, 1864-02-24
AMERICAN AFFAIRS.

A3AE:1a7I1AN AGfAak&S"
mr.. Senard,s Claim for IndoWnit7
-agni1st England for Damages
-, by the. Alabama.
From tie london Times, Fob. FL
Ever since the Alabama. Slipped through
onr l0n3s and commenced her deprcdations
on federal merchantmen there has bcea m,:cf
loose talk and vague writing in tho Unltel
States about excciicE cEconpensntio1l from this
country. So lorg ns these claims, were Pre-
feIfed only by irresponsible writers asSaiass
|. .Erglnnd gcncral]y it was scarcely worth
l. y hiIe to diGcusa them VIC believe MT. Sew
nrd's letter OF the 9th of0etobcr last ia the
first official document laId before the English
public in which they have been formally pnt
dressing Mr., 'Adnms, !tsdo' insist, and must
continue to insist; that the British Govern
ment IS responsible for the damages which
the peaceful, law-abidiug citizens of, tho
United States sustain.by;the depredations Of
the A1abama, that. vessel having been built
md fitted ont In British 'wntcrs.H The state
meDt must be RETARDED, II not as q present
notice Of future Tequisition,- and Of the
grounds on which that requisition will be
made. IL is manifest that no appeal Of this
kind can be founded upon the provisions Of
the Foreign !. Enlistment net, or any
other municipal ;siatuc whatever: Mr. Sew
such demand. is bound to prove not only the
damage sustained, but the Wrongfulness Of
tue outfit, the duty Of our government to
prevent Ii, their fuilurt to perform that duty,
and the fact that the failure arose from ncgli-
genec, or at least from dcfcct In our l4Ws,
and not from the Inherent difficulty Of en-
forcing precautionary measures, Now, re
cauuot help surmising that Of oil these points
only one llas been fairly grasped by Mr.. Sew
ard and those upon whose advice he Is acting.
They sec the magnitude Of the Losses inftct-
ed on American citizens BY cruisers issuing
from English ports, and that is all. Sons
one must be made to suffer for these, and as
Georgia, or reimburse themselves By reprisals
On Confederate commerce, they furn upon
U.s.. If England had never existed, no priva-
teer could have been fitted ont at Liverpool.
If the government hnd chosen to set itself
above law md lay an embargo on the Alaba:-
destination, she never could lave done any
mischief If they could stop the Alexandria
and the two ra1ns, aftcr receiving specific in
formation Of the intended breach Of tho For
eign Enlistment Act why could they not
good naturcdly stop the Alabamn without
Such are the arguments which q higl-
spirited people, sSlnarting under q sease
OF annoyance, are apt to mistake for reason
ing, but which ought not to find place In
diplomatic correspondence. Let us now ex-
anime the assumption which underlics these
arguments, such rs they are. That assump-
tion is neither more or less than this-thut
because the utmost possible promptitude
was not used in ferestal1ing the evasion Of
the Alabama, We are lable, In the absence OF
any proof or suspicion Of bad faith, to repay
tue Whole value Of the property DESTROYED by
her. It Is precisely this doctrine that Pro-
fessor BERNARD declares to bo unsupported
the utmost skill, and perhaps some frnudu-
lent cont1iVances, we're employed to batfie
the vigilance of the Goyern1nent-|Yhere the
i1cgaltty Of tho equipment, even as we now
know 1t was; 70 'doubtful--wllerc the chief
dcfault was on the part Of the federal agents
innot collecting their evidence earlier and
where IN unforeseen misfortune delayed for
day or two the opinion Of our LAW officers,
the presumption Of culpable laches, such as
would justify suit between man and man.,
vanielles altogether. This, however, is by no
means all that may be said. It Is for bIr
Seward to show that the principles applicable
to relation between mun and man are appll-
cable, in this respect, to those between SOW
erctgn States: We do not undertake to
demonstrate the reverse Of this proposition,
but VIC are not without good REASONS for
questioning it. Wheaton insists, it is true,
on " The light ind duty ofthe neutral sovcr-
t. 5.;,1ot.d - ant roet;t,,.so s nas ssley y
soton ani ,;o1at;nn ~ - mus -, cop a ii
1,e ,,rasr,ned VISA = y haa t,at ,.oa ~ lazy
Ti,a aaaau ~ Wilt wndato, s ~. uscd p9oseu
.a .tI"S t1so - - n!.-a "nn " Son tiy t ie!e4a
1le 1 sIus1 ~ eapau.s !l!4us ~ ne9ltal "atsls'
!. ~ nasn t .'e apploYlase IS'ncny rs festltu-
.tvn, "nen sHG !tvFsitly 'u1s ~ Mhe,l comes
su1l4 M1nln Atulla1 9at1salcllon. Inc decision Of
washington on ING prizes maoe :oy trench
TlHateels oPenl5 nIlco on 70 american
Eolis Iests on to1s ncI5 alsllnctloh. he nc"
ros tga no MhatsFeE "%t.s, s
1T3.. 1:o G'en ;oi ahese ne aeclines 10 indem,
nnt oLsal oli.I.o, nulssS lne se1zng shouid
LIZ Iss m ,,;ab ~ aea 1'a sae untG ot ce51ah
Fr.nc ~ ,,;n;ster r. thc,r ;iiaaaitn musnea % tae
thev shnn1d h,rc hncn n,oSe =, 4, rs,as.s aItss
.rn;.,s s"oIu 11.das .f,.so ~ a.nellcan
rcst;tni;o. hn+ '1oos no cn,nnnnt; ~ rfomls
restttnt!nn s1onld be fonn9 ,n,1,es mnefc
.;l1c srce,,t for s,ins taipa AnHos- ai;e
n s,o@t ner1oS anr;ntt ,v,,;nI. ~, n!an- nlaa
,5o.,+ roa tfn-ho,,, -. usa tne 1ies-
1,n,. AaH ~ ~ uue, iuI etua Ieasons 70
W ,oe ~. nfm,itsa ~ etat p9ncr ~ eleck
~ ~ 4t.su rat Auout
traot, ~ n..eraa .. ,,.,.it, uiu G.te1 !nto
r.SAt. y. so''ianeIss ~. "ilu ene oMtsa Slates,
MSu s,isa1et,a ~ s.oa9 ~ ~ "ss naoc, pat no
op.'ES.Aoa iesoSAs1ep, " NV pa1tVi ouF gov.
eInt1eut' ~ cGmHIensate american merchants,
,vh;i n9t iot t uspeaa.ions naos On tnelr vessels
Mnne 1uc, melc a1 WAT aH4 nca pcafe, Dl1,