The Express.
London, England, 1866-11-14 00:00:00

HOLBORN.

TitlS EVENTNO, at 7, LARYCIKVI:OVE LETTERS. Mr. Rel-
easers and Mimi C. Saunders.—And FLYING SCUD. Wean.
Neville. Ilelmore. Blake, Voltaire, Sze : Mesdames F. Joeephs,
C. Saunders, Beagle Foote, Ftddes, Lennox, Raymond, Esc.

BRITAnIA.

TRH Musick WHAT 18 IT,—Mr. "Dancing )fad" Bryan:
Mhs K. Garstone: Paul Detilin ; Muter tieurge Perko.—THY.
JLD CHERRY TRIAL Mrs. Lane.—Concluding with MARY
LIVINGSTUNK

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDOL
THIS DAT —Morning, M. 47m Afternoon, Gh.
TOAIORROW—IfornIng, 6h. 32m Afternoon, Ob. 5.../m.

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14.

ON the 2nd November Lord WESTBURY, on
behalf of the Judicial Committee of the Privy
_ _ _

Council, gave a judgment in the appeal of the
owners of the ship Ricardo Schmidt to that high
tribunal, a case which so aptly illustrates some of
the dangers incidental to our system for the re-
pression of the African slave trade as to require
greater prominence than it has yet received.

The Ricardo Schmidt is an Italian vessel of 600
registered tons, capable of carrying a cargo of
900 tons, belonging to a merchant at Genoa,

whoso character and position are avouched by his

being there Consul-General of Prussia.

This

vessel had been engaged in the China trade, but in
1864 it was despatched on a commercial voyage to
the West Con.st of Africa, having on board an out-

ward cargo of assorted goods, to be bartered in
the usual way for palm oil, ikc. To receive the
anticipated quantity of oil she was furnished with
299 empty casks, the legitimacy of which was
duly certified before leaving Genoa by its Chamber
of Commerce, with the knowledge of its Customs,

BURY'S summary of the facts, sit catisideous. Au"
of power and of law, if it *ere sot, indakEdt
there is reason to believey utiald3r
vessel, he pointed out, was of the dais
" commonly engaged in the slave trade ;" it had
honourably passed the scrutiny of the Customs ; it
had evidence on board of the lawfulness of its
trading ; " the ownership of the ship and the
" letters produced could have left in no reason-
" able man's mind any doubt of the ship being
" originally vested, employed, and used in the
" ordinary purposes of commerce ;" the second
deck with which she was furnished was necessary
not only to her safety, but to her cargo, and there-
fore, as Lord Wzsrstrav said, a confirmation of
the lawfulness of her trading ; the cookery utensils
were shown to be " less than the ordinary cooking
" comforts and exigencies of the captain and crew
" would require ;" the master had himself drawn
the attention of the English authorities before clear-
ing from Genoa to the fact that part of her lading
consisted of empty casks, and the surplus casks were
being sold, and a large lawful cargo bought, at the
very moment when the vessel was seized. " Now,"
said Lord WESTBURY, after recapitulating in his
own terse and irresistible manner the facts of the
case—" now, we would ask how is it possible for
" any merchant ship to visit the coast of Africa,
" and a British haibour on the coast of Africa,
" for the purpose of legitimate commerce, re-
" quiring certain things, if under circumstances
" such as exist here she is liable to be treated
"as having a felonious intent merely upon
" the ground of her having articles on board which
" are actually required for the avowed purposes of
" commerce in which she professes to be intend-
" ing to engage, and in which it is proved from
" her actual cargo that she had for sonic time
" previously been actually engaged?"
The vessel was a large, well-found ship, of
great value, and having on board, even when
seized, a rich cargo. Had the attempt at its
confiscation been successful, it would have been
sold to the pecuniary benefit of the captor, who,
if evidence be worth anything, had by his own
statement nothing to lobe by his proceedings. It is
only through the owner having had the courage
and spirit to prosecute an expensive and tedious
appeal that he has any likelihood of being reim-
bursed for the damage and disgrace ho has suffered.
We say likelihood, for it is not always that in
similar cases the English Foreign-office has
acted on the recommendation of the Judicial
Committee to make pecuniary restitution for in-
juries thus done. To this hour, we believe, in
spite of a like recommendation of the Judicial
Committee, not the detention but the actual con-
demnation and sale for the benefit of the illegal
capture of the British ship Newport is un-
atoned for.
How far this cruising system has ever effectually
promoted the repression of the African Slave
Trade is a moot question. But if even it has
done all its advocates insist, it is clear that it has
been accompanied by temptations to do wrong
which have not on all occasions been resisted ;
and on proof so flagrant as this case affords, ample
reparation ought to be given, and stringent orders
issued to prevent a recurrence of such an outrage
as that perpetrated on the Ricardo Schmidt.

