THE EFFECTS OF A EUROPEAN WAR ON THE UNITED STATES. (From the New York Weekly Herald, August 2.)

Daily Southern Cross, Volume X, Issue 681, 6 January 1854, Page 4

THE EFFECTS OF A EUROPEAN WAR ON THE UNITED STATES. (From the New York Weekly Herald, August 2.)

The ' Asia' is in ; and political affairs are in statu quo. What if there be war? What if England, piqued beyond all endurance by the taunts of Russia, and resolutely determining to carry out the July treaty to the letter, should sail through the Dardanelles and place the ports on the Black Sea under an embargo ? What if Russia, blind to the sage counsels of Ncsselrode, and led by the nose by the fiery advocates of the national party, should refuse to take back the gauntlet she has thrown down, and cross the Danube as she crossed the Pruth? What if France, always ready for war, should overrun Belgium, while her fleet co-operates with England at Odessa ? What, in short, if all Europe, tired of monotonous tranquility, and wearied of the prosaic blessings of peace, should plunge headlong into the vortex of war? There is nothing chimerical or even speculative in the enquiry. We put the question as we would ask whether flour is on the decline, whether the cotton crop will be short, whether freights are likely to rise— all of them occurrences fairly possible, if not probable, and legitimate topics of inquiry. We see the national equilibrium of Europe already overturned; we hear a direct defiance of its two greatest powers by a third ; we behold an unequivocal attempt to upset existing treaties, and a cltar menace of a fresh Cossack occupation. With these facts staring us in the face, and a tolerably sure confidence that France and England are not so utterly fallen as to resign without a struggle their boasted supremacy on the continent, we look upon a war as a probable if not an inevitable contingency, and we ask : What effect would it have upon us ? How would the United States be affected by a general burst of hostilities in Europe ? A similar enquiry, addressed to any other nation than this, would require a two-fold answer. European Powers would be affected, politically as well as commercially, by a general war. Incapable of- remaining neutral, their national existence

would involve a participation, more or less active, either with the victors or the vanquished. Fortunately for us, the fundamental principles of our foreign policy protect us from the perilous consequences of " entangling alliances " We have no concern, politically, with the internal disputes of Europeans, and could look with indifference on any modification of their present territorial divisions. If Turkey were absorbed to-morrow, it is doubtful whether our interest in the operation could be appreciated in words and figures. A division of the county of Middlesex or Lancashire would affect us as materially. But, as one of the greatest commercial nations of the globe — as the greatest producer of the staples of life — as the great purveyor and one of the greatest customers of Europe — our commercial interests would be deeply involved in a European war. Our tr. de would feel its effects as directly as if we were ranked among the belligerents. Just as a merchant participates in the fluctuations of trade which affect the firms with which he does business, we, who deal with England, France, and other continental nations, would share in the net results of a war by which their commerce would be injured. Our share would, of course, be widely different from theirs. It is difficult to perceive wliat immediate benefit either England or France would derive from a war. Their interest lies obviously on the side of peace, and though they may be forod into hostilities, these could only be, at best, but a lesser calamity, voluntarily incurred in order to avoid a greater. With us the case is different. A European war would come to us freighted with advantage as well as injury. We do not mean to assert that the one would equipoise the other ; but merely that, on the face of it, one branch — 'and a most important one — of our export trade would be directly benefitted by a European war. We need not say that we allude to the trade in breadstuff's. The movement which took place a month ago in the corn market in London, is a fair -symptom of what might be expected from a distinct declaration of war. On that occasion, tho news of a short crop in France caused a rise in flour of from one shilling to two shillings per barrel. We can easily infer from this what would be the consequence of the closing of Odessa and the Levant and Baltic ports. It may be wonh while, if the crisis becomes more \ imminent hereafter, -to turn to the trade and navigation tables, and calculate what proportion j of the corn consumed in Great Britain is derived from Riga, Petersburg, Archangel, and Odessa. For the present, it will suffice to remind the reader that the quantity imported from thence is so large as to exercise a very considerable influence over the market. The source stopped, this amount would require to be drawn from us; and it would not be surprising if, under the influence of the increased demand, our exports of wheat and flour to Great Britaiu amounted to ten millions of dollars, or about double their value, as given in the last tables. This would, of course, afford a powerful incentive to our agriculture. But it is obvious that this benefit would be accompanied by injuries to our trade, of a more general and lasting nature. In the first place, cotton would receive a severe. blow; and all those concerned in the growth or traffic of the staple would suffer heavy loss. Our Mediterranean trade would be crippled. The panic which would reign on the London 'Change and the Paris Bourse would react upon us. Money would rise in price, and financial operations would be straitened. English and French merchants, compelled to curtail their dealings, would buy less from us than they now do. increased taxation — the necessary accompaniment of war — would have a very injurious effect on the manufacturing districts, and we should be compelled to pay more for the manufactured articles which we now import from England. The results of the last French revolution are within the memory of all our mercantile readers; a European war, necessitating increased levies of men and money, would produce like, if not more fatal effects. Twenty or twenty five millions would not cover the deficit it would cause in our trade with France. England would bear a war tax better; but, proportionately, the fall in the funds and the tightness in the money market would be even greater. Some few private individuals might possibly see in a war new inducements to seek investments in America; but the necessities of government would assuredly monopolize the great bulk of tho floating capital. Distrust and want of confidence — the most formidable foes to stable trade — would soon reign triumphant in Boston, Philadelphia, and New York ; and our merchants might possibly experience considerable reluctance in supplying even the diminished demand which would offer. Such are a few of the inconveniences to which we should be subjected in the event of a European war.

