The Sun.
London, England, 1842-09-19 00:00:00

SPIRIT of the PUBL.tt.; JOURNALS•

FROM THE DALLY PAPERS 01 SATURDAY

TIM ES.—We yesterday observed that we
found a difficulty in accounting for Lord Ashbur-
ton's cession to the American Government of the
navigation of the St. John's, We are sorry to
sec our view confirmed by the tone taken by an
American paper, as quoted by our correspon-
dent :

" The honour of the United States," says the jour-
nalist, "and that of Maine, has been completely satis-
fi.il by the manner in which Great Britain has treated
—harnely„ as if-she had no right to the territory in
pestion, but sought to acquire what was useless to us,
by an offer of a full equivalent. Th•-• two-thirds of the
territory retained by Maine is made by the cession of
therightto navigate the St. John's of at least as much
value in a pecuniary point of view as the whole terri-
tory without that right." _ _

INTovv, if thk btateinent stood alone on the un-
supported dietim of an American newspaper,
we certainly should place little reliance upon
ii. It is plainly the interest of those Ame-
rican statesmen who have negotiated this
treaty to persuade their countrymen that
they have •‘ done the Britishers ;" and we
could easily believe that this assertion of
the low ground taken by the English
Plenipotentiary was of a piece with the affecta-
tion of Mr. Webster (we would willingly avoid
the appearance of disrespect to that able states-
man, but we can call it no less), of having under-
stood Lord Ashburton to apologise fin- the burn-
ileg of the Caroline. We Arlin, however, that
the results of the negotiation, as animadverted
on in our yesterday'S paper, had more distinctly
negatived this American journalist's assumption.
Such a snspirion it Would certainly have been
difficult to avoid. For how stands the whole
ca=d! In honour and equity- we have nut the
smallest doubt of the justice Of our claims to the
uttermost inch. Not so, howevor- ir we are t')
by the " bond." An untbrtatuate ambiguity
in the treaty, arising from the gross ignorance or
clumsiness of those who had to arrange its terms,
lia,3 laid us Open to a very plausible, though far
frrnii COM:11161V°, counterclaim, which of course
the Americans. when discovered, lost no time in
setting up. We do not hesitate to say that the
present settlement is flu- better, as indeed almost
anything must have been better, than the late
precarious state of thiogs—a state of things
while leaving a castess help unsettled,
allowed the United States quietly to concentrate
their strength, and strike at any moment at Nvhicli
they might find us embarrassed by disturbances
ter aisaffeetion itt Canada. We have hal one les-
son on this subject, am! One lesson is enough.
So far at least we cannot he wrong in Collgrattr-
littill'XOUrtiClVeS on the issue of Lord Ashhurtun's

