The Portland daily press., 1868-02-10
England and the Alabama claims

There is but a subdued friendliness in the
Presidents reply to the presentation speech of
Mr.. Thornton, the new British minister, which
with this subject the following extract from
the Tribune's London correspondence will be
found interesting: r-l @. U1 clr.
The actual closing of the Alabama cores
pondenee on the part of the United States has
seriously alarmed portion of the English pub
lie. Coming in any ordinary time it would
have created no great uneasness, though the
conviction has for some time become general
that the Alabama business is one which Eng
land must get out of on the best attainable
terms. But at this crisis the attitude of the
United States Government is deemed to be
not only annoying but dangerous. No man
knows what the Fenian movement may bring
forth, nor what moment it may select to burst
the bonds which the Govern uIent is every day
tightening. What may be said and thought
in Tory commercial classes and wherever an
intelligent opinion can make its way the DOS
sibility of an outbreak in Ireland, with the Al
ALBANIA claims still unsettled, is viewed with
unconcealed terror. Nobody thinks that Lord
Stanley's case is bad one The demand for
a reopenng of the negotiations is irrespective
OF such considerations. 1t is almost a cry of
panic which goes up from the press and the
streets to the Foreign Office Right or wrong
Mr.. Stewards whole arbitration claim must he
these various organs of opinion that the arbi-
tration must end in our favor; but that is not
the point. The claims per Sc are not what
trouble us. We shall be only too glad to be
pronounced in the wrong and be obliged to
pay for our sins of the past. We must at any
price, wrest from America the sword which
she now holds over our heads We must can
Gel the precedent of neutrality which we our
selves established, or there is no future
security for British commerce or the
integrity of the Empire. The men who say
this are the men who built rams and blockade
runners, who were Anglo-Rebels all through
the war, and who don't like. America much
better to-day than they did then "Histori-
cus,' who for six years has been the English
oracle on international law and, above all on
the Alabama claims, wrote to The Times on
Monday three column letter demonstrating.
out of Mr.. Stewards own mouth, that his COM
plant OF belligerent recognition was absurd.
The great weather-eock printed the letter. but
on the day following solenmly snubs "Hissor-
Gus" and exclaims that, though it is all very
true, this is no time to be standing on diplo-
matte niceties or confuting Mr.. Seward
the thing to do is to have an arbitration.
"We must teel above the instincts of pride and
jealousy" which is another way of saying we
must put national honor in one pocket and
national sensibility in the other, and see how
we can get out of the scrape. The SATURDAY.
Review, which never stuck at approving pi-
racy, set itself last Saturday to arguing the
American case, with at least as much ability
and zeal as ever Mr.. Seward showed The Pail
Mall Gazette printed on Tuesday a letter from
Mr.. John Morley, who has just returned from
America, describing wildly the feeling which
exists towards England, and urging the abso-
lutte necessity of eoncilliating people which
has more power for good and evil in our affair .
than all the European States put together"
Only the Tory organ, the Standard, still main
tains show OF courage, and blasters in the
old style, but this means simply that Lord
Stanley has not yet had time to make up his
mind. When he decides to reopen the negotia-
ton, the Tory papers will be the first to pro-
claim it the only possible course.