Otter-iiunting in tiif Almond. — Owing to a timely notice 1 had from a friend in the secret of the Duke of Artholl's intention to hunt the Almonds water for otter, I found myself at Cramond Bridge at 7 o'clock on the morning of Friday the 6th, and a bright sunny morning it was. I had hardly arrived when I saw a party winding down the road to the bridge, consisting of half a dozen kilted huntsmen, with scarlei hunting shirts, and thirteen or fourteen couple of otter hounds — fine shaggy fellows, with long ears, showing a dash of southern blood. They drew the bank up the Edinburgh side of the river. We had not gone two miles before they opened with that deep tone which I believe is peculiar to the otter hounds, which told us that our quarry was at home, or had not long gone out. They were wipped off, however, for tho present, and we drew the same side of the river till we came to a bridge at the extremity of the Craigehall property, then down the Linlithgow bank, till the hounds gave tongue again at the very spot they had marked before. They were not encouraged to hunt every part were an otter might be hid ; and no easy matter either, for the water had undermined the bank for somo distance. After a good deal of busy work, we were electrified by a hollo from the other side, which were the otter had been viewed by one who knew all the tricks of the river, all eyes watching for the bells on the water, the first sign of the whereabouts of the otter. Now ail was excitement, as the hounds, in full and most musical chorus, dashed and swam through pool and shallow after their game, to them, as to us, for the most part invisable ; and frequent view halloos showed that the object of our chase was getting exhausted, and could not remain much longer under water. It was pretty to mark how the staunch old hounds of the pack hunted 'on their own hook, 1 and were not led in thair course, like the puppies, either by the baying of the other dogs, or by the shouting of the huntsmen. At length all attention was drawn to one part of the river on the Edinburgh side, where the determined full cry of some trusty old hounds disclosed the retreat of the enemy, under a deep overhanging bank, lined with willow. Two huntsmen, jumping into the water, found him engaged tooth and

