Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-12-20
lFrOm the New York wOrld.1

|
| From the New York world.l
will there be War with England,
We conceive that the question of peace or
war between England and the United States
9iepends mainly upon the precise shape of the
demand which Lord Lyons is instructed to
make OF our Government. IF that demand is
limited to claim for an apology, or expression
oi regret tnat Commodore Wilkes did not do
oInerWlse' the right use Of language can easily
remove the difficulty But il that demand is
made to comprehend the surrender of Mason
and Slidell to British protection, it can be met
with nothing short of point-blank refusal,
and, y England insists, the settlement must be
made at the cannon's mouth
Ii the position of the law officers OF the
Queen is rightly slated--namely, that, though
our officers might have had the right to stop and
search the Trent, they had no right to settle
the question Of contrabsnd, but should have
taken the vessel into port for adjudication
there need be no serious dispute on that point.
Our own government, in fact, has already ad-
mitted as much. Secretary Welles, in his late
annual report, said: "The prompt and decisive
action OF Captain Wilkes on this occasion mer.
tied andreceived the emphatic approval Of the
Department; and If a too generous tortearance
was exhibited by him in not capturing the yes
sci which had these rebel enemies on board, IL
may, in view of the special circumstances, and
OF its patriotic motives, be excused; but il must
By no means be permitted TO constitute precedent
htreeter for the treatment Of any case Of similar
intrGctiOR of neutral obligations by FOREIGN ues-
sells engaged in commerce or the carrying
trade" Indeed it does not admit Of
doubt that the regular course would have
been to have brought the vessel into port,
and subjected her to regular trial. The mo-
ment the English captain protested, as he did,
against the removal OF the rebels, he should
have been met with the reply "You will
please steer for New York, sir" Commodore
Wilkes omitted to do this from kind feelings.
He wished not to delay the mails or inconve6i
ence innocent passengers, and he did not wish
to subject valuable vessel to forfeiture, though
the prize money would have enriched him and
all his fellow officers Had the vessel been
brought to New York-by international law sbe
must have been taken to some American port in
case of seizure-there is little or no reason to
doubt that the District Court would have CON
demned 1t fer conveying contraband; and, with
such an adjudication, England, whatever her
own opinions In the premises, would have had
no remedy. Such decisions are forever con.
elusive. But if the British Government chooses
to take exception to this "too generous for
bearauce." as our Secretary styles it, we sup
pose it has the right; if 90, ungracious as il
may be, it will devolve upon Secretary Seward
to express his sincere regret that Commodore
| Wilkes did not take the Trent into an American
port for forfeiture, and to engage that hereafter
all trading vessels bearing her Britannia Ma
ljesty's flag, carrying contraband, shall be deal
, with in stricteet accordance with law. Al
apology and an engagement for the future, Q
that import and couched in courteous terms
would cover the whole ground of complaint, al
we now understand il; and England could no
avoid accepting such an dmende honorable, un
less she is bent on forcing O war upon US
Such an attitude would cost US no sacrifice O
dignity, would relieve our naval officers of a1
invidious discretionary power, and, by the ricI
prizes it might secure, would advantage bott
our gallant sailors and the finances CT the ma
ton.
But if the British government, not conten
with this, demands the restoration Of MasoI
and Slidell to the shadow Of the British flag
there must be an absolute refusal, let the conse
lquences be what they may. This nation car
submit to no such humiliation as surrenderipJ
her own citizens, even though they be rebels
TO foreign authority. We can no more max,
such surrender that guilty citizens may b,
screened, than we could that innocent citizen
might be oppressed. For no purpose can W,
allow foreign government to stand for an in
slant between our own government and its citi
zens on its own soil Even though the captur,
might be wrong, the injury would have to b.
settled in some other mode. No independen
nation was ever sunk 80 low as TO deport an,
of its subjects or permit them to be deported, q
the bidding of any foreign power, unless fo
crime committed within the Jurisdiction of tn,
latter. 1t Is idle to say that, the mode Of tn
seizure in this case being at variance with th
course of law, the parties concerned must b
placed IN stdtu quo. To put these men bacl
upon the Trent, whence they we're taken, woul
be simply to subject them to be taken again AM
the vessel itself with them. II they SHOULD
leave Boston harbor in O Brltish vessel, direc
for England, nothing that we have ever don,
would, in the slightest degree, affect our righ
to overhaul the ship carrying them, and brinJ
it back as lawful prize-any more than Grim
inal who has been discharged because irregu
larly arrested Is thereby exempt from secont
arrest made in due form. II the known pres
ence OF these envoys on board make the Tren
liable to seizure, which the English lawyers d.
not deny, the same fact will make any vessel st
liable; and nothing that has occurred can change
our right in that regard.
!, Plainly, then, satisfaction is not to be sought
in that way by England, If che feels herself az
| To surrender with one hand only that at the
, next moment there might be more regular re.
capture with the other, would be farce which
neither nation could afford to engage in. The
world would laugh at such tomfoolery. The
only befttng course for us is TO give the apology
for our short coming, and to promise that We will
{ make thorough work next time. If England
should not be content with that, we might al
well conclude at once that ehe is ready to uss
. any pretext to force war upon us, and that w
cannot too soon prepare for 1t.
The Palmerston ministry has, for some time
been hard pushed by Its opponents, and is on
precarious footing, Doubtless II is ready
enough to seize this opportunity to strengthen
, its position with the English people, who know
little Of international law, and who are all in
) passion at this imaginary insult to their idozet
!, fiag. But though the ministry, for purposes o
their own, may humor this popular excitemen
/. to certain extent, we do not believe they vii
: allow Il to push them into actual war. Their
Iis vet no authority for saying that they have 10
8 sttucted Lord Lyons TO demand Mason an
4 lSldell--nothing more substantial than ne NJ
& paper talk. mall probability no suoh deman
4 will be made. Not even for the sake Of cottol
nor for the qualification Of its aristoctalic bat
4 of our institutions, can England afford TO de
tIprive its atarying millions Of our bread, or I
! let loose thousands Of privatsers upon her com
merce, or to see all Of her North America
: provinces wrested from her grasp. We ma
Q expect her to keep up pretty brak Hte ,f dlplC
I matic reclamations for while, but Il Is alto
T gether probable that nothing more serious WI
0 come from it, II our people maintain their CON
/. posure, and our Secretary Of State exercises th
i fright discretion. M rs
e ---------.1------
u' Sheridan Knowles Is suffering from
= severe illness at Belfast, Ireland.