Newspaper Page Text
fcMj ftida tadWinsH I ijuMs.
BY JAMES GARDNER.
[Front the Columbia Carolinian ]
The South Carolina Railroad and the
Post Office Department.
Messrs. Editors: ; Y difficulty having aris
en between the Postmaster General and - |
South Carolina Railroad Company in re.anon to
the transportation 01 the mail, the former a.
published a portion oi the correspondence w m<h
ensued. This measure we cannot but regall a.
l.’. effort to enlist the public sentiment against
the company, and thiis to compel us o s - ■ •
the wishes oi the Department. the J e
deem it necessary to submit to the puDly. >• >
facts in relation to the differences which hare
occurred. . . . >
• !,'.s company ei ". Ji ' •»» ’’ -
; ssl, to transport the great Northern an.. - * •
ernmailtoand from Chaiieston ...... A
That contract embraced the to.lowing pro is
'°~’ltis hereby stipulated and agreed by the
said contractors and their secuu-.ies, -* 10
. I -u’. •’
. . ■ • ■■
crease ol ccbin k? re •
imposed by the law tor the additional service
required. But cefttract-o’S may. in case u!
increased service or change o. schedule, relin
,wish the contract, on timely notice, i: they pre
terit to the change ; afjp the Postmaster Gen- ,
era! mav discontinue or curtail th. service. n«*
allowing one month’s exra puy lor tne ainoj’ii.
dispensed with. ,
We carried the mail m ter this contract to and .
from Chaiieston ai i A igus‘a unti. the .early
part of the present -,ear. The Postmaster Gen
eral then determined to discontinue tne trar>s
pbrtation of the mail by steamers bet*«en « *•-
n-.ington and Charleston, and entereQ into a con
tract with the Wilmington and. Manchester
Railroad Company to carry the mail between
Wilmington and Kingsville—the latter being a
station on the Columbia branch o: our road. —
This made it necessary the service
upon our road by making Kingsville tne point
for receiving and delivering the great Northern
and Southern mail instead of Charleston, it e
acceded to the proposal of the Post Office Depart
ment. on the condition that we should, be paid
$237 50 per mile from |Charlestomto Branchville,
and horn Columbia, byway of Kingsville jii.d
Bracnchville, to Augusta. This was agreed to by
the D-itariment in the following letter.
Avgusta. (Ga..) Aug. 19,1851.
Dear Sir! Yours of the 16th instant has
been received, and in reply I have to say* that
the following are the terms on widen you pro
pose to accept '* the change oi the runningof the
mails from Charleston to Kingsville,' viz I hat
you must continue to receive t ie same r.*. e ol
pay from Chaiieston to Branchville. as you
were then receiving and for trie ser
vice from Columbia, via Kingsville and Branch
ville, to Augusta, Georgia, you must be paid at
the same late per mile (237 50-100) as the South
Carolina Railroad was then receiving from
Charleston, South Carolina, to Augusta, Geor
gia.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant’
(Signed; J. D. FRIERSON,
Special Agent Post Office Department.
The change was ma le. and the service so mo
dified has been regutady performed by this.com
pany. The schedule under our original contract
was:
Leave Charleston, twice daily, at $ a. m , and
Hi a. m.
Arrive at Augusta, same days, by 3} p. m and
€ p. m.
Leave August®, twice daily, at 6a. m., and
10 a. m.
A.rffve at Charleston, same days, by 2 p. m.
ano 4 n. m.
When the change irom'tfnartestpn to Kings
ville was made, the schedule -*vas not altered.
On the 6th June a letter was addressed to this
company from the Department, proposing to
change our schedule so as to take the mail at
Augusta at 8i p. m., and deliver it at Kingsville
at 3or a. m.—changing our day service into
night service. The importance of this measure
induced the President of the company to cooler
personally with the head ot the Department.—
He then explained that, independently of other
embarrassments to this company, the change
would involve an additional cost ot $52 000
But. with the desire to consult and promote the
public convenience, he offered to make the
change, provided we were paid the same rate ol
compensation per mile ($300) as was paid to the
railroad companies between Washington and
Wilmington. The increase at tr is rate ol pay
oeing only 513.000. This was refused by the
Postmaster General, and this company then de
clined his proposal.
The assent of the company not obtain
ed, the Postmaster General, on the 3J of August,
addressed a notice to the President ot the-compa
ny requiring a change qf “schedule, so as to leave
Augusta at 8 p rn.” # By reference to the clause
of trie contr. ct quoted above, it will be perceiv -
ed that the effect of this notice is to compel the
contractor either to submit to tne change pro
posed or to g : ve up the contract. He cannot
claim to carry the mail on the old schedule with
out sumbitting to a heavy loss.
Another letter,dated 11th August, was receive.’
from the Department, stating that if the change
of schedule was notacceeded to by this company
a reduction in the rate of our pay equal to $12,-
375 per annum would be enforced, on a contract
made in *lßsl and carried out by this company
in good faith.
