by mail, which are from New York to 22d
February, and which, from various sources of very high
authority, financially, are very sanguine that nothing will
be done as to changing the matters of loans, and also that
entire good faith will be kept in the payment of 5-20
Bonds, are, we regret to say, somewhat marred by Cable
despatches reporting the resolutions passed not only by
the Conventions of one, but by both parties, in such influen-
tial States as Ohio and Pennsylvania, and in the face of
which even the highest individual authority, however true
it may prove in the end, is very damaging for the present.
Without attempting to forestall the action of Con-
gress either as to this matter or attempt to indicate
what will be the result of the impeachment of
the President, we think we offer sound advice to all
intending investors in United States Bonds to purchase
those of 1864, or Ten-Forty issue, the interest and princi-
pal of which by the Act are payable in gold; and to such
as hold Five-T wenties and feel in any measure unsettled
as to their ultimate payment in gold, we would advise
them to exchange for the Ten Forties, or the first Mort-
gage Bonds of the Central or Union Pacific Railway, in-
terest and principal payable in gold. In both cases there
is an advantage in cash in hand by the transaction, as will
appear by our pro forma of exchange herewith, while
with the Railroad Bonds there is a gain in the amount of
interest.

Pro forma account of exchange of United States 5-20
Bonds for 10-40's, and Union and Central Pacific Railroad
Bonds at market rates :

$l,OOO 5-20 1862 Bond realizes, at 711 nett,
to-day's price
$l,OOO United States 10-40 Bond costs, to 651
nett, price same date

Difference in favour of the exchange of $l,OOO
1862 Bond £l2 7 6

81,000 5-20 1865 Bond is worth, at to-day's
quotation, 701 nett £ls7 15 7

$l,OOO 10-40 costs as before 147 18 0

Diff,rence in favour of the exchange of $l,OOO
1865 Bond £9 16 10
$l,OOO 5-20 1862 Bond, as before, is worth
$l,OOO Union or Central Pacific Railroad Bond
at 100, the current market price in the United
States, cost about ....

Difference in favour of the exchange of $l,OOO
1862 Bond .£ll 10 3
So again :
$l,OOO 5.20 1865 Bond realizes £ls7 15 7
$l,OOO Union or Central Pacific R. R. Bonds
costs nett l4B 16 0

Difference in favour of the exchange of $l,OOO
1865 Bond

P.S. The calculation of the Union or Central P. R. R.
Bonds is made with accrued interest from the Ist of Janu-
ary or Ist July, as the case may be, at 6 per cent. per an-
num in gold. For merchandise we refer to following quo-
tations. In a week or two we hope to renew our tables,
giving in sterling C. F. and I. of principal articles in the
United States. _ _

NEW YORK, Feb. 21.—The movement in Erie and New
York Central Shares continues to form the chief object of
attraction at the Stock Exchange, and though the general
market has not participated to any extent in their fall, yet
prices have naturally suffered somewhat in sympathy with
so great a decline ; since the commencement of the legal
proceedings against Mr. Drew, the treasurer of the Erie
road (only a few days ago), the stock, at the lowest figure
of to-day, 601, shows a depreciation of 11 per cent., and
New York Central at one period, to-day, was depressed as
low as 1271 a decline of some six per cent. Government
securities continue to show but little activity; prices re-
main without decline in any issues, and an advance in one
or two, particularly in those that have a sale in foreign
markets, which are the 5.20's of 1862, and the 5 per Cent.
10.40 Bonds; for the latter the demand has been very
active, and they are very firmly held. For home in-
vestment the last issue of 5.20'5, bearing date 1867,
are in the best demand. Gold has been excited, and
has advanced upon some rumours from the capital
relative to the removal of the Secr3tary of War ;
the supply of cash gold was not so abundant, and loans
were generally effected at 3 per cent., showing that upon
the decline a short interest of some amount was created.
Money is easily obtained by the dealers in Government
Securities at 4 par cant., whilst upon other collaterals the
rate is generally 5 per cent. Monday's Bank statement
will show changes about as follows ;

Loans, decrease $2,249,327 Deposits, deer. $7,664,477
I Specie, do. _ 1,678,973 Legal-T., do. 2,602,832
-

