LONDON.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVIII, Issue 1852, 7 April 1863, Page 3

LONDON.

(from our own corhespondent.) January 26, 1863. It is very satisfactory to find that the greater part of the maila which went down in the Colombo, have been recovered from the wreck, and have come safely to hand. We have had them delivered by instalments, and there are a few boxes which have not yet come to hand. Some of the letters and newspapers were dripping with salti water when they reached England, but others f were perfectly dry. The mail for September suffered most, and several papers for that mouth are still wanting. On the whole, however, matters are better than had been expected. Still it is ol.vious from recent facts that until a direct postal communication be established (via Panama or otherwise) between New Zealand and this country, merchants and men of business will never be able to reckon with certainty upon receiving their orders, bills, &c. If any decisive steps are to be taken in the matter, the present is the most favor- ! able moment ; now thafc the necessity of such a measure has been brought homo so forcibly to the minds of parties interested, and who would be willing to promote any movement for the purpose. I see from the last files of papers received that the colonists are fully alive to the exigencies of the case, but I think commercial men in this country having like interests involved should lend their aid and co-operation towards any practical scheme thafc may be devised for establishing a direct postal route. But it is greatly to bo feared that petty jealousies and imaginary conflicting claims amongst the Australian colonies themselves will have the effect of still indefinitely retarding any active measures that may appear feasible. This is much to be regretted, but it is hope! that all difficulties in this way will eventually be obviated, and that the interests of all the Colonies alike will bd found to be identicalThe " Address" of the Domett Ministry on the subject of responsibility in Native matters, has called forth some very severe criticism from some of the leading English journals, more especially the l Times' and ' Saturday Review.' For my own part, I think considerable allowance should be made for the new ministry — under the difficult and delicate circumstances in which this boon of responsibility has been conferred upon them — at the same time that their confession of weakness was injudicious, and will certainly not load to the desired results. The • Times' says of the " Address," — " We have never seen a public document less convincing in its statements, or more entirely divested of the graces oc inoloaty and self respect. * * * Wo have a right to demand on behalf of the heavily taxed people of this country, that the burden shall lie removed from their shoulders, ancljwe therefore rejoice to find that Sir George Grey in bis speech to the New Zealand Parliament, announces thafc lie has hitherto had no occasion to employ tho military forces in any active field operations. Our policy in New Zealand towards the natives is comprised in a single word — wait. Temporising expedients, delays, dilatory nejjociafcions, all manner of devices, which are of little avail in ordinary cases, are of the greatest use when we have to deal with a race that is continually decreasing, in behalf of a race thafc is continually increasing. It is easier to grow into an undisturbed sovereignty of New Zealand than to conquer it." The ' Saturday Heview,' after stating very fully and forcibly the case of the Domett ministry, in which it appeirs for the moment as an advocate, goes on to say, "But the strength of the New Zealand case lies in the fact that we do not begin at the beginning. There is a past which cannot be effaced. There is a Col. Browne whose deeds cannot be blotted out. There are pledges which we cannot redeem, and blunders for which we must pay the penalty, The colonists have two lines of argument to fall back upon. They may say in the first place, that they emigrated upon the understanding thafc England would bear a part in their defence, anil that England has no right at a moment's notice to reverse the policy upon the strength of which they abandoned their homes and renounced the chance of a subsistence in England. * * * 'It may bo just that the bettlers should be called upon to defend themselves against the ordinary risks which arise from the neighborhood of savage tribes. But it is not just that England should exasperate the natives against the settlers, and then leave the settlers to repel the natives as best they can." It then turns round and argues with equal force on the other side that although Governor Browne was at the time stiictly speaking " responsible for the war, yet it was only in a technical sense; that the war was brought about by the greed and clamor of the colonists to obtain more land ; that the Governor was continually under pressure and coercion : and that in prosecuting the war which ho undertook he was actually supported by the ministers and colonists at large." Such is the scope and tenor of the argument quantum valcnl. Mr Adderley has lately published a pamphlet in the shape of a letter to Mr Disraeli on the subject of England's present, relations with her colonies. I have not yet seen it, but a review of it has appeared in the ' Times' which will afford further evidence of the manner in which colonial politics are viewed in this country at tho present da\ r . Complaining of tho enormous cost of the various colonies in our own as compared with former times, it goes on to say, " Thus we find that the Englishman of the American colonies never dreamt for a moment of claiming contributions from England towar.ls the internal requires ments of his province. He made his own road, and his own forts and harbors, and built and endowed churches and schools, and converted the heathen (?), ami chased the savage without asking for a sixpence from his Majesty's Government. * * "At this day the colonies assert their right to England' s protection as their first resort, even against their native population. New Zealand after 