We were therefore reduced to the alternative,
either oi submitting implicitly to the will of tne
Department, which we had already refused to
do, or of surrendering the contract. We then,
through the President of the Company, on the
19th ot August, addressed a letter to rhe Post
master General, ot which the following in an
extract:
'•We now receive $237 50 'per mile for the
service from Charlestan to Augusta, and from
Branchville to Columbia, including the double
daily service, which I would again repeat has
been, and continues to be, regularly performed.
This compensation we are satisfied with, and we
respectfully propose that th; contract ahou’d be
allowed to remain on the present terms, both as
to service and compensation. If this be not
agreeable to the Department, then we now re
spectfully beg leave to give notice that we will
relinquish the contract and discontinue our ser
vice on the Ist of October next.”
With the anxious de-.ire to avoid any inconve
nience to the public, we subsequently determin
ed to continue the service till the Ist ol Novem
ber, and notice was given to tne Department
that we would discon inue service on that day
satisfactory terms be previo ;dy ofl :ied. ::
No reply having been received from the Putt
master General, we have since adopted and trans
mitted to the Department the following icsolu
tions ■
RttolceiL That thia company will not accept
the change of schedule proposed by the Port -
master General, and ’do hereby exercise tru ir
right to relinquish the contract so» arryirig the
mad under contract -No. 3,131.
Revived. That alter the Ist of November next
♦his company will not take said mail upon their
road, or admit it upon their cars, but upon the
express understanding with th*- Post Office De
partment, that the mail is to be carried on the
schedule and terms set forth in our original con
tract, except so far as the same had been modi
fied by the agreement made through Mr. Filer
eon, agent of the Department’, referred to in his
letter of 19th ol August, which modification ♦ rn
braces the substit tion of Kingsville instead ot
Charleston as the point lor rer-eption and delivery
ol the grtut No I hti. r n and Southern mail, aid
i also stipulates for the payment o! two hundred
and thirty-seven and a halt dollars per mile from
Chaiieston to Branchville and from Columbia,
by wav of Kingsville and Branchville to Au
gusta, for the mail service under said contract;
! the said rate to be computed for service was
.-Jtade on the first ol February last.
it is obvious, therefore, that this company has
always performed, and is willing to continue,
i the service required under their original contract.
I It is equally obvions that the Postmaster Gene
ral requires us either to perform new service—
and without compensation—hr to abandon the
’ contract. .
This company also consented to make the
change ot schedule intended to accelerate the
; mail, upon receiving a compensation t/ial will
not < fen rover their expenses Our has been re
acted, on the ground that th* compensation
demanded is excess ve. But what is the test of
a just compensation " We repeat, we cannot
carry the mail at the price we demand without
loss. How does the Department meet this ;
statement! Can it secure the transportation of
the mail by some other conveyance cheaper j
and better than by this company? If it
: can. then the company confers a benefit by sur
rendering ‘.be cuntiact. The D-partmsnt is
: freed from embarrassment, and enabled to adopt
this cheaper and hetfer conveyance. But if it
, cannot secure, at the price we demand, a means
of transporting tha mails rt cotivenient*nd satis
factory as this company affo.-is. upon what pre
text can the Department expect tne duty .do be
performed by us at a less price ! If. at the Com
pensation demanded, the company would be per
forming the service cheaper and better than if
can be performed by any other party, upon what
ground can the service be insisted on, and the
compensation withheld? Certainly upon no oth
er greur-d than that the compan-y owes it to the
Department as an act of benevolence, hi other
l words the company are to carry the mail at a
i loss to themselves as a charity to the Govern
ment.
There is a marked difference between the
business of the road ot this company’ and that bl
most of the roads that have entered into mail
(Contracts. They are chiefly employed in the
transportation o! passengers. Our business is
mainly the conveyance of prod use and merchan
dise. To put an additional passenger train on
our road would materially interfere with the
taking of the produce of the C. untry to market
during the business season. If we would dis
pense with the running of the present passenger
train, and substitute that proposed by the
Postmaster General, the difficulty’ would be
' avoided. But it is impossible to do so. We can
not dispense with- our present train without the
most serious inconvenience to the internal trade
1 of the State. Indeed to do so would go far to
break up our local travel. With us the car
riage of the mail is but a secondary consideration.
’ Our chief duty to the cities of Charjgston, Au
guste, Colombia and Camden, (to which our
' roads serve as the principal means for internal
communication,) and to the public generally, is
the safe and speedy transportation of the mer
chandise and produce upon which their trade
and income depend, and we must hold that in
paramount consideration.
Another difference has arisen between the
■ company and Department, As we have stated
! when the change was made from Charleston to
Kingsville, as the point for receiving anddeliver-
I ing the mail, we made it the condition of the
change that the pay for service on our Columbia
■ branch should be raised to $237.50 per nftile on
i account of the increased expense to us. And
I for the reason that our workshops and offices
being located in Charleston, the change to Kings
ville occasioned no diminution of running on
the road between Branchville and Charleston
while it increased the service op, the Columbia
branch of the r iad. The change o Kingsville
was made on this condition of an increase of pay,
and we have regularly performed the service.