The demand for exchange has not been very great, and
any large orders would probably send the rate to 110}
stiff. The supply of commercial bills has been good at
quotations.
At 4.15 p.m. the following prices are current:—
United States 6's of 1881 ... 111
do. 5-20's of 1862
do. do. 1861
do. do. 1865
do. do. 1866
do. do. 1867
do. s's 10-40's
do. 7-30's, 2d series...
do. do. 3d do.
American gold
London, 3 days
do. 60 days
Commercial bills
New York Central
New York and Erie

Philadelphia and Reading... ...
Hudson River
Illinois Central
Mich., So., and No. Ind.
Chicago and N. Western Corn.
do. do. pfd.
do. Rock island and Pacific

... 108
... 109
... 107
• 108
• 105
... 107

... 110
109
109
129
68

92
... 145
... 138

... 91.
... 59
72.

Cleveland and Toledo ... ... ... 1061 4-
Francs, 3 days ... ... ... . 5.124 5.11.-}
do. 60 days ... .. .. 5.124 4 5.13 i 5.164
From the Iron Age we learn that there has been a better
reeling in the metal market. We quote :
Ingot Copper—ls now 23 to 234 c, with largo sales.
Pig Iron—A fair business has been done in American,

and prices are : For No. 1 extra, $34 to $36 ; No 2 extra,
$33 to $35 ; No. 2, $3O to $33. In Scotch there is but
little doing, and prices are, from yard, Coltness, $42 ; Gart-
sherrie, $4l; Ulengarnock, $39 to $lO ; Eglinton, $33.
Charcoal Pig Iron—Nos. 1 and 2, $45 to $5O ; Nos. 3
and 4, $BO to $65.
Bar Iron—Quiet.
Rails—Are firm, with a fair demand.
Scrap Iron—Quiet at $4O to 42k.
Old Rails --Quiet at $43.
Lead —ln fair demand, at 6 45 to 71c, gold, for invoice
lots.

Spelter—Large sales have been made, and the price is
now 61c, gold, for whole lots, with good demand.'
Bismuth—s 6 to $6 75.
Breadstuffs —The market for State and Western flour is
quiet, and the medium and good grades have declined 10c
to 15c. The sales are 6,200 bbls at $8 50 to $9 25 for su-
perfine State ; $9 80 to $lO 25 for common extra State ;
$lO 35 to $lO 75 for good to choice do ; $8 50 to $9 25 for
superfine Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, lowa, &c., and to $9 60
to $lO 25 for extra do.
Provisions Pork—The market is more active, and
prices aro steadily hold. We notice sales of 2,800 bbls
at $24 tos2l 12 for new wostern mess, cash regular way,
closing at $24 cash ; $22 93 to $23 10 for '66 to 67 mess ;
$lB to $l9 50 for prime and extra prime, and $2O to $2125
for prime moss. The afternoon market is very quiet at
'Change prices. New mess is quoted at $24 to $24 12.
Freights—To Liverpool, 500 bbls flour at 3s, 1,000 bales
cotton at 5-16 d, part compressed, and per steamer, 19,200
bush corn at 10d per 601bs ; 1,100 bales cotton at gd to
7-16 d. To Loudon, 1,000 bbls flour at 3s, and 1,000 bbls
do. on private terms. To Hamburg, per steamer, 20,000
bush. rye, on private terms. A brig to Cork for orders,
with 1,600 quarters grain at 6s 9d to 7s 3d.
Tin—lo moderate demand, at 24kc to 21i c for Straits ;
231 c to 231jc for English, gold, for whole lots.
Quicksilver--80c to 90c.

We put in our remarks as to matters last week, and
the article from Thomson's Bank-note Reporter then
omitted, as follows:—" want of anything of interest
here we quote the following as to the 'situation' finan-
cially from Thomson's Bank-note Reporter, which shows
that not only many are tinkering at a solution, but that
it has come to that pass that it is made ludicrous ; after
which we hope soon to see a wise, progressive policy,
in which the whole country can unite, believing they
will ore long see it is for the country's good : in fact, its
only salvation for years is that men and party issues
give way to principles of justice in the matter of finances."