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Northern Star (1837-1852), 14th August 1852, Edition 2 of 2, Page 1, So. 1. New Seeieb.] LONDON, SATURDAY, AU...

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    • EEVIEW OP TEE WEEK.
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      Eeview Op Tee Week.

      EEVIEW OP TEE WEEK .

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      So. 1. New Seeieb.] London, Saturday, Au...

      So . 1 . New Seeieb . ] LONDON , SATURDAY , AUGUST 14 , 1852 . Price Fourpence Halfpenny

      The Most Important As Well As The Most E...

      The most important as well as the most exciting topic of the moment is the dispute between the English Government and the United States , as to the fisheries upon the northern coast of America . The following appears to he a true statement of the facts : —In 1818 a treaty was concluded between the two powers by which American fishermen were admitted to exercise their calling upon certain parts of the seaboard , but were excluded from other parts , and the terms of exclusion provided that they should not fish within three miles of any coast , bay , creek , or harbour reserved for the British colonists . The rough fishermen of Massaehusets

      and Maine , however , when in hot pursuit-of a shoal of cod or mackerel , were not likely to be stopped by an imaginary line drawn from headland to headland , or to measure their three miles very accurately ; and the consequence has been perpetual complaints upon the part of the colonists that their privileges had been infringed , and disputes as to where the Yankees might go and where they might not . Out of this arose another question , at first subsidiary , but now become of primary importance . Our cousins on the other side of the water were not only to keep three miles from the

      coast , but three miles from any bay upon the coast . That , probably , was an oversight in the treaty ; but there it is plainly enough . jKow , some of these bays , the Bay of Fundy for example , where this dispute seems to centre , are so large that they may be called inland seas . There is plenty of room for fishing within them without going within three miles of the coast . Indeed that seems ^ to be

      the most profitable part of the fishing-ground , and so the Americans wished to strike "bay" out of the treaty altogether , restricting their exclusion within three miles of land , teubsequently the American authorities laid " a case" before the English law officers , requesting an opinion upon the meaning of the treaty , and the Attorney and Advocate General for the time said in reply that a bay was an indentation of the sea between headlands , which we take it is a geographical fact ; and , farther , that three miles from a hay meant three miles from the part of the bay nearest the open sea . We do not exactly see what else the law officers could have said if they were to be guided by fact or common ** nse : but their inion being adverse to American interest ¦ va W 44 H AAJLl /

      op , f y J , -ww . ** . *— m . *^ . » * J *> « .. J . U ** vw ** V'JL V ^« - */• "J putting the fiihermen out from the immense bays , was not held to be conclusive , and , treaty and law officers notwitbstanoirigj they contrived to follow the fish where the nsn went , and the colonists continued to complain without result . That was what we suppose was only to be expected . itong-Ji fishermen are neither statesmen nor jurists . Thev do not look at matters with the same eye as lawyers and secretaries of state . The open sea seems to them too free an element to be staked out and made property of , and , when a Jrandied yards or a mile further on makes all the difference Between a full net and an empty onewhon thev

      , y , go . Thing-s remained in this unsettled state between Yankee poachers and colonial preservers till such time as Lord Aberdeen held the post of Secretary of State , ' and then the English Government appears to have given the Americans We to infringe the treaty , so far at least as the Bay of * unay was concerned . That for the moment settled ' the question ; and as it does somehow happen that free Republicans have more energy and enterprise than Royal colonists , a tact tor whichof coursewe do not attempt to account i \\

      , , , . n J —»~ v ,, ,. v > a . j ± l \ JV WUW / IiiMU V \ J uowu . uu , r ;™^ appear to have distanced competition , and made we iishenes almost their own . They invested millions of tb ^ fWped hundreds of schooners and cutters , employed xuousands of seamen , and , in fact , turned the British bay into iquid gold-fipld and a nursery for American seamen . is ow nbn ? + r 6 ^ nsis * Suddenly , just as the fishing season is wout to begm , and fh « s harVtfew Englanders are anticipanng profit , the Derby Government shake hands warmly

      TOi the hitherto neglected colonists . A poaching fishing-I ls / aptured and carried away . She was within three mnes of the coast , and clearly wrong , according to both - ^ glish and American interpretation , but the fact furnishes R eason for excitement when taken hi connection with other steps The people of the States are hi a ferment when they iiear that a man-of-war steamer , bearing : the gentle name of tile /// 'll / ir ^/ i ^'/ iii -In m > •* - ! -. „ . * -1 H . t il t & e Devastationis the that leaantl

      „_ , on ground ; more psy-^ nstened coadjutors are on their way ; .. that ] S ova Scotia is •^ nciing forth aimed vessel s , and Canada , Eew Brunswick , m N ewfoundland are following the . example . American fibers of Congress make belligerent motions . Mr . a ^ ter makes war speeches ; the press writes after rather that i ? ist - C fas - hio : a > and a yery s eneral opinion seems to be -d . V ? e time has pretty nearly come for teaching- " them ^ Wsalessonjg ^ ess . " « ppm ° ^ ' ? J * en ^ rea % cannot guess . The Americans ' ^ right a ,, to the spirit of the treaty , and the English

      The Most Important As Well As The Most E...