We, however, have not been paid in accordance
with the express stipulation ; and although, re
peated aplications have been made to the De
partment, payments are still withheld; and in
his letter of the 11th August, the Postmaster
General assumes the right ot his mere will to
reduce the pay from Charleston to Branchville
and from Kingsville to Columbia to SIOO per
■ ; mile, though there had been no change ol service
! since we had entered into t.,e engagement to
■ perform it at $287.50 per mile.
There Is another proceeding ot the Post Office
• Department which has given just cause ot dissa-
I tistaction to th s company. It arose out of the
’ I following circumstances. The arrangement tor
‘ the transfer of the mail Pom the steamers be-
■ tween Wilmington and Charleston to the pre
sent route was made without consulting this
■ company, except as to the compensation which
, we would require. The Wilmington and Man-
- Chester company engaged to transport the maif
r . from Wilmington to Kingsville, and, were to be
r paid for that service: and we contracted and
• i were to be paid for its transportation from Kings-
• ville to Augutta. It was known to this com
pany that the mail would eventually take this
t ' aoute, and as preparatory thereto we had entered
- ihto a contract providing lor the rebuilding of a
part of the Camden Branch of our road which
1 crosses the Wateree river and swamp. The
: ' work proposed embraced the building of a new
’ ■ bridge and raising the trestle work through the
swamp to a sufficient height to avoid all inter
t ruption from freshets. It was the opinion of .this
■ I company that the transportation ot the great
Northern and Southern mail could not be safely
, | transferred to this route until the above work
• was completed. The Postmaster General, how
> ever, before’the work was executed, did transfer
, ’ the mail to this route. The contract made hy
s i him with the Wilmington and Manches'er
- I Company embraced the use of this portion of our
i road, that company receiving the compensation
lor its use.
As had been anticipated a freshet occurred,
1 and in March the route was interrupted for se
veral days. We regularly transported the South
’ ern mail from 'Augusta to Kingsville, but the
Wilmington and Manche-ter company, in con
seqence of the freshet, were unable to receive it
I and could not take it across the river and swamp,
for the same reason they were unable to deliver
the Northern mail to u». To aid the Wilmington
; and Manchester Railroad company in the execu
tion of their contract we made repeated attempts
topass both the Northern and Southern mails
across the river, and incurred considerable expen
ses in our efforts to forward them. The South
ern mail we took to Columbia, and afterwards
to Charleston, whence it was subsequently car
ried to Wilmington by a steamer employed by
' private enterprise. Under tlreseciscumstanc.es
the Postmaster General undertook to inflet a
line. (We will not enter-into the question
whether this was a proper case for imposing a
penalty.) But. instead ol imposing the line upon
the company that had made the failure, (if fail
ure there was,.) and whose contract embraced the
space within the failure occurred, and who re
ceiver! pay for the service that had not been per
forined, he fined this company $1,200, though we
nad fully performed our contract, having trans
ported the mail in due time f-orn Augusta to
Kingsville, and having afterwards incurred extra
expense, and also performed extra, service by
, carrying the mail to Charleston, from whence it
was transporter! to Wilmington in advance of
the time it would otherwise have reached that
I city. But the peculiar character of this transac
tions does not end h“re. We have a contract
: for the conveyance of a local mail to Camden,
the compensation for which amounts to $1.9 0
pr-r annum, or about $5 per day. The fine lor !
a failure ot mail up the toims of the contract i<
three times the daily pay. But the P.rstmait-r 1
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1854.
General imposed upon us the fine of $1,200 under
this contract, though three days’ failure would
only amount to about sls. We are first fined
for a failure occurring under a contract with
another company’ for carrying the Northern qnd
Southern mail, and the fine'is imposed under a ,
contract which has no rotation to that mail.
That we should be greatly dissatisfied with the
course pursued by the Department cannot be
surprising. The personal applications of the
President of the Company for redress, and his
frequent written remonstrances have been
alike unnoticed and disregarded. If we could re
sort to a jury of the country for redress we should
apprehend noinjury Irorn these proceeding, other
than a mere delay ol payment. But our rights
are subject to the arbitrary will of the Lead of
the Department and we have no appeal but the
tedious process of an application to Congress.
This company make the above statement of
facts public in justification of their determination,
under the circumstances narrated, to abandon
the mail service after the Ist of November.
While deeply regretting the inconvenience the
public may suffer from the interruption of mail :
facilities, injustice to the stockholders of this I
road they cannot subniit to exactions which they
consider unjust and tyrannical.
JOHN CALDWELL, President.
] From the Columbia Caiolinian of Tuesday.]
