The Southland Times. TUESDAY, AU&VBT 6, 1872.

Southland Times, Issue 1616, 6 August 1872, Page 2

The Southland Times. TUESDAY, AU&VBT 6, 1872.

The arrival of the Albion at the Bluff on Saturday with the Suez mail places us in possession of a fortnight's later news from Europe. Foremost in interest and importance we must place the gratifying announcement that the American claim for consequential damages under the Treaty of Washington is now finally and eatisfactorily settled. On the 27th of June it was announced in Parliament that the Tribunal of Arbitration had decided that the indirect claims were incompatible with the principles of international law, and that they were therefore excluded from the further consideration of the Tribunal. The same evening it was further announced that the American Government concurred in their exclusion. It may therefore be fairly assumed that all danger of further misunderstanding between the two Governments on this subject is absolutely at an end, and that the work of arbitration wili now proceed smoothly to a close. From the voluminous character of the evidence still to be considered by the Tribunal, should it be decided to assess in detail the direct losses inflicted on American citizens by the escaped cruisers, it is very possible that the arbitration may yet extend over a considerable time. But now that the grand question in dispute has been disposed of, the proceedings of the Tribunal have no longer the surpassing interest they have hitherto possessed. It will be remembered that the Treaty of Washington confers on the arb ; trators the power of deciding whether they will afford a lump sum in satisfaction of damages, should any be" proved, or whether they will assess the damages actually infected in detail. It is of course impossible to ]udge which of these plans will be adopted. But as the first alternative was evidently regarded by the Americans as an appropriate means of settlement should the indirect claims have been admitted, it may be assumed that as they have now been set aside, the second course will commend itself to the Tribunal as the fairest, although the most laborious and tedious method, of coming to a final settlement of the question. On the other band, as it is universally admitted that the mere accuracy of the money part of the business is of very secondary importance, and as the people of both countries are now heartily tired of the dispute, and would be glad to see it promptly and for ever closed, steps may be taken by the respective Governments to avoid the necessity for a minute examination into the particulars, and to accept a settlement by a single payment in full of all demands. The first method might be the more accurate and business-like, the second would certainly be the wiser and more politic of the two. However this may be arranged, everyone must rejoice that the negotiations have now reached a stage at which Buch a question can be discussed at all, and that there is now a fair prospect that, for the first time in the history of the world, an international difference, of the gravest kind, will be settled to the satisfaction of all concerned by an appeal to law, and not to the sword. The Presidential election appears to be the engrossing topic in American politics. The re-election of President GtßjufT seems every day to become more certain. It is very evident that political parties in the States are passing through a process of disintegration, aud every-

thing seerns to point to the conclusion that" the time-honored designations of Democrat and will ere long become as obsolete as the "Whig and Tory of recent English history, to be succeeded, in all probability, bv Free-traders and Protectionists. The financial expedient, misnamed Protection, after extinguishing' one important industry after another, appears at length to have been tried and found wanting by the more intelligent classes in America. At the same time, the prejudices of a large section of the community, and the powerful interests directly concerned in the maintenance of this vicious system, forbid the hope that it will be relinquished without a struggle, •which may be tedious, and already bids fair to become of national dimensions Theonly new featurein Continental politics ißtheincreasing probability thatFrance will ere long be able to relieve her soil of the hated German army of occupation, by paying the third instalment of the indemnity in advance. The Pope and the Italian Q-ovemment appear as irreconcilable as ever. The German and Austrian Governments are supposed to be acting in concert with a view to putting an end to ecclesiastical interference with State affairs, and, there are indications that the influence of the Ultramontane party, which has been described as a standing conspiracy against liberty and progress, is everywhere on the decline throughout the countries of Europe. la English politics we hear of a difference between the Lords and Commons about the Ballot Bill. Everyone knows that the matter will end in the Commons getting their own way ; but amongst thoughtful politicians such contests are a source of uneasiness and regret, from the wider interests they involve, and quite apart from the mere matter in dispute. England will not annex Fiji, but would not be sorry to see Fiji annex itself to the Australian Colonies.; The relations between labor and capital are far from assuming a more satisfactory aspect. Discontent is spreading among the laboring classes, and combinations amongst the agricultural laborers are assuming important dimensions. Employers as well as employed seem to have adopted the principle that union is strength, and we hear of a lock-out in the building-trade in London, by which many thousands of men will be thrown out of employment Much misery will ensue if this strife becomes general, but, aa we have said before on this subject, the end cannot be anything but good to a country like our own, where a laboring man can earn as much in a day as many of his fellow-countrymen at home can earn in a week.