nail with two or three of the dogs, atid their bleeding tongues and noses showed he had made no bad fight of it ; but he had fearful odds against him, and at length the huntsmen got Iheir hands on him (no spears a^e allowed in this pack), but then the difficulty was to tear him from the teeth of the hounds, the wild success and blood. Every member of the pack seemed determined to have a tug at him ; they came tumbling one over another in the water, and it must have been a hard skin that did not give way in their clutches. Then the body of the otter, rescued from the grip of the hounds, was suspended on the end of a pole, supported by two huntsmen— one cf them a tall-looking fellow, showing to great advantage in his kilt and hunting shirt — and the whole pack came yelling round, fierce with excitement from the exulting shouts of huntsmen, and nearly tore their shirts to pieces in their endeavours to make their shoulders a stepping stone to their prey, the otter. So ended our cliasse. It was a lively and exciting scene even to one like myself, new to the sport. The master of the hounds, wearing the same dress with the huntsmen, and only distinguishable from them by the hunts and habits of the animals was most courteous to us interlopers. — Edinburgh Courant. llolyhead New Harbour. — The following description is given of this great undertaking, which is under the direction of Mr. Rendel :— "It was commenced in 1 849, and it is intended to secure a total area of 300 acres for the purpose of an harbour, two- thirds of that space having a minimum depth of seven fathoms at low water, Accommodation will thus be provided for about 300 vessels of all classes, including 70 men-of-war as large as the "Duke of Wellington." The north or great breakwater will be 5,000 feet long and 170 feet wide, and of immense work 4,000 feet have already been completed to low water mark — 3,500 feet of it being from fourteen to fifteen feet above high water. The depth at low water thus filled up is forty-five to forty-eight feet, and some idea may be formed of the magnitude of this mole from the fact that the stone, which surmounts it is about eighty feet above the foundation. The smaller, or eastern breakwater, which protects the harbour on the landwater side, will be 2,100 feet long, and 1,000 feet of it have already been formed, in a depth of thirty feet at low water, and to a width of 100 feet. Since 1841), when the works were begun, 2,400,000 tons of stone, in blocks varying in weight from ten tons downwards, have been deposited in the sea, and the rate at which this gigantic operation is carried on is paid to be from 22,000 to 27,000 tons per week, and from 4,000 to 5,000 tons per day." The quarries that supply this immense mass of stone are said to realise the fabulous stories of mountains removed and cast into the sea. As much as four tons of powder is frequently exploded in them at one blast. The rate of progress is 250 times greater than it was in the Plymouth breakwater. This great economy of time has been effected by the use of piled stages carrying railways, which, projecting boldly into the sea, present a mechanical arrangement for conductng the operatious at once simple, convenient, and independent both of tides and wind. The contract under which the harbour is being constructed contemplates an expenditure of about £800,000, and the outlay so far is under four hundred thousand pounds. Artificial Propagation op Fish in France. — It does not belong to us to pronounce on the origin of this discovery, or on the relative merits of the methods proposed by Eemy and Gehin, the fishermen of the Gosges, -which M. Coste has explained, or of that carried into effect by M. Millet, Inspector of Water and forests, attached to the general direction of Paris ; we leave this task to special men ; but what we take pleasure in stating the results obtained. It is certain that it will soon be possible, by means of pisciculture, to produce every year innumerable quantities of fish. Thus it is affirmed that, by the method of M. Millet, a single workman or labourer can, with an annual expense of Bf. or 10f., fecundate and cause the production of several hundred thousand fish of all kinds. The public administration has fully understood the importance of this discovery. In consequence, the director-general of the administration of Waters and Forests, by a decree of the 28th January, 1853, instituted a commission charged to him to make him a report on the subject. This commission, composed of M,M. de St. Oven, Becquet, and Antheaulme, eminent functionaries of the Departments of Forests, has fulfilled its mission, and has set forth the result in a report dated the sth March, 1853 This repWt demonstrates the advantages of the system of artificial fecundation followed by M. Millet, and it* declares that it can be applied to navigable water courses without embarrassing the ordinary service, and without ( burdening the budget. The finest rivers of France only produce the tenth, and frequently even only the 20th of what they might produce, if the protection and fecundation of the eggs annually deposited by fish were secured, and if the propagation of good soris were promoted. The Commission is of opinion that, in order to obtain the greatest useful production possible, the waters ought to be regulated as the forests are. It consequently thinks that, in order to take advantage of the eggs of good sorts of ffsh, the organisation of a service destined to prepare, according to the method of Inspector Millet, the re-stocking of the principal watercourses under the control of the administration of Forests should be at once commenoed. The diminution of fish commenced long ago, and has incessantly continued; it principally arises from the destruction of eggs by the manufactories established on water-courses, by works for the improvement of such water-courses by inundations, and lastly, in our days by steamers. These variours courses of destruction threaten to lead to the disappearance of the most precious sorts of fish. Our finest rivers at present only yield an insignificant revenue to the state. Thus the Rhone gives 7f. per kilometre ; the Aisne, 24f ; the Cher, 9f.; Durance, 2f.j the Sot, 16f ; the Dordogne, 10f.; the Isere, sf.j the Drome, 4f.; the Loire, Bf., &c. On the other hand, owing to the rarity of fresh-water fish, the price has arisen to If 50c. and 2f. the kilogramme for the good sorts, 70c. to 80c. for the inferior sorts, and 4f. and sf. for trout and salmon. It results also that fresh-water fish, instead of being cheap food and within the reach of the unfortunate classes, becomes rare and dear. However, it cannot be doubted that the waters of France could supply, for consumption in all parts of the territory, an enormous mass of fish, which would offer healthy and substantial food to the population, and would procure very great advantages to the public treasury and to producers. The waters consist of 3,700 kilometres of canal, 8250 kilometres of navigable rivers, and 185,300 kilometres of non-na-vigable rivers — total 197,250 kilometres ; whilst the ponds and lakes cover a surface of at least 220,000 hectares (the hectare is nearly 2J English acres). Let it be supposed that these immense reservoirs are stocked by the infinate power of pisciculture, and the waters, like the earth, will supply a new harvest every year, which will

prevent many sufferings and many dangers. That would be one of the great conquests of the genius of our century over physical nature, rendered more and more supple every day for the satisfaction of the wants of man. — Paris Paper.