The Mail Service. X
( We are permitted to publish the fol owing
correspondence between the South Carolina I
Rail Road Company and Postmaster General I
Campbell, which, wesupposo, is final, in relation
to the mail service on the South Carolina Rail
Road. It only confirms us in the views we
have already expressed, toughing this controversy
—as a high-handed measure of the Postmaster-
General., Any person who has taken the trouble
to read the correspondence cannot fail to perceive
that the letters ot the Postmaster-General of the
3d and 11th August were peremptory ordeis to
the Railroad Company, and that the Company
■ had no alternative from a heavy loss-but aband
i oning the contract, which course tirey had a
, tight to pursue, under its provisions:
I Oi’ficr S. C. R. R. Company—Charleston,
‘ Oct. 21, 1851.—Sir: —We received from you an
I order, dated 3d of August last, to change the
j schedule in contract No. 3 131 from GJ o’clock,
■ A. M., to 8 o’clock, P. M., leaving Augusta : and
1 have also received from you a letter, dated 11th
I August last, notifying us that you would with
i hold a portion of the compensation to which we
I are entitled for service on our road from Kmgs
' ville to Columbia, unless we accept the change
as ordered. The change of schedule proposed in
your letter of the 3d ot August, not being accept
able to this company, we preferred to relinquish
the contract, and accordingly in our letter of 19th
of August last we gave you notice that on the
Ist of October we would discontinue to carry
the mail. Subsequently, with a view to the
I public convenience, and to afford the department
the most ample time for other arrangements, we
I determined to postpone the period (or discon'inu
| mg the service to the Ist of November proximo,
i Ot this determination we gave public notice, a
■ copy of which was sent to your department, and
I you were further informed of it by my letter ol
j the 10th of October instant. We have received
; no communication from you in relation to the
I change of schedule directed in your letter of the
13d of August since my letters of the 19th
i August, or since we transmitted the other notices
to you. We therefore presume you adhere to
the change ot schedule ordered by ycu on 3d of
August.
Under these, circumstances, to protect our
selves against a change of schedule which would
j occasion great loss and injury to this company,
ail’d against the withdrawal ot the compensation
whi. j the Department contracted to render lor
services that they have regularly and faithfully
performed, we have no alternative but to exer
cise the right reserved to us in our contract with
the department. We have, therefore, adopted
the following resolutions, which we transmit to
you as our final action in the matter.
[The resolutions were published on Saturday ]
We also enclose a copy of the letter of Mr.
Frierson, to which these resolutions refer.
RespecUuily. yours.
JOHN CALDWELL, President.
To Hon. James Campbell, Postmaster General,
Washington, D. C.
Posr Office Department, Oct. 25, 1854
| Sir:—l have received your letter ol 21st instant,
communicating the resolutions of your company
; not to accept the change of schedule proposed by
| tne, and not to take the mails upon your road or
. admit them into your cars, after the first ot No
j vember, except by the schedule of your original
1 contract, (modified so as to receive and deliver
" the great mails at Kingsville instead ot Charles
ton, and upon the payment of $237,50 per mile
horn Charleston to Bianchville, and Irom
Columbia, byway of Kingsville and Branchville
tozlugusta. «
Your demand as to compensation is wholly in
admissabte, for reasons heretofore fully stated,
and you can only be allowed at the above rate
for the distance Irom Kingsville to zYugusta, and
and SIOO a mile from Columbia to Kingsville
and Charleston to Branchville for single daily
mails, as stated in my letter of 11th August lasi.
Your light to discontinue service cannot be
be maintained under existing circumstances, be
cause the contingency contemplated by the
clause in your contract, in respect to a change
of schedule, ( s o which you allude,) has not actu
ally happened. With a view of expediting the
mails it has been urged upon you to change the
hour of departure from Augusta. You have de
clined doing so, and continued the former schedule
without any attempt on the part of this depart
ment to enforce a change. The great necessity
(or double daily service has also been pressed up
on your attention, but it has simply been a mat
ter of negociation, and no order on the subject
has been issued.
Unless, therefore, penalties should be imposed
for failure to change your schedule, you are
bound to continue the present service to the end
of your contract term.
1 am, sir, respectfully, &c., &c.,
JOHN CAMPBELL.
John Caldwell, Esq., President South Carolina
Rail Road, Charleston. •
Offices. C. R. R. Company, Charleston, S
C., Oct., 1854. —Your letter of the 25th instant
has just been received. It is with great regret
that I perceive difficulties with the Department
are incurred with every communication. In
that now received, you question our right to dis
continue service, on the ground, if I understand
you, that the letters addressed to this company
have been simply matters of negociation, and
that no order on the subject of change of shedule
has been issued. I must say that I find it im
possible to put such a construction on your letters
ol the 3d and 11 th of August. In the (ormer
you say: “ Having exhausted all the means in
my power and (ailed in my purpose, &c., there
remains nothing lor me to do but to insist that
you make proper connections with the mails as
now conveyed to the South. I there expect that
you will arrange at the earliest day for changing
yom schedule so as to leave Jlugusta at eight p. m.”
1 can understand this language only to mean
that we change our schedule or abandon the ser
vice. We have with much regret, with regard
to public convenience, felt ourselves compelled
to embrace the latter alternative. The reasons,
however, that you urge in support of your posit
ion are singular, viz : That we cannot discon
tinue service unless penalties be imposed for
failure to change our schedule. As I understand
the clause of the contract, it was intended to en
able us to protect ourselves against incurring
penalties; and it would be indeed strange that
our right to abandon should only arise alter we
have subjected ourselves to the tender mercies of
the department and felt the penalties. But in
k your letter of 11th August, you do propose, if I
comprehend your meaning, to impose a penalty.
