The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1865-11-25

ec;cct-.Jg-,, c;cct-Jg-,--7eeems- bet-za VERY sneell
amount; butt it must be borne in
mind, that trade has increased inn
mensely since that day, and that now
the commerce of the United States
alone, requires more capital than was
necessary at that time to move the
entire business of the world !
Nep York Herald
Mr.. Stewards Auburn Speech.
In respect to the attitude which
viii be assumed by Mr.. Johnson's
Cabinet in regard to the claims made
upon the English Government on
account of the depredations commit
ted by Confederate cruisers, the Ian
guage of the American Secretary may
beregarded as re-assuring.. A decla-
ration that the President will conduct
the settlement of those claims with
out compromising the national dig
nifty and honor certainly seems not
only to exclude the idea of having
recourse to the ratio ultima 7eguna in
case the satisfaction of the demands
made by the American Government
is refused, but appears to contemplate
the possibility of course of action
on the part of Mr.. johnson which,
by some, might be interpreted as
amounting to concession. Mr. Sc
ward and the other advisers of the
President have long since had before
them the voluminous correspondence
which was published about a fort
night since in the London Gazette,
and have probably come to the con-
clusion that the complaints addressed
to the British Government were
groundless, and the claims with which
they were accompanied untenable. 1t
IS now placed beyond doubt that it
was the American Government which
first created their opponents bellige-
rents, not only by proclaiming
blockade of the Southern ports, but
by proceeding to enforce such block
ade before the English Government
had accorded to the Confederates n
belllgerent status It also appears
that Mr.. Seward himself was the first
minister who, in an official despatch,
made use of the word ''neutrals,'
term which can have no application
except during the existence of war.
The demand for compensation rests
on grounds by no means so substan-
tial rs those on which the Spanish
and Portuguese Governments based
the claims which, in 1918, they sub
mitted to the Government of the
United States, and which that Co.
vernment declined to satisfy. Mr..
johnson can scarcely deny the appo-
sit ess vi ID precedent created by one
OF his own predecessors, and we may,
therefore, reasonably expect that the
course resolved upon by the Govern
ment at Washington will be one
which, without compromising the
national dignity and honor" will
amount to frank withdrawal of de-
mands which could not equitably be
sustained
The language in which Mr.. Seward
treated the Mexican question was far
different In its tone. 1.-The influence
| of the United States on the interna-
tional conduct of foreign States, par
ticularly on the American continent"
would, he told his hearers, "t..lough
impaired by the civil war, be now
renewed, and che expected to see
republican institutions, wherever
heretofore established throughout the
American continent, speedily vindi-
Gated, renewed and inv;gorated.
Unless Mr.. Seward employs language
for the purpose of concealing his
thoughts, instead of expressing them,
these words only admit of one con-
struction.
It is no secret that the famous doc
trine which has received the name of
President Monroe is one which spe-
cially recommends itself to the ma
tional vanity, and any action taken
by tho Government with the view of
upholding it, even though at the cost
of foreign war, would be viewed
with almost universal satisfaction.