40 yearn' settlement has proved itself incompetent with the aid of British troops to deal with its Maorie.o, whereas Connecticut, within a year of its birth, when it could barely muster 100 men, attacked the entire Pequod tribe, under its famous chief Sassacus. burnt i r s principal fortress, and broke its power so utterly that from that hour, says the historian of New England, "Connecticut was secure and the land had rest 40 years." vVhen Indian tribes at a late date confederated against our American colonies, they in their turn, formed a defensive combination, and in every war after 1643, each colony furnished its stipulated quota of men, money, and provisions at a rate proportionate to its population ; and let it be added these sufficed. The colonists did not dream of looking for aid to England; there was not a single English soldier to form a nucleus for their forces, nor was the mother oountry within a month's hail of their necessities. They would all have been massacred long before England could have heard of their extremity, but for their own self-reliance, courage, and promptitude. And thus in their very cradle they strangled assailants, for protection againut which, the Cape and New Zealand habitually invoke the aid of their British nurses, long after they themselves had reached a vigorous maturity." The plausible but ad captandum argument on the part of the 'Times, 1 however, will have but little weight with tlvose who reflect; how different were the circum stances under which our early "plantations" in America were settled, from those under which we attempt or profess at least, to carry out the system of colonisation at the present day. Formerly, when we were a more barbarous and a far less humane people than we are at preseut, and when we planted and promoted slavery in all its worst forms, tho principle of our American colonists was war to the knife with the aboriginal tribes, and this principle they carried out with relentless ferocity — esteeming it no greater crime to shoot an indian than it would be

to kill a buffalo. Aye, and the deeds of wholesale i extermination and atrocity, at which we must now j shudder, have left their marks in dire bloodstains, impressed upon the American character. The bowic knife and the revolver and the rifle, so intiinatoly associated withj the lawless habits of tho Americans, have at length, been turned by a vengeful Nemesis, upon tho descendants of those very persons who in former timos established their dominion by means of red-handed massacre. And this forsooth is the ! example which the 'Times' would hold outin the middle of the 19th century, as worthy of imitation on the part of the bantling colonists of the great " British Nurse !" As to tho result of the Native Lands Bill, it would of course be premature to speculate upon t.he subject at present, but I am inclined to think that the measure will be sanctioned by the British | Government. j The home news for the present month is not of 1 an important character. There is a slight improvement in trade, and tho latest accounts from the Lancashire districts show that the distress is not increasing, but is rather abating. '.There are fewer persona, by 27,000, receiving local relief than there was some weeks since, and as a consequence the expenditure ha 3 been less per week by £2000. < Still w e cannot expect any great improvement to i take place till we get American cotton. Manufacturers appear to be sanguine that the war must shortly come to a close, and accordingly they pertinaciously refuse to work up inferior kinds of cotton, of which there is a good stock now on hand, owing to the difficulty of adapting their machinery to it, and the fear that after all it will not pay. Subscriptions still flow in to the Relief Committee*, and a sum of £500 was lately announced from the Canterbury settlement. The people of New York have sent a vessel laden with corn as a contribution towards the relief fund, and it is said that the Southern States are willing to give a large supply of cotton, if tho Federal Government will, only allow neutral ve.-ials to pass tha blockade in order to load it. There is also a large amount of distress in various parts of the country, and especially in Ireland, where the cereal crops, owing to bad weather, have been very defective for the last threa or four years. The distress amongst the cotton operatives in France is also very great. Ifc is stated upon good authority that there are generally six millions of spindlesengagedin the cotton manufacture in France, and that at the present moment there are not less than half a million of hands out of employment in connection with that branch of industry. Some few paltry subscriptions have been raised for them in Paris and elaowhere, but people in Franco look to Government aid in all such cases, and never think of depending upon the effort of private benevolence. For this reason no doubt the Emperor is anxious to bring about soma solntion of the American difficulty. He lately expressed hia regret that England and Kussia had declined to co-operate with him in his proposals for m»dhtion •' and he declared his intention ofombracin/j the earliest possible opportunity for renewing the attempt to bring about a peace. At present, however, the war in America is as herce aud sanguinary as over, and the combatants evince no disposition on either side to relinquish the deadly struggle. On both sides they are girding up their loins for renewed efforts. Several desperate and bloody battles have lately boen fought, but a« yet without any decisive results. A battle extending over several days, was fought about a month since at Murfreesboro in Tennessee, in which, after a losi of some 10,001 men or more, on each side, tho Federals claim the victory. Another terrible engagement or series of engagements took place at Vicksburg. Mississippi, in which the Federals wore routed with a loss of six or eight thousand men. Other engagement* of minor importance have taken place in Missouri, and elsewhere; but after all the3e deadly encounters the war seems to make no pro grass. Arkansas, Missouri. Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Virginia, arc the States in which the war at present is chiefly carried on. Strongholds and cities are taken and retaken, tens and hundrsds of thousands of men are sent to their graves; railroads ara torn up and bridges torn down, homesteads devastated by fire and sword, and yet there is no symptom of exhaustion on either side. According to their own accounts the Federal States had nearly a million of men under arms last autumn, but in this war victory has not boen in favour of numbers. Strategy and skillful handling of troops have carried tho day. Since the battle of Fredericksburg the army of the Potomac has done nothing. It is now evident that it was terribly cut up on the 13th of December, and had it not been for the remonstrance* of his subordinate officers on that terrible day, General Burnside would have lost at least one half of his army (consisting of 200,000 men) in his attempt to take the Confederate guns. Ho declared his intention of renewing the contest the next day, '• oven thougli ie should eosfc him 50.000 men," but he was fortunately, for himself, swayed from his rash purpose. Itappears from an enquiry which was immediately instituted by the War Department, into thi cause of defeat at the battle of Fredericksburg, that it was mainly to be attributed to the delay in forwarding pontoon bridges for transporting the army across the Rappahannock, and for this delay (of a whole month) General Halleck is supposed to be responsible It also appears from General Burnside'a own evidence, given before the Committee of Enquiry that President Lincoln had enjoined him to take care of his men, that he had exercised no undue pressure, and that ho (General Buvnside) was himself alone responsible for the defeat. But he urged that he had acted according to the best of his judgment and abilities ; but confessed that he did not feel himself equal to tho task of conducting so large an army, and that ho had urged this fact upon the President when offered the appointment, which wa3 then in a manner thrust upon him. There are now some rumours that he has been superseded, and that his place will be taken by General Hooker. The war has now entered upon a new phase, Lincoln has issued his Proclamation, declaring the slaves free in all the Southern States, with tho important exception of tha five border States, thft population of which is still sup posed to be loyal. The only effect which this Proclamation has hitherto produced, has been to exasperate the South, to provoke tho angry comments of the'democratic press, and to produce dissatisfaction amongst the abolitionists, ok account of its trimming character. They cry out for universal freedom of tho negro, and the President proclaims it in the only States over which he has no control, and leaves it untouched in the territories where his fiat might have some practical effect. In reply to this, President Davis has declared that all negroes taken in arms, as prisoners of war, will be shot forthwith; he has also declared General Butler, (who has been superseded at New Orleans by General Banks) to be an outlaw, who, together with all the commissioned officers under him, deserve to be, and shall be hung as felons, whenever and wherever they may be ' caught. Such a threat is deprecated in England, I for if carried out, it would only lead to sanguinary i reprisals. That the North has not the slightest intention of listening to any terms of peace, that of the restoration of tho Union is evinced by a recent Act of the Senate for issuing 900,000,000 dols., in Treasury bonds for carrying on the war. These bonds will bear interest at 5 per cent per annum, payable in coin. But whether this immense loan will be forthcoming in the present state of the money market in America, may well be doubted. Already tho premium of gold has reached 143, and bankers bills in London have touched 155 This, after all, is the best test of the state of public feeling upon the financial state of the country, as it drifts along the downward stream of national bankruptcy, and consequent anarchy, when "bonds" and "notos of indebtedness "of the United States, will not be worth the paper on which thoy are printed. And such a result is by no means so remote as may be imagined. Barely twelve months have elapsed since the suspension of cash payments in America; and already 143 dols., in paper will only purchase 1 00 dollars in specie ;so that by an easy rule of three sum, the exact time may bo calculated when the value of" paper" will be represented by zero. In addition to the terrible reverse? which the United States have recently sustained in the field, they have also lately lost their iron-clad ram the Monitor, famous for its engagement with the Merrimao. This vessel lately foundered at sea off Cape Hatteras, and went down carrying with it the greater part of the crew. As before stated the items of European politics are not of striking importance. There is at pre_ sent an insurrection in Poland, which of corns

t will as usual be suppressed. Austria and Prussia are at loggerheads. The King of the latter country has just opened his Parliament, and is at cross purposes with his faithful Commons. The close of the last session was distinguished by the flagrant breach of the constitution, by passing a warbudget without the sanction of the Lower House. He now asks for an Act of indemnity, but whether it will be granted or not, remains to be seen. I incline to think it will not, in which event there will probably be ' difficulty' or rupture such as we sometimes had with our Stuart Kings — from whose example King William V of Prussia should take timely warning ; for the Commons are apparently in no mood to be trifled with, and such things as revolutions have taken place before this in continental states. Should ho persevere in his obstinacy, however, there will be one loophole left for for him to escape — namely, abdicating in favor of his son, the Crown Prince Frederick William. France is quiet just now, that is to say her press is kept quiet by being muzzled, tongue-tied, and " warned" as its chronic condition ; showing that freedom of the press which was supposed to