You say that, ‘‘ unless you perform double daily
service on the terms proposed to you, I shall be
compelled to reduce the pay between Charleston
and Branchville to the rate allowed elsewhere
for similar service. It will also become matter
for serious consideration,” &c. You thus an
nounce an intention to withhold the compensa
tion due under our contract unless we comply
with your requisitions.
By the Resolutions of the Board of Directors
of the 20th instant, the continuance of our ser
vice is made to depend upon the engagement
of the Department to fulfil the original contract
as modified through Mr. Frierson, your agent,as
set forth in his letter ol 10th bl August, a copy
of which has been sent to you. It only remains
for me. therefore, to carry out the resolutions al- '
ready referred to. /
1 am, sir, respectfully, &c., &c.
JOHN CALDWELL, President. I
To Hon. James Campbell, Postmaster General, 1
Washington, D. C.
LATER FROM EUROPE.
Details of the “Pacific’s” News.
The War. — Sevastopol not Taken.— The news
from the Crimea is—nothing 1 A multitude of
private letters, telegiaphie despatches, and re
vivals of old news is found in the English and
Continental papers, but none state that
Sevastopol is taken, nor that the allies have
made much progress toward taken it.
Lord Raglan’s latest despatches say that he
expected to “open fire” in a few days, and pri
vate letters add that an attack on the outworks
’ was fixed for the 9th inst. Menschikoff kept
ithe fieldnorthward of Sevastopol. The position
of the allies was strong and easily defensible
against an attack from the landward. The allied
extreme right leans on the slope ot the mountain
east of Balaklava, which run down like immense
walls to Aloushta. Tqe body of the right wing
l is at Karnara, and butposts are posted on the
Black river. The centre occupies the road lea
i ding from Kadikoi 1 o Sevastopol, and irom Bak
shiserai and Balaklava—The body of the left
wing is at Karani; the outposts at Khutor. Ihe
allies’ siege artillery, with 00,000 gabions, facines
i and piles, have been disembarked and have mostly
reached the camp Menschikoff has a hundred
field guns with his army. On the 4th a canon
ade took place betwaen some English steamers
and the quarantine fort of Odessa —nothing re
sulted.
RussYa continues to amass troops on the Aust
rian frontier, but has scarcely a regiment on the
Prussian. The inference is plain—the Czar
at length distrusts Austria, and has an arrange
ment with Prussia. Informatory of this suppo
sition, rumor at Vienna says that a secret treaty
already does exists between Russia and Prussia
with respect to the Turkish war, in which trea
ty Russia strictly lays down the limits within
which Prussia may make a sham alliance with
the German powers.
In the crowd of so called “dispatches the fol
lowing are the on.y ones that indicate any pro
gress in the operations.
Vienna, Oct. 16. P. M.—Lord Raglan has
written to Omar Pasha that the regular siege of
Sevastopol would begin on the sth inst., and he
thought that the fortress would be taken in ten
days.
Vienna, Oct. 17.—1 tis reported from Con
stantinople sth. that the Russians, 20,000 strong,
under Menschikoff, have been again beaten ;
and that the southern heights, (of Sevastopol) are
taken. The surrender of the city is looked for
between the 13th and 14 inst.
Against this, set the following, received from
Berlin : * ...
St. Petersburg, Oct. 15.—Nothing of im
portance had been undertaken against Sevastopol
to the 9th October, being last advices.
The Russians seem fully determined to defend
the Crimea, even should fall. As a
proof of the importance attached to the defence,
it is currently given out in Russia that the Grand
Duke Constantine will himselt take command of
the southern army. The question is discussed
with much earnestness as to the possibility of
reinforcement reaching Menschikoff, so as to en
able him to assume the offensive in the fisld
against the allies, and compel them to raise the
siege. The Russians have already 300,000 men
entrenched at Bakshiserai, as a neuclus for the
expected reinforcements, and the army of the
Crimea will be, by the middle of October, in a
I pdSition to operate with 60,Q00 men in the field
in ai<i of the besieged garisson, which numbers
30,000 —the total Russian force being thus 90,
000 men.
To meet this force the allies have at present,
at sea and on shore, an equal number, that is to
say 90.000 men, and-they are continually bring
ng up reinforcements, having, of course, the tree
command of the sea. Eight thousand addi'ional
Turks are under orders to embark from Varna;
and the Egyptian extra contignent of 7,000 will
proced direct from Alexandria to the Crimea.
The Russians will thus be outnumbered, and as
the allies have a siege artillery, (for which 800.
000 shot and shells are already landed) and all
arms of warefare, there is every probability’ that
Sevastopol will fall, and, perhaps, speedily. But
it by no means follows that its fall will end the
war. Turkey is well nigh exhausted ol recruits.
France it is true, has still 150,000 men tg spare;
England has not a single regiment, unless she
bring forward her sepoys from India. Russia,
on the contrary, has immense reserves, and may
protract the war indefinitely.
