, 1869-04-19
MONDAY, APRIL 10, 1860.
MIR. SUMMERS SPEECH.

Claims aud the johnson Clarendon treaty Is
the most exhaustive statement Of Dur causes
Ct grievance against Great Britsin that has
eeen made IN any quarter. It is also more
temperate and pacific in tone than the tele-
E:saphlc synopsis had led 'usto suppose. 1t
Ii. upon the whole, i very able areu,n, cnt
Mo 1t cannot fail TO make deep impress
s'on upon the public mind Although CON-
ing to no definite sconclusion, it es-
taf'llshes very strongly the inference
that Enginnd must first apologize for her
nufriendly acts committed against rs dur
ing therebelhon, and then pay tho damages.
Tie rule Of damages which he lays down
appears to lis too vague for practical ud-
1ustmcnt, but RS to the necessity for q pub
lie acknowledgement Of the wrong commit
ted and payment for tde property destroyed
hy the Anglo-Rcbel cruisers, the case
is clear as uooa-lay; and We arc
fully persuaded TINT nothing less
will be accepted by the American
people. It docs not follow thnt we are to
SO to wnr with England, or seize the Cana
das If this reparation be not made; but it
is certain that the two countries will stand
IN an attitude OF hostility and menace
toward each other until that identical result
is achieved. And, as Alr. Sumner says, the
magnitude Of our claims will increase,
rather than diminish, with the lapse Of
time. The arbitration, which Was possible
when the claims were first presented, having
been refused, is no longer possible. The
payment Of $4,000, 900, which would have
satisfied US few years ago, having been
denied, is no longer satisfaction. Dis
tance docs not lend euchantment to the
view
Mr.. Sumner commences his indictment
at,,ainst Great Britain by showing that the
recognition Of bclligerent rights gave to the
rebellion something which it did not before
possess, namely status on the high seas
Ocean belligerency being ''fact and not
a"pEinciple " (as affirmed by Mr.. Canning
and admitted by Earl Russel), it is suscept-
lille Of proof that no such belIigerency OK
listed until after it was recognized by Great
Britain. :. In point Of fact British recog-
milton eereatsd it. It Is scarcely probable
that it eou,aeverlh~e existed without such
previous recognition. It is certain that the
subsequent naval power Of the rebellion
Was created, launched, manned and
equipped in the very country
whose recognition made it possible that the
rebels should hare flag on the high seas
Neutrality requires that no net shall be
done which places one party in better
position than it vas before. Tho rss&lss
being without ship, OF apgrt, o5aphzz
court, Great Britain ga.e -allta,ese, EXCEPT
tie lsst toth9 rebels, in viqlAian, the
first principles Of neutrality. :skThe re-
cegnition was Ike an -hrestitu1e of
mighthood, gratuitous act, md mark
Of special favor. followed by other acts of a
more glazing character.
3Er. Sumner then gives history Of the
building and smiling OF the Alabama, in de-
fanee Of the protest and proofs Of Minister
Adams; her subsequent manning At Brit
ish port, with British saaurs ap3Eanners !;
her tiiumplal reception. at British ports, the
world over, down to her last and only fight
with the kearsarge, where a British yacht
IVES in readiness to rescue her commander
from his lawfu1 captors-presenting an un-
broken chain Of perhdy and unfreudliness,
for which no word Of apology, ,qx, even Of
regret, tas ever been received from the Of,
Tending power. -,
The extent Of our leeses by.zeason oi
these acts is not 10 bemeasu1cd by the mum,
Der and Salue os the vessels actaally de
stroyed by cruisers, but blythe fact that the
1emaipdez Of oaT- property T4 rendered
%alueless. The damages under this heai
are uliuutely set forth by Mr.. Sumner, but
it seems to Us that they ada-4orce erather te
the moral than to the pecpniYy claimy
which we have upon Great BEtdin. A
}},eea darn, oas Ara not rraoap+,t15 cs oecoA