The Sun.
London, England, 1845-12-23 00:00:00

bit3ll7ll 1,1

LONDON, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1845

The Message of President PoLx leaves no doubt
whatever of his views respecting the Oregon question.
lie re-asserts the claims put forth in his inaugural
address last session, and calls upon Congress to main-
tain them. The United States can accept nothing
short of the whole of the Oregon territory, and every
English subject must be expelled from the shores of
tl e Pacific, to make place for the Americans, who
alone are entitled to occupy the disputed ter.
ritory. This result is only what we antici-
pated, and the arrival of the long-winded do-
cument (nine columns in length), therefore, has
neither taken us by surprise, nor brought any
news for which we were not fully prepared. Any
person who has been watching with common obser-
vation the proceedings of the American Congress
for the last few years, must have been convinced
that they have determined to allow Europeans no
right to interfere in the arrangements made in
the New World, and that one of the great princi-
ples by which they are guided, is that there shall
be no balance of power throughout the whole length
and breadth of the American hemisphere. That
there may, however, be no mistake about Mr.
POLK'S intentions, we quote his own words :—" The
extraordinary and wholly inadmissible demands of
the British Government, and the rejection of the pro-
position made in deference alone to what had been
done by my predecessors, and the implied obligation
which their acts seemed to impose, afford satisfactory
evidence that no compromise which the United States
ought to accept can be effected. With this convic-
tion, the proposition of compromise, which had been
made and rejected, was, by my direction, subse-
quently withdrawn, and our title to the
whole Oregon territory asserted, and, as
is believed, maintained by irrefragable facts
and arguments." To the title of the
whole territory he firmly adheres, and calls upon
Congress to give.the required period—a year's notice
—that the mutual occupation shall cease preparatory
to the seieure of the whole of the Oregon. "A year's
notice," says he, "is required to be given by either
party to the other, before the joint occupancy shall
terminate, and before either can rightfully assert or
exercise exclusive jurisdiction over any portion of the
territory. This notice it would, in my judgment, be
proper to give ; and I recommend that provision be
male by law for giving it accordingly, and termi-
nating in this manner the' convention of the 6th of
August, 1827." There is no mistake about this, and
there can be none either about the steps to be taken
after the year has expired. There are only two alter-
natives—" the whole of the Oregon, or war." The pro-
position of England, according to his deliberate state-
ment, cannot fora moment be entertained by the United
States without an abandonment of their just and clear
territorial rights, their own self-respect, and their
national honour. The only sentence in which we
find the slightest semblance of molesty or diffidence
is, that iiwhich he submits his views to Congress,
which be does " with great deference," and adds,
should they in their wisdom devise any other mode
better calculated to accomplish the same object, "it
shall meet with my hearty concurrence ;" but he at
thelsame time tells them, that should they think pro-
P". to make provision for giving that notice, the
period at the close of the year will be come when the
national rights in Oregon must either be abandoned
or firmly maintained. Then comes the threat,
" they cannot be abandoned without a
sacrifice of both national honour and interest
is too clear to admit of a doubt." In other words,
" ifyou do not fight for the Oregon, you are miserable
poltroons—regardless alike of national honour and
national interest." We have given a more lengthened
outline of his long details on this affair than might
have been necessary, had it not involved a question of
war is'r peace between the two most commercial na-
tions in the world; and, from all that we can gather
from the Message, as well as from the constitution of
Congiess, the former seems the most probable result
of tfkg* preeent policy adopted by the legislative
bo lies,. as well as the Executive of the United
Sta'es Both the *Senate and the Lower House are

Detngeratic—that is, they side with the violent, the
encr6tching, the aggressive party, headed by TYLER
and RO6c, and reject the advice of the moderate Whigs,
under 'Abe guidance of that consistent patriot and
frienVof peace, DANIEL IVEBSTER. In th 3 Senate
there: is a majority of 6, and in the House a majority
of 77, in favour of Para and the violent party. Their
°hie4.il'aise -evident, and they make not the slightest
attemptete conceal them. Neither France nor Eng-
lan cl,"1161: any other European power, shall set foot
on AMerica, north or south, much less interfere in
any internal,regniations. Thaollowing extract, though
long,:,3ve. are compelled to give, in order to show