      -. .... - ™—mnr . m . mm * ^* ci * rrm * irw , n * . mm * r ~« n . .. i -, -, ^ ¦ -.,. — , a ^ ,-M ... .-. 1 ., < .. i ,-Ma ) :,., ) . „ . . fc t ,.,.,., . .. . . 1 IIIM' ^ wi ^ m ¦ ¦» ¦¦ llnl ^ wiill j tmm J * J 1 '"^' ifrffflf Government right as to its letter , if strictly interpreted . But it cannot be concealed that our Cabinet have acted with discourtesy in taking warlike steps in the face of the permission received by the Americans , and which , until revoked , overrules the treaty , and have acted most unfairly m taking that course , just when all the preparations were ready for the fishing , without giving previous notice . It is equally plain that , right or wrong , the Americans will fight if necessary for the maintenance of a trade upon which so many dollars depend , and it looks as if the only way to a peaceable settlement is for Sir John Paking-ton to back out

      of the scrape . Probably that will be done , for the Morning Herald intimates that the fleet is not to settle the disputed points of the treaty—that is , the right of fishing in large bays—but to protect the colonists from what are universally allowed to be infringements—that is , from American fishermen coming within three miles of the shore . If that be so , and it may be so now , although we much doubt whether it is what was first intended , the whole affair will turn out to be " much ado about nothing , " a conclusion at which all Englishmen who estimate the * " importance of cotton , and all Americans who understand what a bastile slave population signifies , will cordially rejoice .

      Turning from cod and mackerel in the north-west , we glance at the cattle-stealing Caffres in the south-eastanother budget of the Caffre war , containing news rather more disastrous than the last . Sir Harry Smith has come home , and General Cathcart has gone out . Ricketty Government steam-ships , with much peril to those on board , have carried troops to the Cape . Heavy dragoons have been changed into light ; riflemen have been exported with Minie guns . Officers have taken out Colt ' s revolvers . Battles have

      been fought ; forays have been made ; mountains and defiles have been scoured ; and all—at least so say the despatches—with the greatest gallantly and eminent success . The gallantry we do not doubt ; but , unfortunately , the success is non-apparent . There is the Caffre just where he was . In the Waterkloof—in the Amatolas—everywhere where there is rock and bush and scrub ; nay , spite of being beaten , he has come nearer to the towns . He has practical possession of all the frontier and a good space inside it . He captures soldier-guarded convoys under the general ' s nose ,

      shoots woodcutters straggling close by the main body , and steals cattle not only from the colony but from the camp itself . In fact , the savage looks like ' anything but beaten . The general who conquered the Sikhs , and the general who has conquered nobody , are equally useless . In the meantime Hottentots are joining Caffres , and Fingoes on our side are suspected of a taste for shooting our officers rather than our enemies . Above all , the colonists do not see the mark ,

      thinking probably that those who do the governing are bound to do the fighting also . The Caffre war may be over when the next new planet is discovered . At the present rate of discovering planets , however ( nearly one a week , according to the Astronomer Royal ) , the latter is the more probable contingency . We do not feel safe in fixing a more definite period ; but one thing we know , that if there is a surplus next year Englishmen need not expect much of it , for the Caffres

      have bespoken it . The Six-mile Bridge tragedy is still under investigation by an Irish coroner and jury , and excites the attention of magistrates and military , priests , peasantry , and public . It is difficult at present to understand much more than that shots were fired by the soldiers and stones thrown by the people , the bullets of course doing the most damage . There is evidently much malignity and rancour , and we should think there will be not a little hard swearing . One thing seems established , that the military fired without the command of their officers , it being doubtful whether a

      magistrate gave the order or the men fired on their own hook . If the former , the presumption will be that party feelino" had something to do with it ; if the latter , then it was in self-defence . Whatever the verdict , it is apparent enough that the Irish voter , between the priest and the landlord , between fears of eternal perdition and temporal pauperism , is in a worse case than if he had no vote at all ; and even Conservatives agree that they must have the ballot . ^ One of the inquests arising out of the late fatal accident on the London and jN orth-Western Railway has terminated , and

      another has commenced . The verdict already given attributes the accident to the defective state of the fastenings of the ash-pan of the engine , and consequently imputes blame to those whose duty it was to see the engine perfect , After that we suppose there will be sundry actions at law against the company for compensation . The inquest which has closed is worthy of remark in consequence of its varying a little from the general run of such investigations . There are certain niceties which are generally preserved in railway inquests as strictly as the niceties of the acted drama .