OUR CONTEMPORARIES.

(THIS DAY.)

THE JAMAICA ATROCITIES.

The ignoring of the bill of indictment preferred
against Ramsay, the man most deeply implicated in the
charge of wanton cruelty, affords grave testimony, remarks
the Daily News, to the state of party feeling still existing
in Jamaica. Tho judge's charge contained a summary
of the evidence respecting the murder by Ramsay of the
negro named Marshall, whom he first flogged for the offence
of being found without a pass, and then hung because
in the agony of pain he ground his teeth, and Mr. Justice
Ker proceeded to show that martial law sanctioned only
what is necessary to the putting down of actual resistance,
and in no degree cruelty and unscrupulous contempt for
human life ; and he added that the tale told by the wit-
nesses was such as it was a positive obligation to investi-
gate. The instant refusal of the grand jury to look into
the case at all, confirms to the uttermost the harshest
words that have ever been written respecting the syste-
matic denial of justice in Jamaica, whenever the question
was between blacks and whites, and the decision lay with
the whites—confirms that which the commissioners de-
clared, and which the new governor, Sir Peter r:rant, has
reiterated at the first meeting of the new Legislative
Council, that the laws passed for the protection of whites
and blacks alike were rendered inoperative whenever their
application was invoked by the negro. And it is now clear
th.t such a state of things is inveterate, and defies remedy.
Happily it is not easy for us in this country to conceive
the existence of class fury to such an extent, but when
such things happen in an English colony, the graver is the
duty which is cast upon us at home, and since Jamaica
planters refuse to put the instruments on trial, it is
imperative, for the vindication of national justice, that the
hand which directed them should be arraigned. Mr.
Justice Ker's admirable exposition of the limits and con-
ditions of martial law has been deliberately disavowed by
Jamaica magistrates, planters, and overseers. It is thus
made necessary for the guidance of all our authorities, not
less than for the assertion of the principles of our consti-
tution, for our credit among nations, and even for our
possible security at home, that an English court and an
English jury shall by the solemn arraignment of Mr. Eyre
declare whether we live under the law laid down by the
Jamaica judge, or under that which is to be gathered ss
plainly from the conduct of the Jamaica grand jury.

THE RECRUITING COMMISst,.N.

The Post contains an abstract of the report of the com-
mission appointed to inquire into the system of recruiting
for the army. The report recommends, it appears, that a
distinct recruiting staff, to be entrusted to an inspector-
general and district officers, with a sufficient number of
non-commissioned officers and pensioners, should be estab-
lished under the immediate orders of the Commander-in-
Chief ; that men should be enlisted for the service gene-
rally, instead of, as at present, for p irticular regiments ;
that the rewards to enlisters should be increaeed from
to 20s. for each recruit approved for a regiment, anti
to 25a for each recruit enlisted and passed for general
service ; and finally, suggests that the naval systsm of
training boys specially for the service from an early
age might be adopted. with advantage for the army.
Other recommendations of the commissioners relate to the
supply of forage caps and fatigue jackets without charge,
and the increase of the scale of good conduct pay. With
regard to limited enlistment they propose that the prin-
ciple should be now still further extended, and that the
periods of service should be altered to twelve years for
the first and nine years for the second period for all
branches of the service, thus making an aggregate service
of twenty-one years before the soldier would become
entitled to his pension. They recommend, besides,
that those soldiers who re-engage at the end of
the first period should receive 2d. a day of additional
or long-service pay, and that an additional bounty should
be offered to men under orders for foreign service to in-
duce them to extend their engagement to the full period
during which their regiment is expected to remain abroad.
The report dismisses the subject of the formation of a
reserve force as being a " very large" question, more fit
for the consideration of cabinets than commissions; but
it affords occasion for a few remarks as to the wisdom of
being prepared for anything. The suggestions they have
made would, the commissioners freely admit, involve ad-
ditional expense to the country.