The Portland daily press., 1869-04-17

AOOOs
saving to them, as was once said to the youth
iui knight, Rise; here is a sword; use it."-
10 cal such an lnvestiture proclamation O
neutrality is a misnomer 1t was proclama
ton OF equality between the national govern
ment on the one side and rebels on the other
and no plausible word can obscure this dis
tinctive character.
The ALABAMA
Then came the building of the pirate sbips
one after another, While the Alabama wa
still in the ship yard it became apparent tina
she was intended for the rebels.
The Alabama case begins with fatal con
cession by which the rebels were enabled t.
build ships in England and then to sail then
without being liable as pirates; it next show,
itself in the building OF the ship, in the arma
ment, and in the escape, with so much o
negligence on the part of the British govern
ment as to constitute sufferance, if not conni
vance; and then again the case reappears in
the welcome and hospitality accorded by
British ports to the pirate ship, when her eva
sion from British jurisdiction was well known
Thus at three different stages the British gov
ernment is compromised; first, in the concess.
ion of ocean beligerency, on which all depend-
ed; secondly, in the negligence which allowed
the evasion OF the ship in order to enter upon
the hostile expedition for which she was
Dulft, manned, armed and equipped; and
thirdly, in the open completely which, after
this evasion, gave her welcome hospitality
and supplies in British ports. Thus her dep
relations and burnings, making the ocean
Diaze, all proceeded from England, which by
three different acts lighted the torch. To
England must be traced. also, all the wide
| spread consequences which ensued.
take the case OF the Alabama, because it
is the best known, and because the building,
equipment and escape of this ship were un-
der the circumstances most obnoxious to
Judgment; but it will not be forgotten that
there were consort ships, built under the
shelter of that fatal proclamation, issued in
such an eclipse OF just principles. and, like
the ships it unloosed, s'rigged with curses
dark" One after the other, ships were built :
one after the other. they escaped on their err
rand; and, one after other, they enjoyed the
immunities of British ports. Audacity reach
| ed its height when iron-clad rams were built
and the peryersity of the British government
became still more conspicuous by its long re-
| fusal to arrest these destructive engines of
war, destined to be employed against the
United States. This protracted hesitation
where the consequences were so menacing, IS
part of the case.
| BRITISH SYMPATHY.
| 1t is plain that the ships which were built
under the safeguard of this ill-omened proc
lamation, which stole forth from the British
shores and afterwards enjoyed the immuni-
ties OF British ports were not only British in
| origin, but British in equipment. British in
armament. and British in crews. They were
British in every respect, except in their COM
manders, who were rebel. and one of these,
as This ship was sinking, owed his safety to
al British yacht, symbolizing the omnipres-
| ent support of England. British sympathies
were active in their behalf. The cheers of
a British passenger ship crossing the path of
the Alabama encouraged the work of piracy,
and the cheers of the House of Commons
encouraged the builder of the Alabama,
while he defended what he had done and ex-
claimed, in taunt to him who is no an illus
trious member of the British cabinet. John
| Bright, that he would rather be handed down
| to posterity as the builder OF dozen Ala
bamas, than the author of the speeches of
that gentleman "crying up" the institutions
OF the United States, which the builder of
the Alabama, rising with his theme, denounc-
ed as "of no value whatever" and as "reduc-
ing the very name of liberty to an utter alb
surdity," while the cheers of the House of
| Commons echoed back his words. Thus from
beginning to end, from the fatal proclamation
to the rejoicing of the House Of Commons,
was this hostile expedition protected and en-
couraged by England. The same spirit which
dictated the swift concession of belligerency
with all its deadly incidents, ruled the hour,
entering into and possessing every pirate
ship.
| PREPARATION FROM ENGLAND.
| At last the rebellion succumbed. British
ships and British supplies had done their
| work. but they failed. And now the day OF
reckoning has come; but with little apparent
sense of what is due on the part of England.
| without one soothing word for a friendly
power deeply aggrieved, without a single re-
| gret for what Mr.. Golden, in the House of
Commons, called "the cruel losses" inflicted
| upon us, or for what Mr.. Bright called "aid
| and comfort to the foulest of crimes" or for
what generous voice from Oxford Univer-
sity denounced as "flagrant and madden
ing wrong, England simply proposes to sub
init the question of liability for individual
losses" to an anomalous tribunal, where
chance plays its part. This is all. Nothing
is admitted even on this question; no rule
for the future is established; while nothing is
said of the indignity to Ithe nation, nor of the
| damage to the nation.
Looking at what is due to us on the pres
ent occasion, we are brought again to the con-
clusion that the satisfaction of individuals
whose ships have been burned or sunk is
only small part of what we may Justly ex-
| pcct. AS III Jne carrier cases Wnere the ma
| tional sovereignty was insulted, there should
be au acknowledgement of wrong, or at least
| OF liability, leaving to the commissioners the
assessment of damages only. The blew in
hicfed by that fatal proclamation which in
suited our national sovereignty and struck at
at our unity as a nation, followed upon
| broodside, driving our commerce from the
ocean, was kindred in character to those
earlier blows, and when we consider that it
was blow at civiliz alton ITSELF Besides
degrading us and running our commerce, its
direct and constant influence was to enceur-
age the rebellion, and to prolong the war
waged by slave masters at such cost of treas
ure and blood. 1t was a terrible mistake,
which l cannot doubt that good Englishmen
must regret. And now in the interest ol
peace, it is the duty of both sides to find q
remedy, complete, just, and cQnciliatory, SC
that the deep sense of wrong and the detri
ment to the Republic may be forgotten in
that proper satisfaction which a nation low
ing justice cannot hesitate to offer.
THE EXTENT OF OUR LOSSES.
individual losses may be estimated will
reasonable accuracy. Ships burned or sunl
with their cargoes may be counted and theil
value determined; but this leaves withou
recognition the vaster damage to eommers
driven from the ocean, and that other damag
to commerce, immense and infinite, cause,
by the prolongation Of the war, all of whiel
may be called national in contradistinctior
to individual.