THE LEVIATHAN.

Colonist, Issue 95, 17 September 1858, Page 3

THE LEVIATHAN.

(From the Sydney Herald, September I.) Ir is a little disappointment to find that the great Leviathan, which was designed expressly to suit the exigencies of the Australian trade, is to be diverted into the line of American commerce. We entertain a hope, however, that this arrangement will .not be permanent, and that Australia will at least share with the western continent the benefits to be conferred by this monster of the deep. It would seem that, in constructing the original design, Mr. Brunei looked too exclusively to the engineering part of the question, and omitted to take : equal account of- the commercial conditions of success —a one-sidedness of which he has been too frequently guilty in his great undertakings, as regretful shareholders can bear testimony.; He confined himself to building a ship which should be big enough to steam round the world at full speed without being'obliged to stop anywhere to coal, and he left it to the shareholders to find goods and passengers to put into her. He shewed by irrefragable calculations that if she were well filled, she would earn a splendid revenue; but the difficulty seems to be to find any trade in which there shall bea permanent, steady, and sufficient freight, offering. It is this commercial difficulty which has determined the proprietors of the vessel to test her, at least in the first instance, in plying across the Atlantic. There is said to be no sufficient prospect of her filling, if laid on for Australia, still less of her obtaining a fair complement of passengers for the return voyage. _ The trade with America seems to be more inviting. Under the inspiration of Mr. Brunei's genius, the art of shipbuilding has run on in advance of the growth of commerce. The facilities for marine transport are greater than the demand. The Californian and Australian trade had done much to stimulate the building- of large and swift clippers: and to meet the traffic that had grown up on the great steam postal lines, very powerful vessels had been built. But, even amongst these racers of the deep, a vessel of five thousand tons burden was considered a monster. But the stride in shipbuilding from vessels of five thousand tons to'one of twenty-five thousand tons is so enormous, that panting commerce "toils after in vain." Shippers even of the most speculative turn cannot fill up the capacious hold of the Leviathan. After emptying a warehouse the hungry monster asks for more. For special energies her services wquld be invaluable* Thus, had she been in existence at the time of the Russian war, she would have immensely facilitated the transport of troops and ammunition to the Crimea; or if she had been ready when the first tidings of the Indian mutiny reached England, .ten thousand British soldiers might have been forwarded to Calcutta in time to share the honors of the fall of Delhi, and hasten the relief of Lucknow, In such an operation, too, that of lying the Atlantic telegraph, a vessel of the dimensions of the Great Eastern, would lie uf great utility. Two of the largest frigates afloat have been lent gratuitously by their respective govern-

ments to the Company, which has therefore saved the cost of chartering ships, but-their capacity, great as it is, has been tested to the uttermost to find room for the cable and the-coal, and the latter article indeed has been supplied in deficient, quantity. The Great Eastern would not only have stowed away the whole cable with ease, so as to save the necessity of splicing, and taken on board abundance of coal, but her great size would have diminished the rise and iall of the stern with the ocean swell, and by thus reducing the strain on the cable, and almost preventing sudden jerks, have got rid to a great extent of the risk of fracture, and done much tb ensure sucess. There.are many other telegraphic cables yet to be laid., If the Atlantic line shall prove a success, it will only prepare way for other similiar enterprises. Line after liae will be laid, till the world .is girded with them. Already, a second Atlantic line has^been projected. The Great Eastern, though not participating, in the task of submerging the pioneer ocean-cable, may yet find scope for the employment of her peculiar capabilities lir laying down others on an equal, or eVen.a grander scale..... But occupation of this sort can," at best, be but special. To make the capital sunk in her construction yield.an interest, some regular and profitable trade must be opened up. America seems to offer the best opening, but even there.it is doubtful whether work enough can "be found. The traffic with the New World already supports several lines of ocean steamers, but the Great Eastern is a fleet, in : herself. With, more ■ capacity than any half-dozen of the largest steam vessels afloat, and able to make two voyages where other ships make orie^if :the process of loading and unloading can be. performed with a celerity corresponding to her speed at sea, the extra facility she affords to the Transatlantic trade, is treble, what has already existed. It", is more, than another Collins and Cunard company put together. Whether so great and sudden an expansion of the. available tonnage can. be readily. met remains;to be seen. If she does fill,, it will be.in the first, instance more by drawing away trafficfrom the established lines, than by creating a; new style of traffic. Should her speed and i comfort prove equal to what is anticipated, she will doubtless carry all before her, and enjoy a practical monopoly of the passenger business! For few. would care to travel by ordinary vessels when time c6uld be saved, and the discomforts of a sea voyage diminished, by taking a cabin in the big ship. . ; It has been said that she could always command any subsidy. But except for special purposes,' there is no vocation in which she could earn a regular subsidy. By herself she could not maintain: a postal service.; and the commerce, of the world is not ripe yet for a fleet of Leviathans. At any rate she is to commence her career unsubsidised, though as.she.is sure to carry-a mail, some special agreement may possibly be. made by the Post Office authorities as to the remuneration for this service. But,.in lieu of a, subsidy, an arrangement has been made betweenßritish and Canadian Railway companies which: wilLenable the ship tb share in the profits of land carnage. • Supposing she should obtain her complement of four ;thou' sand passengers, the t'ausit" of these • people to the port of embarkation, as well a3 of sightseers and rektive3 who would come to see them off, would be a fine haul for the railway, and where railway competition is acfive, it is-worth .-while-to-bid for'such a traffic. The London and NorthWestern Ra: lway, therefore, has agreed' to give the proprietors of the ship a share of the railway fares of all passengers arriving at Holyhead by their line to embark. . And the Grand. Trunk Railway of Canada has made a corresponding

