Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1864-01-21
PRESENTING THE BILL.

excellent lady who is the marker that
represents the British Government, issued
al, mwise and mconsidcratc proclamation
declaring IN equality Of bclligerent rights
between the Government OF the oh''cu
STATES and the rebels. That document
was called the Proclamation Of Neutrali-
ty".and was q pretcnse OF fairness and
international justice. The real aHfn"s OF
the thing was, from the first, plainly appa-
rem, and deceived nobody. \ successful
;ssne of the rebellion was Il consummation
devoutlv desired by the great manufacture
ing and shipping interests of Great Britain,
and no more advantageous position could
he assumed BY that Government, than
that of q protested neutrality; which,
while its violations would all rebound TO
the aid and assistance of the rebellion,
would give Britain all the advantages OF
its own peaceful attitude. For Great
Britain to have openly acknowledged the
Confederacy, would have placed her IN
belIserent attitude toward the United
States. and would have forced her into
war for which she was in no condition,
and for which her people had no heart.
The condition of European political affairs
rendered a transatlantic war out of the
question. She therefore put on the mask
of Neutrality and set herself busily at
work to aid and assist the rebellion by
every means possible, consistent or mean
sistcnt with that false pretcnse. Her
workshops were immediately converted
into armories and arscnalS for the rebellion;
her ship-yards resounded to the din OF the
building of privateerS and blockade-run-
ners. and the departure of the rebel fleets
was winked at by Her Neutral Majesty's
well-instructcd officials. Great Britain
had found most excellent customer for
her manufactured goods, her fast steamers
and her surplus navy, and things went on
sw,mningly. The pirates fitted out upon
her neutral shores, began to sweep the
seas, and sink, burn GS destroy the COM
mercc of her most powerful rival. Close
upon our shores, little, insignificant, and
almost unheard British colonial port grew
into a great harbor of rebel cruisers and
blockade runners, a perfect sanctuary for
piracy. and a forbidden ground for the
pursuing vessels Of the United States
Uncle Sam stoodthis state Of things quiet
", giving occasionally dissatisfied grunt
like strong sleeper troubled by persist
ent mosquito. The amount of damage
being done was considerable, and extreme
" ANNOYING, but not of any tremendous
importance. Certain British statesmen
saw at an carly period Of the rebellion
that it must prove abortive, and that its
downfall was simply question OF time.
They knew that the annoyance which the
false and treacherous attitude Of Great
Britain had caused was breeding a
sore, and that the day Of reckon
ing would surely come. Two years
ago, or more, it was announced BY lead
ing statesmen in Parliament that Britain
must abandon her position, for that the
United States Government was keeping
strict account of the damages sustained
at the hands of the pirates built in Brit
iSh shipyards, armed with British guns
manned with British seamen and supplied
at British ports. They foretOld that the
day of reckoning was only postponed
until that inevitable day when the civil
war in America should end and when
that day should come, the bill would be
presented and that it would have to be
PAIp!" That day looked then to the
British Government as in the far distant
future, and they laughed at the idea, as
men allude jestingly to the coffin, the
grave and the tombstone. Since the day
when that warning was first spoken In
Parliament, matters have assumed an as
pect which has wonderfully changed the
sentiment Of Her Majesty's Government
upon the subject of American affairs.
Neutrality has begun to mean something
besides barefaced assistance Of the rebel
lion. "When the devil was sick, the
devil q monk would be-" and when a
man begins to feel his hold on earth slack
ening and growing feebler day by day, he
quits joking about collins ard graves. So
it is with our friend" over the water.
When the another country" began to
awake to a realizing sense of the tremen-
dous military and naval resources of the
power she has been goading to wrath, she
began to shorten sail little and to sing
another tune. Her own laws were not
stringent enough to put as decided stop
to the raScality which had been perpetra-
ted in the name of neutrality" and the
Executive Department stepped beyond
the bounds and resorted to measures
which the Judiciary could not sanction,
and. in her easerness to make amends in
the matter, there IS to-day conflict be-
tween the British Government and the
Courts. The day long ago foretold, is
rapidly drawing nigh. Uncle Sans book
keepers have been keeping strict score
of the damages sustained upon the high
seas. The blazing Indiamen and "the
wrecks of ships and drifting spars upliit-
ing" are all numbered on the big book.