Loudon free press. (Loudon, Tenn.) 1852-1855, 1854-02-21
From the Manchester England Guardian.
AR AND ITS EFFECTS UPON TRADE.


probabilities to anticipate that war can now be
avoided. The western powers have done their
utmost to maintain peace; and the Srltan and
his advisers, even during the time when their
arms were crowned with victory, and when they
appeared to be making rapid strides, both in
| Asia and the prncipaIties, have never failed to
listen, with dignity and respect, to the councils
! Of the great European powers, whose desire 1t
was to maintain peace, and to acquiesce IN eve
| ry proposal which was consistent with the hon
! or and independence of Turkey, with a view to
attain that end. If therefore, we are to have
war, there can be no misunderstanding as to
what shall beheld responsible in the eyes of the
world and of posterity. The responsibility
which viii rest on the head of The Russian En-
peror will be greater than any one sovereign
! Efnes Eapzleaa faa<dernd to assure ltesacfs
i n d,recf opposition to s1e advice of all his al
lies. and even of those whose feelings and inter
! eets are most identified with those of Rnssia.-
Prussia as well as England, Austria as well as
France, all equally condemn the course which
/ Russia appears determined, at all hazards, to
pmsue The butchery at Sinope has obviously
brought the question of peace or war to the ne
! cessity Of an immediate decision. The French
government has authoritatively published to the
world the orders for the combined fleets to enter
the Black Sea, consequent upon the event
The electric telegraph has already announced
the fact, that at this moment, the combined
fleets Of England and France occupy what the
! Car has stated he regard as Russian lake
! The object of this step has been openly avoweG
! by France and England to the Russian court
to be nothing less Or more than to keep the
! Russian ships within their own ports. and to
! prevent another disaster such as that which oc.
.curred at Sinope. Russian has already sta
Il =. /
| as a declaration Of war,-as an active interfer-
ence in the hostiiities which are at this moment
existing between that power and Turkey; and
we must own that we caEnot see how any other
construction can be Placal uponit IF two states
are at open war with each other it is impossible
to make distinction betN cen oplr r4tions by land
and by sea. And if other states take part in
| the latter, 1t would follow that they are immedi-
ately implicated as partisans in the common
| hostilites. 1t remains yet to be seen what reply
the Emperor of Russia will return to the mott
/ fcaton Of France and England thus made: but
/ both in Paris and in London it is fully expec-
ted that the ambassadors Of Russia will be with
drawn and open rupture proclaimed. If there
remained any doubt Of these consequences fol-
! lowing from that cause, there seems to be none
with respect to the treatment which the note
sent by the four powers from Vienna will re-
ceive at the hand Of the Russian Government
If then, war be inevitable, the first and most
important question to this neghborhood is, the
effect which is likely to be produced upon the
! commerce of the country. 1t would be a great
error to Judge Of the present times by the past.
The impression which the experience of half
century ago has left upon mems minds as to
the effect Of u1lr upon the trade OF the country
would be a very imperfect criteran of what is to
! be expected now. At that time a continental war
was SYNONYMOUS with the closing of the conti-
mental trade. At that time our ships could not
sail to anv part of the world except in fleets un-
/ der CONVOY. 1t is true that these crcumstan-
ces were as much the result of the character of
the war as of the existence of the war ITSELF
| But in both these respects, a war now underta-
! ken by England and France against Russia will
differ widely as possible from those which affec-
ted the war fifty years ago. All the rest of Eu-
rope is now with u.s. The United States must
svmpathise ifnot cooperate with US in the strug-
| gle against Russia. The Black Sea and the
! Baltic will be only porsi ions of the ocean where
! cur ships may not during such war, pass
/ with the little interruption as they DO now. In
! the Black Sea, even, the only port which Rus
sia could hold lor week after the commence
ment of hostiHties will be that Of Sebastopol.
where no trade whatever is carried on. Odes-
sa, on the contrary, the great trading port,
would be imposseSsi0n of the combined fleets
! on our first approach. We shall have assfree an
! ingress and egress for our merchant ships as at
present In the Baltic we shall have equal
access, as at present, to every port except those
of Russia, which will be effectually blockaded.
Whatever naval force, therefore, Russia can
muster, will be as much confined to her own
ports as if they formed part of her terra-frma
! Beyond the blockading lines IN front of Sebas-
! topol, in the Black Sea, and on the Russian
cost in the Baltic, English ships may trade as
freely as they do now So far, then, the only
portion ofour commerce that can possibly be
affected will be that with Russia.
But even with Russia, in the event of war, it
will be difficult, if not impossible, to impede
any part of our trade. The seaports may be
closed; but the enormous land frontier will be
open. Already the high tariff of Russia causes
a large share of the British manufactures con-
sumed in the country to be smuggled across
the land frontier from Germany. Any further
impediment thrown in the way of trade by the
blockade of the seaports, will only increase that
channel ofsupply. No doubt the cost may be
increased, and the demand may be correspond
! ingly dimished; but those viii be evils which
will chiefly fall upon the subject of Russia
! Again. so far as regards the supply of the raw
produce which we require from Russa;-in the
! first place Odessa will be open to us. But, even
/ independent of that, we have little fear that the
produce of Russia will not find its way across
the land frontier into the neighborirg provinces;
and that by means Of canal and river naviga-
| ton, and by aid of the cheap continental rail.
ways, it will reach our shores in nearly the or
dinary quantities.
Still, so far as regards the great trading inter
ests of the country, no war could be undertaken
which could possibly interfere so little with
them. Our great American trade, no rth and
south, our colonial trade throughout the world,
our Australian, Indian, and China trade, and
even our trade with the whole continent of Eu-
rope, the Russia only partially excepted; may
go on exactly as heretofore, without the slightest
impediment, and without the slightes increased
risk; while every port belonging to Russia will
/ be hermeticay sealed and every ship she pos
sesses within them. No doubt Russia may grant
letters of ofmarque, but it will be difficult to find
those who will be daring enough to make use
of them under the circumstaces we have descri-
! bed.
On the whole, therefore, while we deeply de-
plore the stern necessity, when appears to have
come upon us at last that we must take up
arms in earnest in defence of rights common to
the whole of Europe, we are yet satisfied that
we have comparatively little to apprehend that
will be injurious to our trade, in comparison
with the Importance of such an event.