Re-Establishment of the Kingdom of Poland.—
There are various indications, little in them
selves, but amounting in the aggregate that the
Courts of France and England have actually
under consideration the practicability of re-es
tablishing the kingdom of Poland, as an inde- I
pendent power. Such a stroke of policy, it ‘is |
believed, is a favorite project of Napoleon 111.,
who hope thereby to cripple Russia’s influence I
over the German Powers.and as the influence of j
Russia diminishes to build up that of France in
its room.
A pamphlet which has just appeared in Par
is, entitled ‘‘a letter to the Emperor on the East
ern question,” and which is suspected of having
been inspired by Government suggestions, ar
gues the case with some ability.
I Position of the Armies.— The London Times
has the following comments upon the position ol
the armies, and the probable period at which
the attack upon Sevastopol will take p'ace:
It is. however, probable that an interval of
time which will seem long to us, though it be
short in comparison with the difficulties to be
surmounted and the end to be accomplished,
must still elapse before we receive any decisive
intelligence of the progress ot the seige. The
telegraphic despatches which reached us in the
course ol yesterday are chiefly from • Russian
sources, communicated in Vienna, and they do
not add anything of importance to what was
already known. The position ascribed to the
allied armies are precisely those which we have
already determined by inference, between the
slope of the mountains which skirt the port cf
Balaklava and the coast immediately south of
Sevastopol; and we add, that the whole coast or
undercliff horn Balaklava to the Aloushta must
be in our power; 'or it is highly improbable
that any Russian detatchment should haVe been
left in that narrow sea, where it would be sepa
rated from the main body of the army.
VOL. 33 —NEW SERIES- VOL. -9 -NO. 38.
Even supposing that ten days have been con
sumed in the construction of the siege batteries
before they open their fire on the place, that pe-,
riod is by no means long. Two siege trains of
heavy guns, said to amount in all to 40 pieces,
are to be landed from the transports which
brought them from Woolwich and Toulon, con
veyed fora distance of six or seven miles ovei a
chain of hills, and placed in position. The
works required for erection of such batteries and
for the protect on of the troops must be consid
erable, even if the dry and rocky nature of .the
soil does not altogether obstruct the excavation
of regular approaches and covered ways. In
that case, which is the more probable alterna
tive, the engineers will have to rely, as they did
at Bomersund, on the artificial materials such as
sacks of earth, gabions and fascines, all of which
have to'be transported from the ships. If our
readers will recall to mind the number of days
spent at Bomersund in these preliminary opera
tions, and the amount of preparation required
before three small batteries of three or four guns
each could be opened on the forts there, although
those operations were conducted with great
spirit and vigor, they will redily perceive that
such an enterprise as the siege and bombard
ment of Sevastopol is not ta be begun in a cou
ple of days. There is, however, many reasons
to believe that these measures are proceeding
rapidly and successfully, and it deserved partic
ular notice that.we have heard nothing of any
attempt on the part of the enemy to interrupt
them.
Other .Affairs. — The Council of Tanzimat has
been appointed in accordance with the decree of
the Sultan, mentioned some time since. Ali
Pasha is President, but Faud Ali Pasha, Mehe
met Pudchi, Rifaat and Hifzi Pashas, Ruchti
Molla Effendi, and Faud Effendi.
A bon mot is attributed to Lord Raglan at the
battle of Alma. He lost his arm in the last
French war. At Alma while lookingat the gal
lant conduct of the French light infantry, he ex
claimed —“The French owed me an arm, now
thev have paid’ me,”
Great Britain.— The subject which at present
most occupies the attention of the British pnblic,
j is the lamentable deficiency of surgeons, nurszs,
and surgical requirements, which is distressingly
i increasing the mortality among the sick and
wounded of the arpay of the East. Already, a
’ national subscription has been set agoing, and
I €I,OOO sterling have been sent to the London
fimes, to which paper the credit belongs ot bav
ing originated the movement. The Times itself
is flooded with letters Irom all parts of the conn
try, offeiing suggestions tor the disposal ol the
fund. The great want, however, appears not to
be medical requirements, but medical men.'—
Hundreds of qualified persons are ready to offer
their services as temporary attaches to the medi
cal staff, but the absurd “ red-tape” requirements
of the military boards prevent them. For ex
ample : hospital students skilled in dressing, and
in the minor operations of the surgery are ineli
gible unless they have completed a prescribed
routine of studies in logic; and others recom
mended as skillful with the knife are refused ad
mittance into the fleet unless they have com
pleted two full courses of—midwifery ! The
eminent surgeon ffutherie opposes the move
ment, and«shows the fallacy of attempting by
charitable subscriptions, to make up for the gross
neglect or incompetency of the medical depart
ment of the army. Os course, in the present
philanthropic vein of the public, his remarks are
hot ’listened to.
Prayers have been offered up iti some of the
Irish Roman Catholic Chapels, for the souls of
the brave who fell at Alma.
Winter threatened to set in early this year.—
Already snow had fallen in the north of Scot
land.
Queen Victoria and her Court had returned
from Scotland to London. Their progress is
duly chronicled in the papers to hand by
this arrival.
