New-York daily tribune., 1858-07-02

Affsirs rnt that statement had beer approved and
fortified by the law officers of the Grown. But having
admitted that, have put IS s.fcDg as possiore 70
the American Government that if 10 kHozb ths' the
American fsg covers every riqai.y every pirate and
SLAYER on esrtn viii csrry i AID no o,he-; tnst this
must bring disgrace tbs. n0pored bspnsT, and that
instead OF vlndlcsiDg the honor Of us country by An
obstinate adherence 70 their present declaration the con-
trsry result viii follow; thst the American hSg will
be prostituted 10 the worst II purposes. shall con-
tue 10 urge that II is necessry ir these civilized
times, with cOuhtese yesses navigating the ocean,
thst there should be police the ocssD; 'hv there
should be- if not right by intsrpstons law, al agree
meht oDg nations how far t6ey would go to verify
the nationality o vessel and ttce-tsin their rght 70
besF particular flag. From the language have
used, from the conversations which had with the
American Minister resident in tuis country and from
the obervatiops contained in very able paper drawn
up by Gen. Csss on this subject, am not without
strong hope that arspgsmsu. OF tbis kind may
be made with the United States, which, with the or
ders given 10 the officers Of both countries, may
able 70 verify the hsgs Of al counyiss, without
running the rick OF o-nse TO the country to which
ship belopgs."
On the Opposition benches there was also no at
attempt made at vindcating the right of visit the
part Of Great Britain against the United States, but
as Earl Grey remarked, "Tbe English had treaties
with Spain and other powers for the prevention Of
:" the tlave-trade, and if they had reasonable
" grounds for suspectiDg that vessel was engaged
" IN this abomnable traffic, and that she had for
q" she was not really an American ship at all. they
"had right to overhaul her and 10 search her. IT,
q" however, she produced the American papers,
" even though she be full of slaves, it was their
:" duty to discharge her. and to leave to the United
" States the Disgrace of that inquitous traffic. He
hoped and trusted that the orders to their cruisers
"were strict in this respect, and that any excess of
" that discretion which was allowed their officers
under the circumstances would meet with proper
punishment" The question then turns exclu-
sively upon the point, and even this point seems
abandoned by Lord Mamesbury, whether or not
vessels suspected Of usurplng the American flag
may not be called upon to produce their papers.
Lord Aberdeen directly denied that any controversy
could arise out of such practice, since the instruc
tions under which the British officers were to pro-
ceed on sucA an ccurrence-Dstructi0ns drawn up
by DIR. Lushington and Sir G. COckburn-had been
communicated at the time to the American Govern
ment and acquesced 10 by Mr.. Webster, on the part
of that Government. IT. therefore, there he'd been
no change in these Instructions and if the officers
bad acted within their limits, "the American Gov
"ernment could have no ground of complaint"
There seemed, indeed, strong suspicion lowering
in the minds of the hereditary wisdom, that Palmer
ston had played one of his usual tricks by eectng
some arbitrary change in the orders issued to the
British cruisers. 1t is known that PalmerstOD,
while boastiDg Of his zeal in the suppression Of the
slaye-t trade had during the eleven years of his ad
ministration of fore ign affairs, ending in 1Si broken
up all the existing slavetrade treaties had ordered
acts which the British law authorities pronounced
criminal and which actually subjected one OF his
instruments TO legal procedure and placed slave
dealer under the protection of the law of England
against its own Government. He chOsethe savetrade
as bis field of battle, and converted it into mere in
strument of provoking quarres between England
and other States. Before leaving Office in lS4l he
had gwen instructions which, according to the
+ O. n n L. - IL a -.
"not been countermuudod, to eolliaon with the
United States" In his Oun nords he had eDjOned
the naval officers "to have no very nice regard to
the law of uations." Lord Malmesbury, although
ia very reserved language, ntimated that by send
ing the British squadrOns TO the Cuban waters,
instead of leaving them on the coast OF Africa,
PalmerstOn removed them from a station where,
before the outbreak of the Russian war; they had
almost succeeded in extnguishiDg the slave-trade,
10 place where they could be good for little else
than picking up quarrel with the United States.
Lord Woodhouse, Palmerstons own late Embassa-
dor to the Court of ST. Petersburg concurring IN
this view of the case, remarked that, " No matter
"Nhat instructions had been given, If the Govern
Lent gave authority to the British vessels to go in
"such numbers into the American waters, differ
"ence would sooner or later arise between as and
"the United States" Yet, whatever may have
been PalmerstOns secret intentions, it is evident
that they are bai1ed by the Tory Government in
cry SO Justify raised in the Congress and in the press
is doomed to result in "much ado about nothing
As to the question Of the slaye-trade itsef Spain
was denounced by the Bishop Of Oxford, as we'll as
Lord Broug ham, as the main stay OF that nefarous
traffic. Both of them called upon the British Gov
ernn ent to force by every means IN Its power that
country into a of policy cOnsOnant to existing
treaties. AZ early 1914 general treaty was en-
tered into between Great Britain and Spain, by
which the latter passed an uDequlvocal coDdcmna-
ton of the slave.trade. In 1917 a specific treaty
was concluded by which Spain fixed the abolition
ei the saye-rade, on the part of her own subjects,
for the year 1920 and, by way Of compensation for
the losses her subjects might suffer by carrying out
the contract, received an indemnity of f400, 900.
The money was pocketed, but no equivalent vas
rendered for it, In 1885 new treaty was entered
into, BY which Spain bound herself formally to bring
in a sufficiently stringent penal law to make II irn-
possble for her subjects to continue the traffic. The
procrsstinarips Snnsnsh nroverb, "A "a maaand,"
was again strictly adhered TO. Il was only ten years
later that the penal law was carried; but, by a
singular mischance, the principal clause contended
for BY England left out, namely, that OF making
the slave trade piracy. In one word, nothing was
done save that the Captan-Generai OF Cuba, the
Minister at home, the Csmarilla, and, ii rumor
sneaks truth. royal persOpages themselves, raised
priyate tax upon the slavers, selling the license OF
dealing in human flesh and blood at so many
douboons per head. Spain, said the Bishop of
Oxford had not the excuse that this trafhc was
system which her Government was not strong
"enough TO put down, because Gen. Valdez bad
shown that such plea could not be urged with
any shew of truth. On his arrival in the island
"he called together the principal contractors, and
"aiying them six months time TO close all their
Transactions in the slave-trade, told them that be
was determined 10 put il down 1t the end of that
period. What Was the result In lo4O, the