Til

The farce of election at Woodstock is only just
over, when Buckingham is called upon to enact a like
farce. Sir JOHN CHETWODE'S death has made a
vacancy in the representation of Buckingham, and
the Duke of that name will issue his mandate, which
will be obeyed. The Duke will hardly miss the
opportunity of sending his young hopeful to vote
against PEEL. A borough, indeed, is below the dig-
nity of the Duke's heir; and Lord CHANDOS, it is
well known, has been nursing for the county, which
his father rules equally with the borough. But these
are not times for stickling about dignity. When
monopoly is fighting for life, Lord CHANDOS must be
in the fight, even though he serve as a private. Bat
whether the Duke of BUCKING.HAM nominates Lord
CHANDOS, or a chimney-sweep, his command will
be obeyed.
Buckingham, like Woodstock, has about four hun-
ched electors. There are too many other instances
to show that such a constituency is far too small to
withstand the influence of a great Duke, or rich
neighbour. But if we are to have nomination, what
need of four hundred electors ? As things are, the
Reform Act has only done mischief in these cases. It
were better to: have Old Sarum, Gatton, and Corfe
Castle, back again, than a set of constituencies of
three, four, and five hundred, returning Members
under great men's influence, or through corruption.
It is misrepresentation in either case; and more con-
sciences are forsworn in Buckingham and Woodstock
than in any of the departed glories of schedule A.
The borough of Midhurst, in Sussex, has a con-
stituency of less than three hundred, and has been
represented, since the last general election, by Sir
HORACE SEYMOUR, doubtless a very respectable man,
but not known to us by any senatorial achievements.
The borough of Midhurst was, till lately, a Whig
borough. Mr. POYNTZ, the late proprietor, was a
Whig. Mr. PorriTz is dead, and his property has
gone to a daughter, who is married to Sir HORACE
SEYMOUR ; and Sir HORACE SEYMOUR is a Tory.
And so the three hundred electors of Midhurst have
all passed over from Whiggism to Toryism. Now
this Sir HORACE SEYMOUR, being a relation of the
Marquis of HERTFORD, is at present the sole candidate
in the field for the county of Antrim ; and he
will bid good-bye to the independent electors of
Midhurst, who, of course, will independently elect
some friend of Sir HORACE SEYMOUR'S to succeed
him. And this is the people's House !
When Lord JOHN RUSSELL defended his finality
views, in
a letter to the electors of Stroud, in 1839,
he thus explained the principles on which he pro-
posed the Reform Act. Like all his explanations, it
is very clear ; and we believe it to be stri tl l*-
C y app i
f
a reform of the representation of the people
cable to the present state of the representation :
appeared to me that there were two tbi_gsn to be
was that the Members of the House of
individually represent th
idonneot
"In proposing
they did not speak thee people,
83 o f
theth e
proveditoamlwn lany;n ssth
de
people.
other that, collectively,
" Had the first branch of this argument failed, there was
an end of the question. But it did not, and could not fail;
on the contrary, it was admitted that Peers and other pro_
prietors, named without control, at their own caprice, a great

We have named above twenty-four nomination
boroughs. Not one of them has so many as five
hundred electors ; several of them are under three
hundred. They return thirty.four Members, thirty-
three of whom are monopolists. This goes some little
way towards drowning the voice of the people, and
we have only mentioned some of the nomination
boroughs, and have not counted the landlord-ridden,
counties.

Accounts from Madrid of the 15th announce the
election of M. CASTRO Y °RASES to the Presidency
of the Congress of Deputies by 74 votes to 58 given
to M. Pecusco, the Opposition candidate. Of the
Vice-Presidents three are Ministerial ; the fourth,
M. SALAMANCA, belongs to the Opposition.