Whether the ship pays her owners.or not, it is obvious that her trading to Portland will enormously stimulate the • prosperity of Canada. Emigration will be greatly facilitated,and hundreds who cross the Atlantic merely with the intention of making a four, may be induced to invest capital or even ultimately to settle in the colony. It is for this reason that we should like to see the vessel laid on for a trip or two to Australia, as theresult could not fail to be beneficial to these colonies. Perhaps.if the American trade does not offer all the md ucements expected, the proprietors may; determine on, alternating her voyages to the West and to the South.. Her peculiar excellencies will never thoroughly be illustrated till, she has been sent on that voyage round the world for which, she was expressly, designed. The longer tue;run-the-more conspicuous will-, be her superiority over other vessels. -

WHAT AMERICA WOULD GAIN BY A WAJ^ WITH ENGLAND. ( From ike, Nezo York Herald, June- I.')'.:, •' -":' Such,an event as a navalwar with.England, or even with England and France,—and no. other than- a naval war is within the bounds of probability,—would not only alter the entire-condition and policy of the United; States, bufwould change the face of the whole world. Its effects in a material point of view upon this country would be most extraordinary;- Our external commerce stopped, our domestic industry would receive an unparalleled impulse. Not only ..would our artisans and-manu-facturers have to supply the ordinary, domestic demand, but would be called upon to meet the requisitions of a great and active war. This we could do with ease,* for we possess within durselves,; or in our immediate vicmity.gsTOry soil an<3 climate, and every clement au|M^quisite for. the most immense production j-%frams%nd meats, for, food, cotton and wool for raiment, iron and coal' for. mechanical appliances, gold and silver 1 for trade, sugar and coffee forluxury, salts and alkalies for the arts, and our inventive'faculty and energy of enterprise for their employment equal to every possible emergency. Home production would be increased a; thousandfold." Shut us out from the European markets for onlys a short session, and we would shew to,- them that we need neither their skill, their labor, nor their capital, to attain even the very highest purposes of production and enjoyment. • But the immense industrial impulse that a naval war. with England would give to us is not, by any means, the whole effect it. would produce. Close our markets for a short season to England and France, ' and they would lose at once one-third of their entire foreign1 trade; and one-half of the elements of the.': industry, 'which ■ they .do not and cannot produce. - Such: an event would deprive the Powers of Western Europe of the greater pan' of their means1 of revenue, and of paying the interest on their enormous debts, and produce a social and political revolution in every country there, upheaving the very foundations of society in all of them except. Russia, which possesses almost the same elements of self- • sustenance as ourselves. ■'■•■" ■

The political results of such .a: wav,.would be even more vast tlian its industrial effects. The first effect upon the United States would be to heal all our sectional disputes, and set thousands at work developing our coal, iron, silver, gold, wheat, and other natural productions, and manipulating them for adaptation to use. Then our 5,000,000 tons of shipping would be driven home, and turned at once into a volunteer navy to cruise upon every sea. •