      The Most Important As Well As The Most E...

      Scene : The Inquest-room . Dramatis Persona : The coroner , railway officials , and servants , a widow in tears , and passengers with , their heads bound up and arms in slings . Railway officials bow to coroner , and Mr . Superintendent Something or other expresses the warmest desire of the company for a fall and complete investigation . Coroner bows to officials , and is happy to acknowledge the willingness of the officers of the company to aid in the performance of a public duty . Servants eive evidence : endues in first-rate

      condition ; carriages perfect ; rails in superb order ; pace moderate ; a sudden jump ; engine off the rails ; carriages down the embankment ; passengers killed , mutilated , bruised ; cause , nobody knows what ; purely accidentalutterly inexplicable . Coroner sums up , blandly and regretfully . Yerdict— " Accidental death , " with the occasional addition of no blame attached to the company or its servants . On this occasion this rule was slightly departed from . Up to a certain point the niceties were preserved . The officials were accommodating , the coroner complimentary , and the evidence suited to the occasion . The ash-pan had come off . That was the cause of the accident . How 1 Ah ! that was

      the question . Probably it struck against something—a , stone , for example . Where was the stone ? Not to be found , although it must have weighed some tons . The driver felt no collision either . Possibly there would have been a verdict as purely supposititious as the stone , but there happened to be in the room an alderman of Coventry , named Whitten , who thought there ought to be a fuller investigation . So thought also some contumacious jurymen . An independent machinist was called in , and he found defects in the engine . The inquiry was adjourned ; the company procured the

      evidence of other engineers , who seconded the stone theory ; but the Government inspector deposed to the defects in the fastenings , and the jury found the verdict recorded . Perhaps juries awarding compensation will strengthen the doubts of Mr . Samuel Laing , the chairman of the Brighton Company , as to their common sense , that same Mr . Laing who presided at the inauguration of the People ' s Palace and talked so patriotically , but who , as a railway director , would apparently like to see some law to put passengers on the same footing with goods—damages not to Decompensated " unless booked and paid for accordingly . "

      In h ranee , Louis Napoleon seems to be preparing for the Empire . Everywhere the eagles are beginning to get ready to fly . The marriage of the Prince President with a princess " of equal birth , " as the journals phrase it , is expected to be made the occasion of advancing * the design . In some of the departments petitions are being signed praying the Imperial adventurer to assume tlie purple and found a newdynasty . An amnesty has j ust appeared giving leave to some of the proscribed to return to France , but the writers in the pay of the Elysee tnke care to accompany it by insults more bitter than persecution . They say plainly that no danger is to be apprehended from a parcel of writers and thinkers and

      men of science . They are helpless enough to be contemptible . Well , we suppose they are , now that liberty of speech is forbidden , legislative action rendered impossible , and the press silenced . The reigning power in France is , not thought , but force . Sabres are sharper than sarcasms , and Minie rifles carry farther than arguments . Brute power is the sole arbiter . The tyrant has taken care that it shall be so , and , if there be truth in the teachings of experience , or faith in the ordinary workings of human nature , to that at last will he have to submit himself .

      Royalty is afloat . Monarchy is beginning to become migratory . While Disraeli is improving the parliamentary interregnum the Queen is enjoying a trip to Belgium . The Court Circular tells us that the visit is strictly incognito . What remarkable notions some folks have of what incognito means ! The Queen of England pays a visit to a neighbouring potentate , in her own steamer , with the Admiralty flag and the Royal standard flying , attended by two steamyachts . Another steam-vessel leads the way , and some half dozen men-of-war steamers follow as an escort . That is

      called going incognito . When the next Lord Mayor ' s Show takes place we should not wonder if the papers " report that his lordship ' s visit to Westminster was " strictly incognito . " Amid the progress of civilization , crime and disease are progressing too . The assize intelligence is full of murders , cutting and maiming , and offences against women . In one of the northern counties we have a judge openly upon the

      bench expressing his disgust at the coarse and brutal manners and habits of the people ; and as to disease , the registrar ' s return for the metropolis for the past week shows about as many deaths as during the cholera period . ^ By and by , perhaps , legislators will see not only the wisdom but the economy ot expending the taxes of the kingdom for education and sanitary reform rather than upon prisons armies and fleets .

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Aug. 14, 1852, page 1, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_14081852/page/1/