nitssion.
CII RONICLE.—If we wish to guard against
the repetition of such disorders as have recently
oceurred iu the manufacturing districts, we must
do something to better the physical arid moral
condition or the working-classes. If we cannot
remove the desire for political changes, at least.
let us take care that severe and general distress
shall as seldom as possible inflame the working-
people into having recourse to violence, in order
to get the inanagearentaf public affairs into their
own hands. •The recent disorders are full of
manning ou this subject. They originated in dis-
tress; they'were laid hold of by political agita-
tors, and turned to the account of Chartism.
Their origin and the direction subsequently given
to them are alike obvious on the very face of the
occurrences which took place. The first signal for
disturb-Ince wad given by the reduction of wages.
The men combined to resist this, left their work,
aod congregated together. Then it was that, hope-
leas ofany other remedy, they flaw to the. Charter
as the one general means of redressing all griev-
ances. The combination, which in the present
day exists among all classes of workmen, extended
this movement even to some of the few of those
who were at the moment subjected to no parti-
cular pressure. But the disorders spread gene.
rally, because there was general distress. They
assumed the most violent form where the work-
men had some peculiar grievance, as was the case
in Staffordshire; and among those classes of
workmen, wl:o happened by especial good for-
tune to be exempted from the general pressure,
:etch as the Durham and -Northumberland col-
liers, no acts or influence of agitators could pro-
duce any movement at all. And this is just what
we may- look to in future. Mere political feel-
ing will not (fbr a long time at least) lead the
working classes, when in full employ at good •
wages, to make any movement for altering the
present constitution of the country ; but what.
we have to dread is that, whenever they feel
themselves pinched, they will organise them-
:wives in growingly formidable combinations for
the attainment of political power, and keep the
country, in constant alarm by their attempts to
extort universal suffrage. If, therefore, the go-
Awning- class in this country wish to save all that
most dear to them from the ruin consequent
on a,. premature and violent establishment of
universal zinffrage, or front constant attempts to
attain that. object, of which the repetition would
prove almost as ruinous as their success itself,
they must henceforth be vigilant in preventing
the physical condition of the masses from be
coining so desperate as to provoke them to make
any movement for constitutional changes. In
fact, they must so govern that the masses shall
not be led to think that they could ameliorate
their own lot by getting the management of af-
fairs into their own hands.
POST.—It is monstrous to assume that a few
hundred cotton-manufacturers represent and in-
clude the great mereantileconammity of Britain.
We would give to the cotton-marmateturers all
the weight in determining the policy of the em-
pire to which their number, their capital, arid
their character entitle them. But they are only
one section of the connnercial world, and even
of this section it is the most proveably worthless
and narrow-minded members who are so active
in endeavouring to agitate the public mind
axainst the little that is left of the wise old na-
tional system which enabled our fathers to be-
queath to us the wealth and power that modern
doctrines have partly trifled out of our hands.
We 'ought by all means to promote the pros-
perity of our commerce and shipping. But even
here the tbreign cotton trade is less fruitfnl, of
benefits than ninny other branches of commerce.
For instance, the mauuthetured cotton
goods
sent by us to time lar!;est of our foreign cus-
tomers are conveyed to the place of their desti-
nation not ita British, but almost exclusively
its tbreign bottoms. Thus, instead of nourish-
Mg the source from which the English navy
may be recruited, we here find the threiien
cotton, tirade rearing up a rival to our olden
supremacy on the ocean. Not so with the colo-
nial trade. TiMber front Canada, ruin and sugar
from the West Indies, fish from Newfoundland,
&c. &c., are brought to us by British sailors in
British ships, arid the return cargoes are remitted
through the same carrying medium. We go not
to disparage the importance of the fbreign woven
goods trade. Let it count Ibr what it is worth,
but, after all, it is within ourselves—within the
prodigious extent of our own empire—we must
look for the true means of restoring and further
developing mercantile prosperity. We are
avowed friends of protection for all parties—for
einployers, and ernoloved—fin• farming and mer-
cantile industry,. 'We attribute no small share
"r the late and the present 'distress the mire-
msictea manner
brisk itess"':_ia w n ,
I 'eh during a flush of
owners arc allow:A trade the. northern mill-
eitor
death interests of teusloytfatull4;uesrl. tlivoll.-tshotfhoepleirfea-taivneds:.
• ADVERT IS ER_
red yesterday a
document of the very hi,ei pl•blish
interest and
oeatcedress of the
importance. It was `lestthe' public
Council
of the National Coin
" Reformers of :1-"2l.rage Union to
address
of opinion."
In two points of view this
cot
itca's.s is worthy of
the utinost admiration. It
nothing at
which the foes of Reform may },earl',
it arms
at a practical 2 solid, elearly-deeZiand
afirgar.eform
spirit above reproach, stern, elevated, object,a' din a
guardeidarrpionsitie:;:bayliti
4)ikeisive truly against violence. se,ki-tia,- on the
in the institutions, it is -yet
ticousti tutionality of proceeding or
there can be no doubt that in virtual
amid result it will succeed in establishing a. reall..
House of Commons in the place of the present
mock one, and for this let Whigs and Tories be
prepared. It is the-wish of the Council that a
" National Conference," composed of represeuta-
6y:ea from all parts of the kingdom, be held at
Birmingham on the .27th of December next, a
wi,ll to which all Staunch :Reformers and real
friends of time popular cause will assuredly re-
spond,'when, as it is easy to foresee, such an ex-
pression of the general 'NM will take place as
shalt serve to teach the oppressors of the
•eountry that a veritable reign of justice is at
baud to supersede ancient monopolies and tyran-
nies Whatever is to be done, 'however, is to be
effected only through legal rCa ns, and for
national, " contradistinetron to personal or
party, purpose-:. • But in the election of repro-
SCSI tUtiVeS, to meet in such a Conferenee," says
the Address, "' all
party spirit must he ex-
chided, all efforts for forcing iadividual views
through the power of tutinbers must be avoided;
a victory obtained by such intolerant overbearing
ohieete-that of
policy, wool ci be defeat to 0111.
haring;iirAky couvtituted National Conference,
a -Infdyriex n all shades of Reformers amongthd ,„,a4„,,, working classes may, place coo_
fidenCe,',7-a lit der whose- peaceful -and legal
guidarsti• unitedly contend till we have
secured. essing and fruits of freedono ,