The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-02-20
Comments Oh tic British Press HOW
tic .SCriaiuSlGcn OF Great britain
Zsc~.T.: !!,c Present Agitation.

The London Bee Hire, organ Of the British
worl;iugincn. oil the 81 instant gave prolni-
ncngc to Il communication respecting the
Alabama clainls from Gir. Lloyd Jones. The
following" i, an extract from this letter:
TIE tone Of our daily papers in relation to
the American claims la, il! it something quite
sldtcni;n. indeed what between Our great
statesmen, our merchant princes, oi:r sable
ciitOrs," and others, WHO rule lis by title, Gy
tongue, by pen, and by power Of money,
we have got INFO i mes Which even The
:Gost truly "hr:iycl!-Loln Of our states
men. Oh. The ;.hiest OF oar editors, seems
II despair OF escaping irola without losses
and Cjis"Iuccs quite lgl:htiui TO think OF. To
cnicrrrlsi.G men like tic JIc-sr>. Laird, the
building vf IN Alabama was IN easy thing.
10 statesmen like Earl Russell, not to be
willing o. able 10 prcTeilt this vessel from
going to sea, was also easy. And to able
editors like those Of the Times and Standard
il was not only easy but pleasant and pro-
i:tahlc to lift up tlclr voices approvln@iy and
triulnpiiantly us ship after ship belonging to
the United States merchant marine was
pundcrcd and destroyed. Now, however,
the reckoning has to Dc made and paid. We
have entered into Il treaty under the condl-
| tons ii which this has been arranged for:
and as 4 preliminary to this, the Washing
| ton Government tots up direct and i'll
direct losses. both kinds coming within the
provisions Of the treaty and wien, hy the
rule OF addition. tits sum il worked out the
total amounts to the respectable sum OF
G200 0O0, 600. No wonder that The Times
goes il Tor reputation, Or that The StandGrd
swa-gcgs and wilines in the same paragraph.
What mental conditions the McS>rS. Laird
are in, it would be difficult to surnisc. As
for Earl Russell, he is no doubt in Il sutfi-
GENTLY happy-go-luciiy state of mind; and ii
IN affair OF the same kind had to happen
| 4 ain tomorrow he would still write states
| manlikc letters on the O1uS proddnd', that he
night lind out, by waiting tor the issue, what
came Of it.
We are solcmnly assured by writer's in our
newspapers that the British commissioners
never intended the indirect claims to be in
cludcd under the provisions Of the treaty. 1t
is said they forgot to have them excluded,
and so by a sharp Yankee trick these claims
are thrust into Our faces 10 the dSlnay OF all
risht-tliinking people; especially OF the
liable editors" who were so Jubliant, SO
Thoroughly English" and so pleasantly
anti Yankee when they We're drawing the M
ton into this most abominably disagreeahlc
and disgraccful position. Paying 600
O00, coo is quite ont Of the question. Even
though Mr.. Lowe threw himself back on the
matcE-boNcS and fuses, it could not be done.
And deductions. even though made with
| 4 willing and strong hand, cannot
briny this awful bill into anything like
reasonable dimensions. Perhaps these eX-
tlr.yasant indirect claims have only been put
! in to rrightcn us. Even then the direct
claims will remain ample enough to drive an
| anxious Chancellor OF the ExchcQuer out of
his senses. IN any view of The matter these
claims come to lis rs 4 national c:ilanlity-as 4
national humi:iat!on: in fact, us 4 punish
meut for 4 foul wrong stimulated by ariSto-
! cratic hatred Of democratic institutions, by
| the jealousy Of Il commercial riyalship, and
| bv that disgrccful and dishonorable greed
which nearly always accompanies commercial
speculation, aggravated by the insulting and
uuDrinciplcd rawlings Of newspaper writers.
America sets forth her claims thus : For direct
| losses through destruction Of vessels and loss
Of their cargCeS by means Of these pirate cruz
scrs; by expenditure i'll pursuit Of these; by
| loss in having to transfer its commercial ma
rine to the British flag; by increased pay
ments Of insurance, and by prolongation Of
the war and extra expenses attending the
| suppression of the rebellion. In the mean
time we do not inquire how these arc made
up. We only know they are put forward
under the provisions Of 4 treaty made by Us
with America. There is no use asking now
why the British commissioners did not shut
tie indirect portion Of these claims out. They
did not; and it is simple Stiffness now to say
that we have grievance against tie Amcri-
CANS for putting them in.
THE ARBITRATION CANNOT PROCEED UNLESS THE
AMERICANS REFORM THEIR CASE.
From the London Times of February J.
The feeling which has been excited by the
disclosure of the American demands must
not he suffered to extend beyond the eXag-
geIGted pretensions which had called it forth.
In protesting against the presentation OF q
claim before the tribunal of arbitrators for
indirect damages, and i'll refusing to go on
with the reference if this claim be not
withdrawn, we are strictly within our
right. There is no trace of differ
ence Of opinion in England about it.
We are all agreed that neither the British
commissioners, nor the Government, nor
Parliament, nor the nation, consented to in
c!ude indirect damages In the reference to
Geneva; and if the American Government