As in the Mexican war we saw 200,000 volunteers offered to the President in six weeks, so should we see then 500,000 men offered, ready to march and take possession of every harbor on the continent and its adjacent islands, from Greenland to the Isthmus of Panama. Before the first year of war had expired we should find ourselves in possession of Canada, Cuba, Jamaica, St. Domingo, Mexico, and Central America. All of these would bring new sources of supply, open new avenues of industry and internal trade, and augment the fountains of our strength, while their accession to our Union would sensibly diminish the strength of the European powers. When the war ended, it would exhibit results similar to those of the Crimean struggle, but on a vaster scale. We should come out of it first in the world, as France came out of the Eastern war first in Europe. No one can fortell what may be the results of the present irritation of the public mind here against England, and of the political complications there. A naval war is not the most improbable result, and every reflecting man must see that this is far from being a very undesirable thing to this country. It- may be that it is one of (he inscrutable designs of Providence for working out the true and-manifest destiny of this great republic.

THE CELEBRATED SLOUGH SPEECH. The Chancellor of the Exchequer and his colleague in the representation of the county of Buckingham, were on Wednesday, May 27, entertained at a public dinner at Slough. Colonel Vyse, late M.P. for Northamptonshire, presided. In acknowledging the toast of "The Health of her Majesty's Ministers," the Chancellor of the Exchequer said:—Gentlemen, the heritage of difficulties to which we succeeded was not a slight one. It would not have been easy to encounter those difficulties even if we had been supported by an overwhelming majority of the House of Commons. It is all very well for us now to think lightly of those perilseven to forget them; but when I tell you, and tell you seriously, that the question of peace or war when we succeeded to office was not a question of weeks or days, but of hours, I am sure you will gladly remember that peace has been preserved, while the honor of the country has been vindicated. Let me also remind you that at that very moment two of } Tour fellow subjects were lingering, and had long lingered, in a foreign dungeon; and that the efforts of a Government, which boasted of being irresistible in its domestic strength and its foreign policy, had not succeeded in avenging the misery of their position, and in vindicating the honor of this country; and that in a few weeks—l might say almost in a few days—the Government of Lord Derby, with a!l those difficulties to encounter, and with this unquestionable want of strength in the popular House of the Constitution, did succeed in freeing those two neglected and suffering Englishmen. Our foreign difficulties were not the only ones. The finances of this country were in a position of great and extreme difficulty. It was my duty, as the Minister of Finance, in the midst of this hostile House of Commons, and facing a band of opponents such as few men have had to encounter, to propose measures to meet the emergency, which have enjoyed the singular and unprecedented fortune of being passed, I may say, with general acclamation, and certainly without a shadow of opposition. We had also the state of India to consider: we had to depend on. a policy on which the weal or woe of that great peninsula depended, and in which the revenue and the power of England were deeply involved. Was it to be a military occupation, by an army four times the amount of any force of Europeans that had ever entered that great country ? Was it to be a military occupation, attended by immense taxation, by the draining of her Majesty's subjects from this country, and the perpetual exhaustion of our resources? Or were we to recognise that vengeance had done its worst ? Was it always to be massacre and confiscation ? Or was it, on the other hand, to be a " discriminative amnesty ?" Was it to be respect for private property, toleration for religious convictions, a due and decent regard for the manners and customs of the people? Were we or were we not to distinguish, the great body of the inhabitants of India, who after all are her Majesty's subjects, from those military and treacherous rebels who have received, or will receive, their merited punishment? These are the three great subjects which have occupied our councils, and which have demanded our management since we have been in office. And yet we are told that we are a weak Government, and that we have done nothing. Why, we have vindicated the honor of England. We have preserved peace. We have freed our imprisoned and suffering countrymen. We have met an immense deficiency, and reduced our taxation. We have laid down principles for the reconstruction of our Indian Empire of which England approves, which Europe admires, and which, if acted on, will maintain the greatness and glory of this country. And, gentlemen, we had to perform this great task amidst unprecedented difficulties. I am bound to declare that I have no reason to.complain of j#^bj£|ent House of Commons. Consiojppf&at it was elected under the auspices of our rivals—considering that it was supposed to contain an overwhelming majority against us—l am bound to say that her Majesty's Government have received from the House of Commons, as a body, a generous courtesy; and that oh more than one occasion the sense and the spirit of the House of Commons have baffled the unceasing intrigues and the restless machinations by which, from the first moment of our entering office, the Government of the Queen has been assailed. And this leads me to the very key of the position. There exists at this moment in England that which really has not prevailed since the days of Charles II.; there is in England at this moment a cabal—-a cabal which has no other object than to upset the Government of the Queen, and to obtain its ends in a manner the most reckless but the most determined. Now, gentlemen, this cabal consists of some scheming English politicians and some - foreign intriguers. They possess resources of all kinds, and in considerable amount; and they are quite reckless as to the mode in which they may dispose of them. Their social influences are considerable, and are perverted without the slightest remorse to obtain their, political ends. They possess great sources of political information, especially with regard to foreign affairs, obtained, in my opinion, in a manner not very constitutional. They have succeeded in doing that which no cabal in modern times, I am proud to say, has succeeded in accomplishing; they have in a great degree corrupted the once pure and independent Press of England. Innocent people in the country, who read leading organs, believe that we are a Government that do nothing, and are not entitled to the confidence of our fellow-countrymen. Let the cabal be successful, and in foreign affairs you will have a truckling foreign policy; and in your home affairs you will have gradually established a strong and severe centralised Government, after themodel of Government which the cabal ad- f mires: and whenever the country feels interested in those improvements which the

