The Express.
London, England, 1862-03-18 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, TUESDAY EVENING, MARCH I@, 1862.

if the noble lord would promise to give the question his
serious attention, and his attention in • somewhat different
spirit from that which had dictated his allusion the other
night to political suicide, be would join in an appeal to his
hon. friend not to press his motion.
. GOWER mid he felt at mime Ines to know what
1111111 the nel view entertained by the hoc. baronet (Sir S.
Northoote), and what was the comae which, at the end of
him speech, he recommended her Majesty's government to •
take. For himself, be feared that the hasty adoption of •
declaration like that which bad been proposed might tend
very much to our disadvantage.
Mr. CAVE said that the motion of his hon. friend had
been stigmatised as being the offspring of a emulous philan-
thropy, and am leading to political suicide. But that phi.
lanthropy, if spurious, originated with the Congress of Para;
and if suicidal, dated from that event. (Hear, hear.) After
that declaration it was impossible for them to remain sta-
tionary ; they must go either backwards or forwards, and
humanity summoned them to go forwards.
Sir F. GCLDSMID hoped the government would
adopt • policy alike firm and temperate in dealing with
foreign states. If unfortunately they should be engaged in
war, the people, he believed, would endure the hardships
necessary in such • state of things, but he did pot think the
government ought unnecessarily prolong those sacrifices by
unwisely surrendering that right of maritime capture which
Mr. Marcy said, and said truly, conferred the most im-
portant adenines on the greatest of the maritime powers.
Lord H. VANE hoped that the hon. member for Liver-
pool would not press his resolution to • division, although
he quite agreed.with him that the present state of the law
on this subject was unsatisfactory. He agreed with
the sentiment of the noble lord at the head of her Majesty's
government, that war was not decided by the low, to be
endured. Individuals must necessarily to e certain degree
suffer during war, bat he hoped that the effect of the pee-
sent discussion would be to Isom the horrors which
attended it. The sufferings of individuab ld, be
trusted, be lessened, but oars should be taken not to
our means of bringing war to a speedy termination. Weer.)
Mr. Bylaw; expressed his supra' to hear hum
the hon. eel learned gentleman, the Lord Advocate. that
private property on lead was not free from violation end
interfireace during war. He did not see how the bet
could be got over, that after the attack on Daum* pri-
vate individuals who bed property on shore damaged were
indemnified, because intarfereace with private prepertg was
acknowledged to be a breach el internetional ism The gist
of the question before the home la is its bearing on ear
naval supremacy. If the psopoalmods would promote it
he was at a leas to see how it could be objected to ; if, on
the other band, he thought it would in any way interfere
with that supremacy, he would not think of supporting it.
It was said that the great security of Boglaad lay in the
fact that she pommies • greater naval force then
any other country ; but while that was admittedly so, the
fact that the commerce of the country which required pro-
tection, and which, skit were, presaged a water mutate of
attack to an enemy, was promtieneask (Hear.
bear.) He agreed with what hese egged se to main-
taining the power of Naiad" U the pegged aide wore
carried out, the result veil be Set Wind d IMINg
scattered over the world the wry of His emery weld be
concentrated le as complete Is mei We
enemise peels
and to protean war own bon bleeds, Ws& as essiseeee
would be free aid *heel lied being nedselei. AstArs
point he wished te drew abentlen be am that eh present
we did not omens the neward toseldeg ea aim ow
cept in the way of blockade. Neutrals had the
right given them of carrying the merchandise of the
and a wee el ler the trade el the would, is
ewe.
all be stepped, but
beer.) th
ism* to the dap-
isralesis. (Boar,ere r was adios
Ms be comlilind, and one which he looked en se el
preeraigirt. Happen a war between this estuary and sea
lbw holed two or three years, our trade weld be anted
we by neutrals; these neutrals, in meter la asap es the
beressed trade which would thus fell Me their heads,
would buy up the ships whisk wadi elbmwbe be idle in
our ports% and entice our seamanta teender liennedess to
their service. The result, Is efl preighillty„ wield be, that
at the does of the war the neutral preen would bele laid
I the foundation, deep and strong, of a naval forms with which
we would find it, in our than ~led elate. say bled to
ceps. (Hear, beam)
Mr: NE WMIOIII-I wee comfiest the* OW paths ander
the declaration of Paris was most unsafe. Although be
riatedd that It was an object that the minormaritime powers
be encoureged, still it was unwise to encourage
than excladvely at the expense of our commercial marine.
I It was quite tree that the declaration of Paris in favour of
neutrals was not likely to be such a delusion as the proposal
that ell private ships should be respected at sea, 'because
there was a powerful interest to back that declaration.
But the very
shF el that oombination was the
danger of our interest; sad he feared that when
once the effects the desiaratioa of Paris were tested by
war, this country would be sorely tempted to set that de-
claration adds, sad in doing eo eke would necessarily incur
the hostility and odium attaching to a non-adherence to
t= r„.., which hitherto, thank Gad, had never
the motion of the English government. He
admitted that this declaration was not the copse-
queue* of am act of indiscretion. The govern-
ment had been pursuing an anti-national policy
and endeavouring to preppie a cosmopolitan idea. The
same errors, but on a more extended scale, characterised
society in Frail-Celt the first and most dreadful revolution
in that °pantry. He trusted that the practical character
of the people of England would guani them from
such delusions ; but, at the same time, it was
idle to look forward to • period of perpetual peace,
remembering how many prophecies on that subject
they had seen falsified within the last few years.
Mr. MASSEY contended that no nation was ever
brought to terms by the destruction of its commerce.
It had been said that if we were to enter into a treaty
such as that mentioned by his hon. friend, it would be
abrogated by war; but the answer to this was, that all
other stipulation were undoubtedly annulled by war. He
might be asked to what did he trust to maintain the inte-
grity of inch a treaty •. He trusted to the integrity of
public opinion, whose dominion had increased, and was in-
creasing. (Hear' hear.) He trusted to that public opinion
which spared Odessa in the late Crimean war, and which
would be found in future contests more powerful than artil-
lery to restrain the avenging arm of war from visiting harm-
less cities. It appeared that they were not to have that
night the sanction of our leading statesmen to the proposition
of his hon. friend. He regretted that circumstance, but he
Well not discouraged or carpe red at it. In this country

they Mhismd eris,--lret---tbaydidsoby el—ow depsei.-
He wee reedy ho oda& Melt se peliadoir moult wadi fol-
low the edeplisa ef melba biro the house ; bet, ea
the other borellolldo bee. Need theeibt fit to yersetrioe
with it, he (la limey) wee proposed to ay he madders&
it would be ea set worthy of that imorebly to preekha its
approbation of a principle which sees equally ormetiesed by
the habits, policy, and interests of all civilised comities.
Mr. H. HENTINCK himself fully emeened with the
motion, that the present state of the law was most aseatio.
factory ; and he would even go further, and say that he
believed it to be most injunous to the welfare of the
commercial community of this country ; but he entirely dis-
sected from the remedies the hon. gentleman proposed for
the existing difficulties, believing that their adoption would
beau act of political suicide. Under these circumstances,
be appealed to his hon. friend not to prime his motion to a
&Adm.
Mr. BRIGHT thought that the motion was so framed that
it might be accepted by the government sod leave it open
to them hereafter to found some course of action upon it,
supposing that the feeling of the house was ascertained to
be in its favour. He argued that the rise of the rearms-
tile marine of America had rendered necessary these
°images in the principles of maritime law, which
bed hist been promulgated during the Russian war, and by
which the doctrine that the neutral flag covered enemies'
goods, and which was the basis of the declaration of Pa*
--as established. inevitable sod