The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1861-12-30

II
writer than President Davis might become
his subject.
But the par, OF the message which at thi.
moment ID especially tnterestin ng Is that which
rsi"rs to the seizure of the Confederate Com
missioners and the relations between the
Two repnhlics and the great Powers Of
Europe. tits plain that Mr. Davis discerns
Tue cloud which is forming on this side OF
the Atlantic. s.The claim OF the United States
70 se,ze them In the streets of London," says
PRESIDENT Davis, "would have been \ we'll
l fouaded as the seizure on bosrd the Trent I"
As FAR as We learn by telegraph, he does not
| presume TO give us advice or to say that We
are bound to demand reparation, bnt we
cannot help thinking tn at the probability Of
! rupture between England and the North
inspires the President to use high tone with
respect to foreign assistance. THE Con.
federates," says Mr.. Davis, "ask no aid from
foreign Powers" This is just ths language
| which new State must hold IL it wishes to
| give Its neighbors Sn excuse for recognizing
| Its Independence. The only considera ton
In such Gaze Is whether the commu unity
which demands to be recognized has the
| force and consistency which entitle it to re-
cogniton. Ii it be de facso nation, IL it
/ prove that it can main tain its own indepen.
denee, then other Governments are iusti fed
| IN comm unicattpg with 1t systematically,
| and treating it as a member Of the family OF
patiops. But If il calls on the world to help
1t, 1t does by this very act take away the
right Of neutral Powers to treat 1t as an
which it has revolted still has the power to
conquer it, and couseq uantly 1t is the duty
CT neutrals to consider it merely as province
in Il State ofipsurrection. President Davis
fully knows that no Euro pean State would
recognize his Government unless he dem and.
ed ~ rs a ruler capable of holding his own
position.
AS to the general course of events, in the
present hour OF suspense any ordinary news
from America must seem nst and unin terest-
ing. We feel that we are divided by great
gulf from the time before the out trage on the
Trent. The events OF the war which excited
our curiosity a fortnight ago now lose IAuch
OF their interest, since we kpow that their
import is now subordinate to q larger issue.
While the two parties are carrying on their
usual desultory warfare-this side BON bard
iag Confederate ses port, that side burninga
Federal town--we know that a message is on
its way from England to America, the recep-
tion of which may change the civil war into
great and worldwide struggle. Nothing
can in terest US now unless it relates TO the one
qnestion-Wili Messrs. Mason and SlideI! be
given up?
Everything that bears on this will be greedi-
~ read By the British public; every thing
that tends to show the temper OF the A.neri-
cans, or to give cine to the Intentions OF
their government, Will be minutely inyestt-
gated and discussed. Unhappily, the dis.
patches we publish to-day give little infor-
nation ON this point. SO far rs we are able
to judge from them, the Americans seem TO
be unconscious OF the tous cOntrOver.
an uneasy feeling prevails, but we cannot but
think that, ceing so accustomed to find the
British give way In similar cases, they will
in few days have taken it for gran ted that
every thing is right, and that after a little
grumhling England will acquiesce, not only
in what they have done, but in what they
announce their intention of doing
QuRzx vIcrok1A's pRocLAxArIoNs Against rnR
EXPORT OF WAR hArERIAL-wHAT BFFBcr
THEY MAY HAVE ON TH8 WAR.
From the London Post Government orgap)
Dec. 6,
The second royal proclamation, forbid.
ding the export of arms and other warlike
stores not included in the formeI, has fol-
lowed its predecessor not a day too soon.
With whatever view the Cabinet of Wash
ington has been engaged in buying up all our
pu- chasea bl cans of offence and defence,
after a fashion that Charles Dickens would
describe as t'wholesale, retail, and for export
aion.' Ey much or by little, whatever Was
to be obtained Tor money was about to be
purchased and shipped for America. Within
the Inst ten days an agent Of the Federal
Government is understood to have bought
mp three thousand tons of saltpetre, tn
chief component Of ganpowder; and this
was so much more than the whole amount
that London could supply that the A4neri-
can agent we believe, was Obliged to COM
plete his commission by contracting with
manufacturers Of this commodity in the
provinces. The export Of these three thou
sand tons was arrested by the former proc
Iamation, probably just in time.
Meanwhile, however, the American gov
ernment had been purchasing small arms on
a scale somewhat less vast, or with go much
more discretion, at least, that the fact had
NOT become notorious. Bat the neCsssi ties of
the Washington Cabinet proving more nr
gent, q fres b messenger is understood to have
been dispatched frcen New York in the Per.
sia which vessel arI wed In Liverpool only ON
Monday last I. Is believed that the latter
agent repaired Immediately to Birmingham,
w aYt al va nrha fnr ri
sion caps, lead for bullets, and other stores
Of war. These ar ticles, it will be seen, had
not been included Ia the interdict OF the for
mer proclamation, which had been issued
but q few days before the arrival of the Per-
sia. What the Immediate success of this
agents commission to the manufacturers in
Birmingham and elsewhere may have been
we do not know, hut II he were prepared TO
pay the cost in cash-which he was very
probably armed with the means of doing-it
may be assumed that no difficulty presented
itself in the completiono of the con tract so far
as the ma n ufacturers vera concerned.
Bnt so prompt and decisive has been the
action OF our Government, that before this
latter agent Of the Fedora. Cabinet had set
foot for forty eight hours ia this country, q
second proclaim alton has issued, forbiddiDg
the export of EARNS, am muni ition, percussion
ears III bes and leaf" This proclamation is
da.ed We ,nesday, Dec. i, and took the public
by surprise yes terday morning. But for this
rapid action, the goods in q aestion would
proba bly, have been shipped, so far as they
were ready prepared for use, by the end of
the week. The result is that this American
gentleman is thrown upon his beam ends, and
Will probably return to New York by the
next m all, with his cash in his pocket, and
leaving the coveted arms and ammunition on
English ground. rt f..
The object OF the Federal Government Ger.
tainiy cannot be logically proved to have
been that of preparation for hostlhties
against ourselves. II, indeed, it were clear
that this was their tive, the fact that their
earlier orders had been issued before they
had learned Of the San Iacinto affair would
render their conduct peculiarly ominous. 1t
is, of course, possible that theee immense or
Gers may have been dictated by the exigency
of their campaign against the Sou therners
They affect to keep an army of some thing
like half n million IN the field and although
we doubt whether throughout their civil war
so much blood has yet been shed as was shed
in single day at SoiferinO, the requirements
Of such an army, even in ammunition, must
still be cOp Siderable. The mann er, however,
in which the Federal Government has get to
work on the present occasion Is very unlike
support OF the civil war The one Gaze 1tk
fers frem the other rs much as q steamer mix.
ing In Goals for long voyage differs from
steamer supplying herself for river trip on
: The Northern government knew very we'll
that we sought no, rupture with them, and
that so long as tb cir conduct TO us WAS peace.
able they might rely upon making. from time
10 time, whatever purchases they pleased. -
The Atlantic was always open to them, ard
they had no more dread Of The few Confede-
rate vessels Of war on the ocean at one time
than a. another Moreover, they could read
lily send their stores of war On all occasions
under convoy. Nejther Is this country the
only one from which saltpetre Is to be had.
OF the twenty thousand tons which we annu-
ally import, some twelve thousand tons are
sent from India, and the remaining eight thos-
sand from Chile and Perm. The Sonth Amer
loan m arkets, which are thus extremely pro-
\ AQ. must -haYA hAAnsu q itA rs N ueh open to