The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1865-11-21

almost on parallel with parcel Of thieves
In State Prison trying to select Out OF their
number leader. In such condition Of affairs
it ia useless to look for the contamination Of
anything beneficial TO the city. Under the cir
cumstances therefore, probably the best thing
that can happen would be the election Of the
greatest rascals to be found out Of the State
Prison for Mayor and other officials. In that
event We might have some hope Of . thorough
overhauling Of the charter and The organization
Of : more efficient city government by the
Legislature, and thus save NJ from the other
alternative, vigilance committee
must follow as certain ~ night follows day un-
loss the Legislature steps in and corrects ex-
listing evils.
The Surrender Or the shsnan aoah 70 the
British-shs Ends Her Career Where
she Began II.
We published few days ago q statement,
based upon British authority, for the purpose
Of showing that BY their own admissions the
English government were knowingly guilty Of
allowing the rebel cruiser AlSbama to depart
from British waters and were responsible for
the damage done to American commerce in her
subsequent piratical career. We treated this
as cause Of war with England, which the
United States might revive at any time that
suited our convenience. To-day, in the &C.
count given Of the surrender Of the pirate
Shenandoah to British officer in the Msrsey
We accept, as the "American idea," the sugges-
ton Of a London paper; SO far as the purpose
Of her nefarious mission was concerned, she
very properly "ended her career where she be-
gan it." We shall, hereafter, treat Of what her
final fate may be.
There is no Disgusting the fact, from the tone
surrender of the Shenandoah, that Captain
Waddell has placed the English government in
qusndary from which it will be difficult for it
to extricate ITSELF When the Alabama was
sunk by the Kearsarge there was no end to the
sympathy created for Captain Semmes among
the English nobility. 1t was even proposed to
equip new ship for him. But now that her
companion in piracy passes boldly into an
English river and places herself under the guns
of British man-Of-war, there is a universal
outcry that the British government want moth
ing to do with her-that she has violated the
neutrality of Great Britain, and, instead of be-
ing hero, her commander is pirate. The
London Times, in moaning article on the un-
lucky affair, makes out palpable case against
Captain Waddell for persisting in his piratical
depredations "when all the world knew" what
Waddell would not credit because the intelli-
gence came through federal sources, that the
confederacy had collapsed. The Times admits
that it would have been great relief to Eng
land had the Shenandoah been excluded from
the Mersey and cleft to rove the seas"-of
course as a pirate" till she should fall
into the hands Of her pursuers." But the same
paper declares that under no circumstances
can Waddell and his wretched piratical crew
''be given over to the United States" "Let
him be tried by English courts for piracy"
cries the Times, and, it might have added, trust
to English mercy!
We do not believe the United States gov
eminent will submit to any such arrangement.
In the settlement Of this entangling affair to
England in which all civilized and friendly
governments must acknowledge the United
States to have the preponderating interest, our
government will take no back track. First, in
accepting the exploded heresy that the defunct
confederacy was a belligerent, and willingly
allowing such vessels as the Alabama and She
nandoah to be built on British soil, armed with
guns fresh from British foundries, manned by
British subjects, and to leave British waters on
their atrocious errands, the English govern
ment took the responsibility of these unfriend-
ly acts. Had the rebellion succeeded the Lon
don Times would have been the last to have
acknowledged that the commander Of any rebel
cruiser was pirate. Now, the United States
government has never held them to be any
thing else. From the beginning Of the rebel
lion our government declared that all vessels
sailing under flag unrecognized by any ma
ton on the earth were pirates in the eye Of in
ternational law, and could not only be punish
ed as such, but when caught by an American
man-of-war they could be treated as rebels and
traitors. Semmes and Mafit were regarde
by our government as pirates long before the
London Times found it convenient to consider
Waddell as such. Semmes was ss much
pirate when he plundered and burnt Ameri-
can merchantmen as Waddell when he confined
his depredations to the ignoble and dastardly
work Of destroying unprotected American
whalers. It is idle for the Times to
attempt to draw q distinction between the
two cases, and laud In pirate Semmes what II
would punish In pirate Waddell. 1t is posi-
BILE, however, that with the Times and the
whole British government circumstances alter
cases." and that they are now disposed to con-
cede to the United States what they would
have scorned to conccde in the dark hours Of our
nations life. And II is clear that the English
government win willingly surrender the She