The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-05-27
THE PROPOSED WELCOME TO MR.


MOTLEY.
IT seems that the whole British nation is not
demented by Summers speech against the Ala
bama treaty, Notwithstanding the insane tone of
their journals and leading orators. A cable
telegram from Liverpool announces that the
Chamber of Commerce of that city has voted an
address of welcome to Mr.. Motley, the Ameri-
can Minister, and the true policy of our cozen-
ing cousins on the other side of the Atlantic was
very well expressed by an orator who advocated
this action. He said that che regretted the
failure of the law officers to prevent the escape
of the Alabama" that she precedent aodS bad,
and the maritime interests of England 1oere to
suffer from IL, and that 'ifmoderate compensa-
ton could cancel this precedent, he would re-
joice if il were granted" The ideas expressed
in these brief sentences are by no means novel,
but they have never been presented in more
condensed and comprehensive form, and there
is deep significance in their utterance before an
audience of the British merchants and ship
owners of the great seaport of the realm. 1t
was capital sport for many of these gentry,
during the war, to see American merchantmen
gobbed up by piratical cruisers, until the COM
mercial flag of their great rival was nearly
banished from the seas, where it had become
formidable competitor for supremacy 1t was
delightfully."- convenient to wage a cruel and
cowardly ocean war, in which heavy blows
could be dealt without immediate danger of
return; and to build, man, and equip Confederate
privateers for the express purpose of placing
every American ship in peril while
every English ship was safe 1t was
charming to say to Semmes, "Here is money
here are stores, here is fastsailing vessel here
is cannon and ammunition, in short, everything
you need to fit you out better than the most
notorious demon of the waves that ever scuttled
ship or cut a throat Take them freely-all we
ask in return is that you will Danish the stars
and stripes from the highways of commerce, and
thus enable us to boast once more that Britannia
rules the waves 1t is true that they went
through the form of subscribing to COnfede-
rate loan, but it was eagerly taken at or about
par when United States bonds could not be sold
in England at any price, not on account of its
attractiveness as an investment, but because it
supplied the most available machinery for
contributing British money to the support of the
rebellion, and for sustaining the Confederate
army on land and the Confederate navy on sea,
in their efforts to annihilate the Great Republic.
The failure of this nefarious scheme, and the
triumph of the Union despite the combined
efforts of its foreign foes, have awakened, not
remorse, not slumbering sense of justice, not
magnanimity, but a lively fear that this treachery
may "come home to roost;" that if Fenian-
ism should become formidable, or India irrita-
BILE, or France ferocious hundreds of British
merchantmen may be captured by Yankee Ala
bamas; and that the system of international law
comfy which was founded in iniquity may,
under the new application of its principles,
bring dire distress upon its authors. The Liver
pool Chamber of Commerce might well
rejoice in an opportunity to "cancel this prece-
dent" by granting moderate compensation"
but it is neither the desire the interest of the
American people to accept a paltry pittance as
a full atonement for the large volume of British
insults and British injuries. We can far better
afford to wait leaving the whole question open,
than to make an immediate settlement on a dis
creditable basis.
While the Liverpool address of welcome is a
gratifying indication that the merchants of that
city do not join in the senseess camor against
America, we have sufficient faith in Mr.. Mot
ley's good sense to believe that he will carefully
abstain from initiating even in a remote degree
the servile example of his predecessor. The
true ambassador carries with him. wherever he
goes, the atmosphere of his native land. He
can be toasted without becoming a
toady, or be received with frowns
without quaking with fear. He goes abroad to
defend and promote the interests of his country
men, and, if necessary, to utter unpaatable
truths, rather than to play the part of an obse-
quious courtier. 1t is better for England, as
we'll as the United States, that the questions at
issue should be discussed in a candid spirit and
that the American side of the controversy
should be as clearly expressed at the Court of
st. James as it is in the national councils at
Washington.