have been inaugurated with so much pretense, a year or two back was a mere delusion and a snare. At no time since the establishment of the second Etn- • pire was there less practical freedom as to speakI ing and writing than there is at present. Matters are quiet in Italy. Lord Russell it appears lately offered the Pope an asylum at Malta, with a palace there and a fleet to convey him thither " or anywhere else;" and strongly urged upon him at the same time through our charge d' affaires at Rome, (Mr Odo Russell) the" necessity of his leaving j Home ; but the Pope peremptorily declined the offer and the advice alike, and Lord Russell is i ridiculed for his pains. Nothing further has been done as regards the lonian Islands or Greece, arid I suppose the Greeks have definitely abandoned the idea of having Prince Alfred for their future king. The question as to the punishment of criminals is one which has a good deal occupied the public attention of late. It is thought ordinary imprisonment has no terror for the more hardened offenders, and we must once more have recourse to the plan of deporting them to soine penal settlement, where thoy could be received without prejudice to the colonists. The only place of this kind that occurs to us just now are the Falkland Isles, wliiuh are not unlikely to be selected #as ourafuture convict depot. But I should think that this scheme is strongly opposed as calculated to produce a recurrence of the horrors for which Norfolk Island once gained such notoriety, and that imprisonment for life is suggested as a substitute. Some controversy has lately been raised by an attempt which the Bishops ot the Church of England have made for the suppression of Sunday excursion trains. For same years past most of the lines of railway have been in tha habit of running cheap trains into the country on Sundays, for the benefit of tho working classes. The Biahopa assert it as their belief, that independently of the desecration of the Lords Day, this practice leads to a great deal of" dissipation," and have accordingly represented in very strong and urgent terms to the Directors of the several lines in this country, the necessity of suppressing traffic of this description. But in doing so they have raised a hornets nest about their ears, and have incurred a great deal of odium and obloquy. It is urged in reply, that Sunday is the working man's holiday, that he has no other time at his disposal for innocent recreation, that it id only a question between gin-shops on the one hand, and Sunday excursion trains on the other, and that so far from leading to "dissipation" in the proper sense of that term, these excursions are calculated to improve tho working classes, both physically and morally. Aud so the matter stands at present. Speaking of railways I must not omit to mention that the underground line which runs from Paddingtou to Farringdon street under the New Road, and which will eventually be extended to Finsbury square, was opened about a fortnight since. The traffic has been very considerable. The time seems approaching when the whole of London will be intersected by a subterranean net work of railways ; for however formidable the undertakings may bu, nothing soeina impossible for the engineers of the present day. We shall soon have a terminus near Charing Cross on the site of old Hungerford Market, which, together with the bridge, and several houses faomg the Strand, have already boen demolished to make way for the new structure. The new railway bridge across the Thames at this point, comprising also a foot tind carriage way, is rapidly approaching completion. , Preparations for the marriage of the Prince of Wales (which is said to be fixed for the 12th of March) are rapidly going forward at Windsor Castle, which will be embellished in the most superb and costly manner for the occasion. The Princess Alexandria will be allowed a sum of £12,O.)O per annum, as pocket money, by the Danish Government-an amount which is certainly by no means extravagant as a dowry for the future Queen of England. Both our married Princesses have met with accidents. Some few weeks back the Princess Alice was passing in a phaeton through Broadfands, near Newport, in the Isle of Wight, when the vehicle came in contact with a cart and was upset. Tho Princess, however, fortunately escaped with a few bruises on her arm. A few days previously, the Crown Princess of Prussia, (the Princess Royal) was taking an airing with her husband in Berlin, when the pole of a country cart was driven thro' the windows of the carringo in which they were seated, and both had a narrow escape, but no severe injury was done. Judgment has lately been given in the Court of Common Pleas, by Chief Justice Erie, in the now famous case ef Kennedy v. Brown. Your readers may remember that the plaintiff who is a barrister, brought an action some six or eight months since against a Mrs Brown, (formerly Swinfen) for tho recovery of £20,000, which she had verbally agreed and contracted to pay him, asheradvocatu, in a suit which he had gained for her some years back. She denied tho contract and pleaded never indebted Tho case was accordingly tried before a jury, plaintiff and defendant were both sworn, and the jury gave their verdict in favor of the plaintiff. But the question was then raised whether a barrister could sue for and recover his his fee 3, and the question has now been decided in tho negative, by a judgment which is said to be one of the ablest and most learned that has been delivered within the present century. I can, however, only afford time and space to notice it thus briefly. Tho weather, (with the exception of some severe winds, which as usual have dono considerable damage to the shipping on the coast) has been unusually mild for the last month. In fact, as yet, we have had no winter. Were it not for this circumstance, I have reason to think that the wool trade would have been more active. As it ia, however, the markets have been tolerably brisk, prices are maintained with firmness.aud there is still an upward, rather than a downward tendency in prices — the quotations are much the same as last month.