The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1868-02-06
shall John Ball he Chas,;sed,

Since the war in the Crimea, where the French
got all the laurels, leaving TO their English
allies only Balaklava, which has required len
der nursing by Tennyson and Kinelake TO
make it more than military bIunder. John
bu has kept his portly person out of the broils
ofhis neighbors most studiously. Burlened still
with the old debts incurred in the LONG strild-
gle with General Bonaparter and that with
kussia In 1854, he will suffer almost any in
dignity or any loss of prestige before riskino
an unnecessary increase of the eight hundred
| mill )ns sterling now outstanding against his
exchequer. He viii hardly sign a .snote"
with his neighbors, being as cautious about
putting his signature to one of those dinlo-
matte missives, as a prudent business man
would oeabout signing note of hand. Eng
land entered upon that sad Mexican business.
thinking that all claims would be settled with
out Wariif proper display of force were;made.
put when that fallacy was exploded grnfiy
"ltndfeW Since then the different minis
tries, whether Wing or Tory. have remained
| motionless and almost mute while Prussia
| and Austria have despoiled Denmarl, when
| that country had just given wife to the
English heir-apparent, while first France and
| then Prussia, in flternate alliance with ITALY.
nave pared oiflarge slices of territory on each
side OF Austria, while Russia has intrigued in
the East and been in constant mischief among
the Christian provinces Of Turkey, and While
the Sultan has carried on the Cretan war in
the true Oriental style, showing the patriots
ofthat island no more humanity than if tlley
were "niggers" and his own troops Southern
chivalry.
| Sometimes the British governmental been
| restive spectator of Continental warfare
| mindful of the days when Richard and the
| Black Prince and Marlborough and Yelling
ton used to give those foreigners" across the
Channel exceeding hard knocks. But it was
but the restlessness OF retired prize-fis hter.
whose diminished muscle and wasted strength
permit him to do no more than dream Of the
time when "claret'' and broken noses followed
his stroke from the shoulder. England Is ac-
tualy engaged, it is true, in difficulty with
an African sovereign, but she heartily wishes
she wasn't, and is sick of the whole thing be-
fore her troops have had their first engage
| ment.
From review Of these historical facts it is
pretty evident that all the bluster at Wash
ington and elsewhere in the United States
VIII not result in any sanguinary conflict
! with Great Britain. The causes of complaint
| against that nation are two; the relusa. 10
settle the Alabama claims with that cheerful
alacrity that would be eminently becomine.
"''a ~Ts'sr-ss snffctca upor, Atner,ea., citizens
abroad As to the first, the Dsrbv ,.,i,,ist,.
has reversed the decision of Lord Russel
and agreed to submit the claims to ar
bltration. So far SO good, but Mr.. Sew
| ard insists that the recognition of the
South as belligerent power at the very out
break OF the rebellion is a part of the case
and must be considered by the arbitrator so
far as it his a bearing on the liability of Eng
land to pay tor the vessels destroyed by the
pirates. This notion Lord Stanley, the Eng
lish minister for foreign affairs, declines TO
| entertain, and all correspondence on the sub
| ject is at an end. But meanwhile new am
| bassador from England has made his appear
| ance at Washington and Mr.. Adams has re-
|
lish politicians are writing to the London
Times, adjuring the government not to insist
| upon line OF conduct that may lead to war.
| The changes in the diplomatic corps of the
two countries, combined with the pressure of
public opinion upon the Derby cabinet, may
be confidently expected to lead to still further
concessions on the part of England and the
ultimate settlement of the claims In manner
satisfactory to this country.
| As to the second cause of complaint there is
no dispute. At the very outset English writ
ers and speakers concede all that America
can wish as to the unreasonableness of the
denial of the right of expatration. At most
they only say, by way OF their own justifca-
| tion, that America has also neglected to rec
ognize the right Of her citizens to renounce
their allegiance to their own country. 1t
must be confessed that there is too much
truth in this, and that though our courts have
never had occasion to decide case directly
in point, they have sometimes Incidentally
shown tendency to follow the English prec-
| edents. There is at least q sufficiently rea-
| sonable doubt as to what the American doc
trine is, to make it extremely desirable that
an authoritative declaration should be made
on this subject. When this is done. England
has virtually promised to harmonize her poll
cy with reason and justice. That country
has not shown the slightest inclination to
submit the question to the arbitrament of
war, but has confessed the mtenable nature
OF her position to begin with. Hence we con-
ciude that the third war with England will be
about something other than the Alabama
claims or the rights of naturalized citizens.