Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1869-05-01


every pirate ship. .t.
The argument then turns on repara.
ton from England, aud the extent and
nature Of tho losses for which damages
are claimed In several instances already
has England officially made the amende
honorable for damages done our shipping
Why should she not do so nowY TIE
only reason is, perhaps, that she would
be conicssing too great fault. The ex-
tent Of our lesscss is put forth in all the
force Of facts aud figures, aud is srch ac-
count as ought TO shame the "friendship"
OF any civilized nation. But the qucs-
ton outside Of a consideration of dollars
aad cents Is the vital one:
This is what have TO say for the prcs-
ent on national losses through the de-
struc:ion of comin,rcc. These are large
enough; bat there is another chapter
where they are larger far. I refer, Of
course, to tho national losses caused bv
the prolongatiOn Ui the war and trace
able directly 10 England. No candid
person, who studies this eventual period,
can doubt that tho rebellion was origin
ally encouraged by hope of support from
England; that WAS strengthened at
once by the concession 1T bc.lligersRt
rights on the OccanJ that il was fed to he
end by British supplies that il was quick
ened into renewed life with every report
from the British pirates, flaming anew
with every burning ship; nor can it be
doubted that without BRUSH Intervention
the rebellion woul1 have soon succumbed
under the well directed efforts of the
National Government. Not weeks or
months, but years were added in this
way to our war, so full of the most cost
y sacrifice. The subsidies which in other
times England contributed 10 continental
wars were less effective than the ali and
comfort which she contributed TO the re-
bellion. 1t cannot be said too often that
the naval base uf the rebellion was not
in America, but in England. Mr.. Cob
den boldly said in the House Commons
that England made war from her shores
on the Unitee States ''with an amount
of damage to that country greater thap
in many ordinary wars" According to
this testimony, the conduct of England
was war; but it must not be forgotten
that this war was carried on at our sole
cost The United States paid for war
waged by England upon the national
unity.
The sacrifice of precious life is beyond
human compensation; but there may be
an approximate estimate o. the national
loss in money. The rebellion was sup
pressed at a cost of more than four thou
sand million dollars, a considerable por-
ton of which has been already paid,
leaving twenty-five hundred millions OF
national debt to burden the people
If through British Intervention the war
was doubled in its duration, or in any
way extended, as can not be doubted,
then is England justly responsible for
the additional expenditure to which our
country was doomed; and, whatever
may be the final settlement of these great
accounts, such must be the Judgment in
any chancery which consults the simple
equity of the case
| The rule of damages is then consid.
cred. Dir. Sumner applies the test of The
common law, which is that damage.
must be ft r. the natural and proximatt
consequence OF an act" and finds tn,
application every way tenable. Blu
the rule of the Roman law" to quot,
from the speech, "which is the rule of in
ternational law, is broader than that o.
the common law. The measure OF dam
ages, according to the Digest, is what
ever may have been lost or might have
been gained; ; qua,,fum mihi d6est, guam
t,lmque lucrori Iootui and this same rule
seems to prevail in the French law, Dor
rUwed from the Roman law. This rult
opens the door to ample reparation fo
! all damages, whether individual or ma
tienal. Thus by all analogy of the com
mon law, which enters sc largely int,
International Law, and even by the rul'
Of the common law relating 10 damages
all losses, whether indi,i i,lual or national
are the just subject of cIaim''
We give the concluding remarks q
this remarkable speech entire, as bein!
the summing up OF one OF the stronges
arguments in the experience OF the states
man, and the clearest presentation vet o
a case whose vast Importance has beel
made fully appreciabie by it's Treatment
at the hands of Senator Sumner:
MIR. President, in concluding these re
marks, desire to say that / am no vol
uHtCct. Foi cS'Ci" ySuio hu'S cutS
fully avoided saying any thing ON thi
most irritating question, being aBxiou
that negotiations should be left undis
turbed to secure a settlement, whic
could be accepted by deeply-irure
nation. The submission of the pcndin,
treaty to the Judgment Of the Senat
left me no alternative. II became m,
duty TO consider il carefully in commit
tee, and TO review the whole subject. /
| failed TO find what We had right Il
expect, and, if the just claims OF on
country assumed unexpected proportions
it was not because would bear hard ol
: England, but because | wish most sin
|. cerely to remove all possibility of strifi
|, between our two countries, and il is eyi
dent that this eau be done by first ascer
tanning the nature and extent of differ
ence. In this spirit / have spoken to
day, II the case against England j
strong. and if our claims are unprece
dented in magnitude, il is only becaus
the conduct Of this power at tryin:
period was most uniiiendly, and the in
furious consequences Of tins conduct wer'
on a scale CORRESPONDING to the theatel