The Recent Commercial Failures. — The recent
commercial failure at Liverpool continued to oc
cupy attention, the more so that theyjrave had
disastrous effects in Ireland. Conflicting state
ments' were current with respect to the probable
result. Our Liverpool correspondent is enabled
to state—and doubtless reliably—that a trust
deed is being prepared, and is now nearly com
pleted in the affairs of Mr. Edward Oliver, and
will likely enable all debts to be paid in full,
with alarge surplus remaining for Mr. Oliver.—
Mr. James McHenry’s affairs are to some extent
involved with Mr. Oliver’s but a good result was
anticipated—much better than the public were
led to believe by the London Wmes.
With regard to the Chancery proceedings in
stituted by Mr. W. Gardner, who is stated to be
a relative or family connertion of Mr McHenry,
the following is from the Liverpool Albion of
i this morning :
j ‘’To-day, an advertisement appears in the
' Liverpool papers, by which it appears that
Messrs. W. Gardner & Co. have commenced a
I suit against Mr. Oliver, for the purpose of having
I sundry bills accepted by tl.em cancelled. These
I amount to £45,000, and it is alleged by Messrs,
Gardner & Co., that they received no considera
j tion for them. The injunction was, in conse-
I quenee, obtained to prevent their falling into the
i hands of third parties. Several of them, how
j ever, have gone into circulation, bat those in the
| hands of the trustees will be given up; the others
j cannot be followed. These bills have been
j drawn as follows:—Six bills by Mr. Oliver, in
j July and August, amounting to .£20,000; eight
by Messrs. Mann & Birney, of Cincinnati, in
I August, amounting to .£15,000 ; and £IO,OOO by
: James McHenry, in two bills, dated the 6th and
j 16th of September, .£45,000, and no considera
| tion, is lending a name to some extent for finan
| cial purposes, and shows, with other financiering
i operations that have come to light in the course
■ ot the week in regard to one of the other large
1 houses which have suspended, that Messrs. Gard-
■ ner’s is by no means a single instance of a name
I being lent without security or consideration.
France.— The obsequies ol Marshal St. Ar
| naud were celebrated on the 16th, with great
(pomp. The garrison of Paris and the Imperial
Guard formed the procession.
The Bulletin de Lois contains an imperial de
i cree reinstating M. Jerome Bonaparte in his
: quality of Frenchman. His son, Lieutenant Bo
naparte, has joined the aimy of the east.
I Barbes, the Red Republican, has refused the
I act of clemency granted to him by the Emperor.
i Barbes says, that if the authorities did not re ar-
i rest him r.'ithiu two days he would retire into
voluntary exile—into England.
Russia.— At the recent great fire in Memel j
the whole place would have been burned down
had it not been for the exertions of American and j
English sailors then in port.
Martial law is proclaimed in the governments
<*f Charkow, Pultawa and Kiew.
Mr. Upton, an Englishman settled on the Cri
mea, and son of an engineer of fortifications in j
Sevastopol, has been taken prisoner by the Brit- |
ish, and sent to Lord Rigland’s head quarters to
have information extracted from him respecting j
the works.
China.— Letters from Hong-Kong of Aug. 22d i
state that political affairs at Canton remain in |
the same critical state, and dissatisfaction was |
spreading. The insurgents were in great force j
in the surrounding country, and three attempts ,
were made to take the city, which, however, i
failed. Honam, opposite Canton was threatened, ,
and the people are quietly- maturing for an open ,
assault against the Mandhcin’s authority.
At Whampoa contributions were forcibly le
vied. The river between that place and Canton
continued to be infested by pirates, and trade
could only be carried on under convoy ot armed
steamers. The appioaches to Whampoa, bo':. >
by land and water, were in possession of the in
surgents. The transit of teas and inquiry for
goods having ceased, the business at Canton had
been limited to shipping off the teas that were
on the market. An attempt had been made to '
effett a compromise with the insurgents, but un
successfully.
The village of Couloon, on the opposite side of
Hong Kong Bay, was taken possession of on the
night of the 18th of August by a band ol pirates'
1 he neighborhood is occupied by banditti
Sir John Bowring, the British Commissioner
had visited koochowand had an interview with
I the Viceroy, and with the Chinese authorities at
Amoy, bighnug was going on between the
two parties at Shanghai, but the Imperialists ap
pear to mane little progress towards the reca i
ture of the city *
Satnqua, the late laoutai ( had been ordered to
Pekin to ans ver some charges of the public cen
son, Lau has been appointed in his place. Com
missioner McLean had arrived from Shan«hai a*
Hong Kong. It was understood that he would
re urn there shortly with Sir John Bowrirw. to.
i settle the question, qnd would attempt to trade
■ up the Yang-tse-Kiang.
I'he news of the insurgents in the North is ve
i ry scanty, and the impression was that they
i were meeting with reverses and were on the re
; treat. The latest Pekin Gazette, dated June 28
; contains nothing interesting. All was quiet at
I Ningpo, to Aug. 4th. At Foochow much activ
; ity was going on in the shipment of teas. A
fire had destroyed 1,000 houses. On the 1 Sth
all was quiet at Amoy, and a fair trade going on.
There was no change in political matters at.Na
moa to fte 18th of August, the insurgents-being
still around the city.