spirit of the age demands, whether they be social, financial, or constitutional, and the settlement of which is the first duty and the most precious task of a real statesman, then you will have your attention distracted from Conservative progress, by incomprehensible wars carried on in distant parts of the world, commenced for no earthly purpose, and to terminate probably in the waste of your resources, or it may be in the injury of your reputation. Well, then, you have to choose between our policy and the policy of the cabal: and lam here to-day -to ask the people of Buckinghamshire and the people of England, will they support her Majesty's Government, or will they support the cabal? Nothing in my memory of politics was ever more scientifically arranged than the manoeuvres which were j to accomplish the fall of this Government. I assure you that, when Mr. Cardvvell rose to impeach me, I was terrified at my own shortcomings, as I listened to a nisi prius narrative, ending with a resolution, which I think must have been drawn up by a conveyancer. In the other House of Parliament a still greater reputation condescended to appear upon the human stage. Gamaliel himself, with the broad phylacteris of faction on his forehead, called God to witness, in pious accents of majestic adoration, that he was " not like other men," and was never influenced by party motives. Gentlemen, I refer to that debate with confidence and triumph when I ask for the verdict of the people of this country. It has already been given. There is nothing like that last Friday evening in the history of the House of Commons. We came down expecting to divide at four o'clock in the morning, and I myself, with my armor buckled on, prepared to address them, perhaps, for two hours after midnight: and believe me, even with the consciousness of a good cause, that is no vain effort. We were all assembled. Our benches, with their serried ranks, seemed to rival those of our proud opponents, when there arose a wail of distress, but not from us. What ensued I can only liken to that mutiny of the Bengal army with which we are all so familiar.* Regiment after regiment, corps after corps, general after general, all acknowledged that they could not " march through Coventry " with her Majesty's Opposition. Gentlemen, it was, I may say, rather like a convulsion of nature than one of ordinary transactions of human life. I can liken it only to one of those earthquakes in Calabria or Peru, of which we sometimes read. There was a rumbling murmur—a groan —a shriek—distant thunder ; and nobody knew whether it came from the top or the bottom of the House. There was a rent, a fissure in the ground; then a village disappeared; then a tall tower toppled down; and then the whole of the opposition benches became one great dissolving view of anarchy. And these are the people, gentlemen, who want to govern the country ! I ask you, then, and I ask the country generally, will you stand by the Queen's Ministers against the cabal? We will still pursue in our foreign relations that determined but prudent and conciliatory system, which, whilst it will, in our opinion, maintain peace, will maintain peace with honor. We shall endeavour, in the management of the finances, to reduce taxation by measures which will duly respect the maintenance of the public credit. We shall pursue in India that policy with which from the late debates you have become familiar. We shall endeavor to obtain and retain the public confidence by temperately addressing ourselves to the solution of all those difficult questions that have too long agitated and disunited the commonwealth in which we live. Whatever may be the character of those questions, whether they be legal reforms—and on that head our measures are prepared—or social reforms, which demand the attention of any Ministry, or those constitutional improvements which all wise men who are lovers of their country would wish to be effected in such a manner that they shall be improvements, and not mere changes—l say, whatever may be the character of these questions, we will not shrink from bringing forward measures which will meet those too long perplexing difficulties with the intention and the conviction that we may bring about a happy | solution of them. But we cannot do this unless we are supported by the confidence and good feeling of the people of England.