RUSSIAN PREPARATIONS TO ATTACK AUSTRALIAN COLONIES.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 139, 10 June 1878, Page 2

RUSSIAN PREPARATIONS TO ATTACK AUSTRALIAN COLONIES.

[Special to the Post.] Neav York, 11th May. Captain Temetchen, of the Russian navy, who has arrived here, frankly avows what he professes to be his Government naval policy He says that the steamer Cimbria is under, his orders, and that an expedition is to be organised on this coast. He has agents in various quarters, and intends to purchase fast vessels and supplies. He added that his Government was preparing to attack England on the seas. A squadron would soon leave the Baltic for these waters, but no letters of marque would be issued, and no privateering

carried on. All prizes which might be captured would revert to the Home Government. He was confident that in purchasing arni3 and stores in time of peace he would not violate any principals of neutrality. If war was declared, the Cimbria and her consorts would weigh anchor and cease to trouble this country. The society for the promotion of Russian maritime commerce, whose head quarters are at Moscow, favored the same principles. Two eminent authorities on international law have beeii consulted by the society. The views of these professors are indentical. Privateering, they hold must not be thought of. First because it is illegal; secondly, because what was formerly done by privateers could now be done quite as well by cruisers owned by the Government, and commissioned, Professor Blanchil and Professor Martens assume that on sea as well as on land a commission from Government marks the distinction between tegular and irregular warfare; that the commander of a duly commissioned cruiser, which may or may not form a part of the Admiral's fleet, is neither a privateer nor a pirate. The Pall Mall Gazelle takes the same view, and asks what is to prevent Russia buying any number of vessels in the United States, and granting commissions to Americans who will consent to enter her service ? A San Francisco paper says it is probable that an offer to purchase the ue"w steamship State of California, now oil the stocks at Philadelphia, has baeu made to Messrs Gtoodall' and Perkins. Mr Goodall did not deny the truth of the report that overtures to purchase the vessel had been made, and, indeed, admitted it by inference, saying that a sum sufficient to buy her had not been offered! It is surmised and generally believed by other owners, that Russian agents have been negotiating for the purchase of swift ocean steamers at various ports on the , Atlantic and Pacific coast. Whether the Russian Government had anything to do with the offer made for the steamer State of California, cannot be ascertained from her owners, A few days ago the Pacific Mail Steamship Company sold their steamer Great Pacific. This vessel was one of the old wooden side-wheelers employed for a great many years in the j China and Japan trade. She was one of the ' oldest vessels afloat belonging to the Pacific Mail Oompauy and was laid up a long time ago among other unseaworthy Pacific mail hulks which had been thrown out of commission. A New York special states that the steamer Great Rupubic was sold to „ persons and for a purpose unknown, leaving the inference that she had been sold to RusI sian agents to be fitted. out for service as a cruiser in case of war being declared between Great Britain and Russia. Mr Blanchard, agent for the Pacific Mail Company, says that the Great Republic has been sold to Mr Cornwall, President of the Black Daimond Coal Company, and will be sent to Oregon to be used as a hulk or receiving ship for the company. The Pacific Mail Company's agents in this city deny the statement that they had been in negotiation with agents of the Russian Government for the sale of any vessels. The prospect of war between Russia and England ha3 stimulated ship building enterprise in this country It is believed that mauy ships have been purchased on speculation. Mr Elihu Burritt in a letter to the New York Tribune takes the ground that the British Government is undertaking at this juncture to demonstrate that the British Empire is « solidarity'* and not a heterogenous mass, with interests scattered in all divisions of the globe. If England is successful, Mr Burritt believes she can again establish her position as a military power. The population of India is two hundred millions. With the control of the Suez Canal, and a fleet in the Mediterranean, it wonld be possiblejto confront withjany European Power, from 300,000 to 400,000 Asiatic troops. Mr Burritt suggests that these : would prove a valuable assistance should it ever be attempted to annex Belgium to France, or should British interests be threatened by the absorption of Holland by Germany. In New York the British naval force in the Pacific is considered to be exceedingly weak. It is claimed that apart from the the value of Vancouver Island, its harbor, and coal, the British aquadrona in the Pacific are far too weak for the interests they have to protect.