Accounts from Paris of Sunday announce the ad-
udication of the Paris and Lyons, and the Creil and
St. Quentin Railways, which took place on Saturday.
For the Paris and Lyons the only company that
offered was that of LAFFITTE, GANNERON, BARILLON,
and BAUDRAN, but as they demanded a lease of 421
years, and the Government maximum was one year
less, their offer was rejected. A Council of Ministers
it appears was held on Saturday evening, when it
was agreed that the Minister of Public Works should
accept a new proposition of M. LAFFITTE and Co.,
to take the line on the terms offered by Govern-
ment, namely for forty-one years and ninety days.
The concession was therefore made to that
company. For the Creil and St. Quentin line.
ROTHSCHILD and Co. were the successful bidders.
The following were the offers of the different com-
panies :—ROTHSCHILD, HOTTINGUER, LAFFITTE, and
Company offered to take it for 25 years, 11 months ;
CAnRETTIS and MINGUET for 38 to 40 years; COL-
BERT and Co., for 36 years ; ARDOUIN for 43 years.
The CORMS& Company did not bid.
Another Cabinet Council had been summoned for
Sunday, to meet at the Tuileries, when the royal
speech at the opening of the Chambers on Saturday
next would be submitted to his MAJESTY. The ICING
and Royal Family returned to Paris on Saturday
for the season. According to accounts from the
provinces, several of the rivers had risen in
a most remarkable manner, without any apparent
cause. On Friday the Rhone had risen to such a
height as to overflow several of the quays and streets
of that city, and consequently occasion much alarm.
The rise was already greater than that of 1842, and
was said to be increasing. This state of things was
very extraordinary, as the quantity of rain that had
fallen was not very great. The Saone was also rising.
On Thursday, at twelve o'clock, the Seine rose to
the height of 4 metres 60 centimetres by the scale
on the Pont Royal. The piles of the Pont du Ca.
rousel are completely covered, and the quays over.
flowed, so that all the goods upon them have neces-
sarily been removed, and business is at a stand.
The Funds, influenced by the firmness of our
market on Friday, improved on Sunday. The Three
per Cents. were done at 81f. 75c.; Lyons " defini-
tives" were at 85f. premium; Northerns at 7271 f. to
730 f.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCIIANGZ, Dim 22.
Anglo-Belgian — Madrid and Taleneia...
Barba does
Boulogne and Amiens.. 3 Namur and Liege
Bordeaux &Mediterran North Jamaica
' Bordeaux and 'realms@ Orleans and 'Curzon ..
Do. & Cette (Espeleta) Orleans and Bordeaux 1014
be. ( Mackenzie's) .. Oyer rssel
Callao, Lima, and Pa- Paris & Lyons (Lalitte) 2%
cifle Coast
Central of Spain
Ceylon . — Ditto (Sad Est)
Demerara
Dendre Valley ........ . Paris and Rouen
Dutch Rhenish ...... 7 Paris and Strasburg
Dieppe & Paris Janet. (Gannereses) - 2
Dijon and Mulhouse Do. (Comp* de L'Est)
East Indian ........ Do. (Aymard's) 214
Fampoux & Hazehreuk Paris and St. Quentin —
Grt Northern of France Rouen and Havre —
Constituted 13% ,Royal North of Spain.
Do. Pepin is Hallour — Sambre and Manse ....
Great Paris and Lyons — Strasburg and Bale .... 9%
Great Western Bengal Tournay,Jurbise, Lan-
Great Western Canada den, and Hasselt ...
Jamaica S. Mid. Junction Tours and Nantes
DcNortn Midland — (Mackenzie's)
Do. Extension
Loava ey
in and Jemappe l% Trinidad 'Neill's)
Lyoss and Avignon.... (West
and Ancona —
Luxenilleurg

PRIVY COUNClL.—Summonses were issued yester-
day afternoon to all the members of Sir R. Peel's
Cabinet to attend a Privy Council this afternoon at
Windsor Castle, and a special train for the convey-
ance of the official party was ordered on the Great
Western Railway at one o'clock. The meeting of
Parliament will, it is expected, be settled at the
Council. One or more of the members of Sir R.
Peel's Ministry will complete their resignation by
delivering to her Majesty the seals of office

