Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1869-04-27

!! WHICH IL WAS lauilCdeu, lnlS CONCESSION
was more unfriendly in substance. It wa
the first stage in the dcpredatious on oul
, commerce. Had it not been made no re
bel ship could have been built in England
Every step in her building would have
been piracy. Nor could any munitions
Of war have been furnished. The direct
consequence ofthis concession was to plac,
the rebels on an equality with ourselve,
in all British markets, whether Of ship,
or munitions Of war. AS these were op.
en- to the national government, SO were
they open to the rebels The asserted
neutrality between the two began by this
tremendous concession when rebels, at one
stroke, were transformed not only into
bcligererts but into customers.
In attributing to that bad proclamation
this peculiar influence, | follow the au.
thority Of the law lords Of England, who
according to authentic report, announced
that without it the fitting out Of ship III
England to cruise againt the United States
would have been an act of piracy. That
England became an arsenal" for the re-
bells we know, but this could not have
been unless the proclamation had prepar-
ed the way. fsa
The only justification that | have heard
for this extraordinary concession, which
unleashed upon our country the faries Of
foreign war to commngle with the furie.
of rebellion at home, is that President
Lincoln undertook to proclaim blockade
Of the rebel ports. By the use Of this
word "blockade" the concession is vind-
Gated. Had President Lincoln proclaim
ed a closing Of the rebel ports, there could
have been no such concession. This is a
mere technically. Lawyers might call
it an dper jaris and yet on this sharp
point England hangshcr defense !.
The British assumption, besides being
: offensive from mere tBchnlcality, is incon-
sistent with the proclamation Of the Plesi-
dent, taken as a Wide, which, while ap-
pointing blockade, is careful to reserve
the rights Of sovereignty, thus putting
foreign powers on their guard against any
premature concession. 1t was an all-suiii-
cient warning, which this power disregard
led
G, ear a, Il now Anown, the whou- So.
| for Englanl is male to stand on the use
Of the word ''4ocl;ade" by President
lincoln. Had HI used any other word
the concession belligerency would have
been without justlicatiUn, even such as Is
uos imagined. i vas this word which,
with magical miiat, opened the gates to
all those bountifd supplies by Which hos
tile expeditions we're equipped against the
United States. It opened the gates Of
war Most appalling is il to think that
one little word, upconsciously used by a
trusting President could be caught up by
friendly power and made to play such a
part. r"
49,. Ill Al ~, o,o =. am ,tbor ,vorfl
often invoked for apology: 1t is 'neu-
trality', which, it is said, was proclaimed
: between two belligerents. Nothing could
be iairer, always provided that the "neu'
trality" proclaimed did not begin with a
concession to one party, without which
this party would be powerless. Between
two established nations, both Independent
as between Russia and France, there may
be neutrality for the two arc already
equal iii rights, and the proclamation
would be precisely equal in its operation
But where one party is an established ma
ton and the other Is nothing but an obi
Gus combination Of rebels, the proclama
tion is most unequal in operation; for j
begins by solemn nvcstiture Of rebel
with all the rights Of war, saying to them
as was once said to the youthful knight
.Rise here is a sword use ito cal
such. an investiture proclamation OF neu
: trality is msnomer. 1t was procama
ton Of equality between the natloia
: government on the one side and rebels ol
: The other, and no plausible word can oh
> .ure this distinctive character. l
THE ALABAMA. Oh
. Then came the building Of the pirat
g ships one after another. While the Ala
: bama was still in the ship yard it becanl
apparent that she was intended for tn
: rebels. ef
!. The Alabama case begins with fat;
i concession by which the rebels were en'
a bled to build ships in England and the
+ to sail them without being liable as P
!. rates; it next shows itself in the buildir
| of the ship, in the armament, and in Il
d escape, with so much Of negligence on Il
y part Of the British government as to co
? stitute suferancc, if not connivance al
r. then again the case reappears in the We
~ come and hospitality accorded by Britt