Japan Expedition—Attack on Sitka.—Commo
dore Perry was to return heme next month, Sep
tember. The U. S. ship supply was at Canton.
The British Admiral Sterling remained at
Shanghai awaiting the arrival of the French Ad
miral Laguere, in the French frigate Jeanne of
Are. On his arrival the united French and En
glish fleet were to proceed to Sitka to attack the
Russian ships and forts there.
Work on the Savannah, Albany, & Gulf
Rail Road—The work on this.important en
terprise has continued its regular progress during
the last seveial months, without the slightest re
j lerence to the epiderrtic which so fatally ravaged
our city, and so seriously affected some depart
ments of its business. Ground was first broken
(as is generally known) between three and four
miles beyond the limits of the corporation. From
that point the work has been extended in both
directions until the grading is now nearly com
pleted. south-westwardly to the Little Ogeechee.'
and north eastwardly to within a few hundred
yards of the lots chosen and purchased for the
depot, on Liberty street. Lover’s Lane has al
ready been crossed and the city limits entered.
. In passing yesterday over a portion of the
track, we discovered that the grading, as it ad
vanced towards and crossed the South Western
boundary of the corporation, had been a work of
much more difficulty than we anticipated. The
track sweeps into the city by a graceful curve in
stead of advancing by a right line. Its length
is thus slightly increased and the work is made
considerably heavier, but these disadvantages are
far more than counterbalanced by the great sav
ing which the company thereby makes in the
cost of its right of way. The route selected-by
which to enter the city, passes over a scarcely
habitable swamp, the value of the right of way
will be trifling as compared with what might
reasonably have been charged, had the road come
by direct line, over the elevated and even surface
which it woull thus have crossed.
It is gratifying to know that among the hands
employed there have been no deaths, and very
little sickness during tha past fatal season. This
is partly owing to the admirable system of man
agement pursued by Messrs,Collins the contrac
tor- but ro-M-h more to the fact that their labor
ers are slaves. Had the operativefPbeen whites
there is little doubt there would have been a
complete suspension of work during our late ep
idemic.—Sav. Georgian.
I Business !.•$ Savannah.—Take a stroll, read-
i er, along our wharves,and notice our fine marine
I ot one steamship, 15 ships, 16 barques, 5 brigs, 6
! schooners, and many steamboats—and notice the
I bustle it is creating among sailors, stevedores.
| laborers and others engaged in their various
I duties; clerks employed in receiving and shipping
I immense freights, and draymen loading and un-
I loading their vehicles—all vigorously bending to
I work—and ask yourself if business has com
| inenced. From the wharves to our streets—the
j Bay the busiest ot all—and witness the deter
! miuation of all who have returned to their
: several avocations, to make amends for the past'
; —look around upon the several stores that have
I re-opened, and see the condition of things there
j —and again ask yourselves if business has com-
J menccd. Il it is not .as flourishing as it should
i be, it is attributable to the temerity ot out
i friends, who are away, in not coming among us
|to aid in doing their duty for Savannah. She is
I fast rising from her late prostrate condition, and
will soon, from present bppearances, be firmly
on her feet again. Our own people, who ire
still away from their homes, should return to
them, and thus give confidence to our country
patrons to come also, and have their orders filled.
We are ready for you all—so come at once.—
Sav. 4th.
jjy Our mechanics have gone to work in ear
nest, and are actively engaged in the erection ot
several new buildings about the city, and in re
paiiing buildings and other houses that were in
jured bj’ the late gale. The change in the aspect
of affairs generally, within the last week or two,
is really encouraging. Every one is resuming
business, with an earnestness that bespeaks for
Savannah an early resatortion. — lb.
Cotton. —We would state, for the information
j of our planters and merchants in the Interior.
1 that the Cotton market has fully opened, and the
| only reason for the limited sales we have report
i ed lor the last two weeks, is the entire absence
of an offering stock. Prices paid in this market
■ now will compare favorably with those of any
' of the neighboring cities.— JO.
[Telegraphed for the Baltimore Sun.] •
i Louisvilli:, Nov. I.—The Sait Lake mail ar
; lived at Independence on Sunday, bringing
! little intelligence of interest. Business in the
valley was recovering, but money was not very
' abundant.
Indian depredations had become le's frequent
and more amicable relations existed between
! the Mormons and the various tribes, who were
quiet. But few were seeh on the route.
Messrs. Ward and Gurry have moved their .
trading post further up the mountains.
Two Companies ot troops were met at K>rt
The prairies were burnt pretty weh of! by the
Indians, and was scarce, and only met With
in small spots. , . , .
New Hope, Nov. 2.—There is a report here
of 'a serious break in the Delaware Division ot
the Pennsylvania Canal at the Four
Ninety feet of the bank is gone and ten teet
washed out below the bottom. The navigation
rn t'he canal is thus closed and it is approtended
that it will take several weeks to repair tne
damage.
The Prize Fight.—Thomas Hyer, the New
Y.nk pugilist, denies, over his s-gn.ture a .
connection with the recent prize fight near
I onis He has not been absent from New Y ork
lad has not “ had the least idea of bemg engaged
in such a business.