THE RIVER PLATE.
(From the Times.)
LIVERPOOL, MONDAY EVENING.
Accounts from Monte Video to the 31st October hare
been received per Resistance troop ship.
The advices are of considerable importance. We
annex extracts from private advices :
" MONTE VIDEO, OCT. 30 AND 31.
" There is no prospect of an immediate settlement
of the war here. The British and French have not a
sufficient land force to enable them to rout Oribe and
drive him from the country, and it would be of no avail
merely to expel him from his encampment at the Cer-
rito ; and it is generally understood here that the
Ministers will wait the arrival of forces from Europe
before commencing any active operations by land.
Proposals have recently been made to them by Rosa*
through Mr. Mareuillthe late French Chargé d'Affaires,
offering to accept the terms which the Ministers pro-
posed in the month of May ; but I am informed that
they now require further concessions, and more than all,
a guarantee for the fulfilment on the part of the Buenos
Ayres Government of any compact which might be
made, which is virtually saying that they will not treat
with General Rosas. This is the first instance which I
recollect in which Rosas has been the proposer of terms
of accommodation vv ith his adversaries ; his system does
not admit of concessions, and his making them under
present circumstances is considered an evidence of weak
ness and alarm.

" There are accounts from Rio Grande, apparently of
an authentic character, is hich state that the Government
of Paraguay had declared war against Roses, and that
some part of Urqueza's forces had been defeated by the
Correntinos. If there be any truth in this statement, it
would seem that Rosas is attempting an invasion of the
province of Corrientes."

Merchant-vessels about to proceed up the Parnua
should repair without delay to the island of Martin Ga-
vira, where they will receive the necessary instructions
for the continuation of their voyage from some of the
vessels of war destined to form part of the expedition
up that river.

Letters from Rio Grande, of 20th October, announce
as a fact the declaration of war by Paraguay against
Roses.

The Marquis of Headfort's second son, Lord Robert
Taylor, has entered the Household Brigade as Ensign and
Lieutenant in the Scotch Fusilier Guards.
The Marquis of Ailsa is indisposed at his villa, St.
g'et's, near Richmond.

' proportion of the Members of the House of Commons.
Accordingly, when I once moved for a Committee to ascer-
tamed the facts respecting the nomination boroughs, Mr.
Canning said it was unnecessary, the guilt was admitted,
the facts alleged were not denied.
" There remained, however, the other portion of the ques-
tion. Did the House of Commons virtually represent the
people ? For if the people were in effect represented, why
should sober men resort to an extensive change merely to
introduce a theoretical improvement, from which no practical
advantage was to be derived ?
" It was, therefore, necessary to show that in fact the de-
cisions of the House of Commons were not in conformity
with the general sense of the people. In order to do this, I
contrasted the votes of the small borough Members, with
those of the representatives of counties and large cities upon
several important questions. The result was that the
known representatives of the people were in direct opposi-
tion to the majority of the House of Commons."
And the two branches of this by no means revolu-
tionary argument may be equally sustained in 1845,
Will any one say that great proprietors do not
now, capriciously and without control, nominate
a large proportion of Members of the House
of Commons ? Is it not so at Buckingham,
Woodstock, Midhurst, Chippenham, Cirencester, Dor-
chester, Huntingdon, Lymington, Marlborough,
Marlow, Ripon, Thetford, Reigate, Arundel, Wilton,
Abingdon, Christchurch, Eye, Horsham, Launceston,
Malmesbury, Westbury, Great Grimsby, St. Ives,
and many other places which might be named? The
county elections are now almost universally in the
hands of a few great proprietors. But the other day
Lord WARWICK made a county Member of his son
with the same care that he would appoint his bailiff
and Antrim, solicited by Sir HORACE SEYMouR,
now invitesattention to the popular character of Irish
county elections.