The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-08-26
NEW YORK HERALD MONDAY AUGUST 2e ls72-RIPLE SHEET


of the special pleas by which the English
.pleaders sought to reduce at once the scope Of
their governments liability and the amount OF
damages they would be called upon to pay.
1t is unnecessary to follow here the thread of
the American argument, because all who take
an interest in the discussion will read the able
speeches of Messrs. Eyarts and Cushing,
published in full to-day. The attempt of the
British counsel to establish rules of due dill
gence based upon their own municipal laws
and the laws and practice Of other nations
was completely met by the answer that the
recognize no other ''due diligence than that
set forth in the Treaty of Washington itself.
Thus, when the British side discussed elab-
orately the difference of the duty of neutrals
under the common law with regard to vessels
armed during the war and vessels equipped
for the war but not yet armed, with q
view to evading the responsibility for the
escape of unarmed vessels, the American side
simply declared the question to be settled by
the first rule Of the treaty, which provides
that neutral government shall use all due
diligence to prevent vessel in the limits of
its jurisdiction, which there is sufficient reason
to think is intended for committing acts of
war against friendly Power, from
either "going to sea" or being armed
or equipped, or from leaving the limits
of its jurisdiction, whether such vessel shall
have been wholly or only partly fitted out for
warlike purposes. AS England is bound to
accept these treaty rules as the standard by
which her acts in the case of the Anglo Con-
federate privateers is to be adjudged by the
Court, she is of course, precluded from
for those acts. It is, however, singular fact
alluded to by Mr.. Gushing, that SO much of
the rule as prescribes liability for suffering q
vessel to Ego to sea" was omitted from the
English translation of the treaty prepared for
the use of the Geneva Court.
In the course of their argument the English
counsel had questioned the preventive power
of the law OF the United States for the preser-
walton of neutrality in the case Of q vessel not
armed or not in condition that would permit
the committal Of hostilities at the moment of
its departure from an American port, and had
also cited instances in which flibustering i'd
ventures had been sustained by the Ameri-
can law To the first part of this
argument Mr.. Cushing satisfactorily re-
plies by quoting the law Of the
preme Court sustaining the broadcast interpre-
tation Of its preventive provisions. The
second part he equally happily disposes of by
reminding the Court that England is now
before the tribunal, accused of having failed to
use educ diligence in observing the conven-
tional rules Of the Treaty of Washington;
that if America has failed or not in her duties
of neutrality according to the common law is
not the question submitted to the arbitrators;
and that America replies at proper time and
place for her acts to those whom such acts
may have injured 1t matters little, argued
Mr. Cushing, what the Interpretation Of
the municipal law of England may
be. The Interpretation of the law of
the United States matters still less.
The conduct of the United States
towards Spain, or Mexico, or even
towards England herself, is not in dispute
Qhere is only one question to be decided by
the Geneva Court-Has England failed, yes or
no, in using the ''due diligence" required by
the Treaty of Washington in the case of the
Anglo Confederate privateers?
1t is to be hoped that we shall soon have On
end of this Alabama business in verdict that
will put few dollars into the pockets of
private losers by the acts of the rebel
cruisers. The American people will
be out of pocket heavily by the
transaction, what with the expenses
and the adverse judgments of the Claims
Commission, and will besides have the cha
grin of feeling that they have been worsted
in diplomacy and disgraced by the weakness
and vacillation of their Washington politi-
clans. The Treaty of Washington itself will
be dead letter SO far as any real set
tlement of our differences with England
is concerned, and in the end it will be seen
that the bad blood engendered between the
two English-speaking nations by England s
conduct during our rebellion has not been pu-
rifed. Nevertheless, the sooner the claimants
get their awards and the dignifed
members of the Court of Arbitration
subside once more into quiet, respect
able, everyday citizens of their respective
countries, the better pleased the people will
be. We have already had too much Of the
humiliating farce, and every one will be glad
when the drop curtain descends and shuts the
snowy scene and the well-got-up actors from
view
Emigration from Alsace and Lorraine.