, 1866-01-18
Comments OF the Lsadon Times uppu
fhe Reconsideration Correspop-

she Reconsideration Correspon-
dence.
| From The London Ii1ues, Dec. sa1
! We may congratulate Mr.. Adams, Is wei
| as Lord Clarendon aud ourselves, On the Close
| Of a correspondence which had ceased to
serve any useful purpose. The question ol
| our liability for the depredatious OF the Ala,
bama, and the many other questions arising
out Of it, haye long since been exhausted in q
one sense in which this is not possible. II 1
not possible, in an exchange Of des-
patches at long intervals between the
representatives Of two great countries,
to observe the stdct rules, .oi
pleading which render the Issue narrower and
| simpler at each stage. On the contrary, 1t is
| far more probable, II not inevitable, that It
should become by degrees more and mora
complicated, until the original point In dis
pHte Is lost among mnze of dfgressions and
precedents. Such has, In fact, been the case
with the discussion Of which the Termination
appeared in our impression Of Saturday. It
Is due to Lord Russell and his successor on
the. one hand, and to Mr. adams on the other,
TO acknowledge the ability, research add tenn
per with which 1T has been conducted.
Everything that conld be said has been said
many times over. and several things, per-
laps, which need not have been said, and
would hare been better lett unsail- At the
same time, the result Is unsatisfactory. and
the reason why it L. unsatisfactory Il quite
obvious The basis of It was never settled
with any precision, and has been widened or
shifted By either disputant, as occasion might
require. II Mr., Adams has In this respect
been the greater offender, 1t is because part
was assigned to him which left him no alter
native. On the ground Of positive law, Lord
Bile, for 1t could not be maintained that my
nation Is responsible In damage for acts done
beyond its Jurisdiction md control, and
Mr.. Adams could not produce any
instance ~ which our Government
failed; wi!fully Pr or enlLpably, to check
md coLtro1. The wrong, therefore, which
he endeavored to fasten upon Us was construc-
tive and composed Of many elements. We
had recognized the Confederntes as bellfger-
ents too soon We had opened our eyes to the
Illegal practices Of their agents too late We
had exercised discretion In their favor when
It Was free to us to concede or refuse to them
some privilege we had not prosecuted every
zone that We might hinder the Foreign Eulist-
1nentt act, and We had declined npoa requisI-
tlon to extend the provisions OF that act. Such
were the circumstances by which Mr..
evidence to establish. an injury such as
Is coenIzable in the form OF International
law, and to impart hostile antnsYs 10 con-
duct otherwise innocent. Let us be no less
just to him than to ourselves, and admit that
Lord Russel1's answers to bis representations
tous terms, and might possibly have given
offence to a nation less sensitive than that
which he represented. Still the fact remains
which Is stated In Lord C1arendou's last des-
patch, dated December :, '*that no armed
vessel departed during the was from British
United States y and that after the uutoward
escape ofthe Alabama no evasion of onr law
took place which could by any conStitu-
tfoDa1 means have been prevented.
The particular case Of the Shenandoah Is
really no unfair specimen Of the general case
whole, neither stronger nor weaker than the
average strength Of the topics upon which he
chiefly relies, and Lord Clarendon's reply to
It differs little from that so often repeated BY
Lord Russell. We admit and deplore the
damna,n, We diselaim the i.tursa, and we as;
States have always done the same The re-
ply, Of course, introduces a historical argu-
nept, Of which the result appears
to be that the United States have invariably
declined to pny compensation for 1osscs which
theiE laws tor the tine as being did not enable
least, they consented to make their laws more
stringent, Perhaps It would have been more
polite and courteous On Lord Russell's part
had he earlier fntinated q readiness to enter
tain the amendment Of our OWL Foreign En-
listment act, but IN saying this We must ayow
very strong conviction that an assimilation
Of It 10 that Of the United States would hare
had no practical effect The success Of the
Confederate agents cannot be fairly at
tributed to the want Of those clauses
which Mr. Adams considers 50 I'M
PoEtant; it ,was due to the inherent
difficulty Of distinguishing their operations
from those Of legitimate commerce. Does
Dir. Adams conceive that il the sale of arms
aud munitions Of war to beii.crent Ind
been prohibited by act Of Parliament, it
would have beGn possible to stop their expor-
er home, that his Government could have
stopped tho proceedings Of q. Capt. Bullock
on their own territory: We really do not
believe be would affirm as much. and We oh
serve with III; reE1ot that he speaks doubtfnlly
their own Foreign Enlistment act with tho |
same loyalty as before '1t Is hardly
possible for me to imagine that the people OF |
the United States after the experience they
have had Of injuries from the inpeTfectlon Of
1t, would he ready cheertully to respond to
another appeal like Tint made in 1855 by Her
Ma1esty's representative 10 the more stringent
and effective protection extended to G BY
their own" This Is one Of the passages
%hieh ~: re could wish to see e1panged
one or two curt sentences which Mr.
Admins culls from the letters Of Lord
Russell. We still look forward to time
when this source OF differences ehall have !
blown over, and joint commission, perhaps |
not limited to England and America, shall 6e |
appointed to recaSt the whole chapter of ia
ternalona1 law which treats Of neutral rights 4
and duties. For the present, NO do not blame 1
President Johuson's Government for dccliu-
ing Lord Russe1l's proposal. Perhaps |
the Americans have been too 1atcfy 4
bellfgercnts, md we too lately
neutrals, to enter into a conference |
Just now Without passion or prejudice. The
friendly relations OF the two nations have
indeed been severely tested during the last
four years, but they have borne the test !; and
although Mr.. Adams has written Soma hard
things to rs IN the course Of his correspond
cnce, we feel assured that he has never failed,
procate the sincerity oof our pacific senti-