New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1872-02-05
THE ALABAMA CLAIMS.
.cprIoN1ous DISCUSSION BY THE LONDON
HN PRESS.

PRESS.
nopr OF BRITISH WITHDRAWAL FROM I'M
MI C0ncXFFRvNCE-SECRETARY FISH DENIES III.
1UU,'op-rllE BRITISH EXCITEMENT QUIETLY
prCEIyFp IL WASllINGTON-IhE NE"Si NJ Ni'
nTRATE FOR EFFECT ONLY
fsy TELEGRAPH TO THB TRlBuNEI
WAsHiNCToN, Feb. 4, 1872
.+ oxcitcmcnt into which the English
' ., have worked itself over the American
90 shown by the dispatches printed here 10
- looksd mon with very little concern jill
us.h;,cton. That case, when II was IhsV maui
~ in London. caused great surprise 10 'he
,Sa;s+rv ~ well as TO the people as
:. attestcd .hy numerous private anu SEM sen,
81 disn9tchcs and letters received mere iHo
sla;rs which it makes for constructive "as'"tvS
rstaiped by evidence so strong that the Dil'ls"
ministry if is believed, found 1t necessary 10 uo
.tir, - couutcract an Indignation. similar to
that which followed the publication Oh MI, 0uI'nol
snoocb and which they knew would be aroused
GU ,hoir neople As soon as the character of our
90 became known and this necessity was the more
on occonnt of the meeting of Pnlia-
-. a, Tuesday next. when vote Oh
,.a,+ of confidence brought about IN the must ol
.o.,,or excitement might produce revolution III
a. Government These facts are believed To eN-
.be simultaneous appearance in all OF the lead
: London Journals of the excited leaders from
, oh evtratts have been teleTaphed to tins coulI-
o.. Rnt though the Ministry is believed to be re-
.,onsible for the beginning Of the excitement anu
NAV have intended to use it to influence the Geneva
Conference it is believed that the matter has gone
fu-hcr than they intended it should-ln otDer
vIrds that il has got beyond Their control
-. one believes the story that Chei-Justlce Cock
I'm has officially connseled the Cabinet that En-
gland must recede Immediately from the Treaty Of
Washington OF that the Council has been dlscnssine
he terms in which this resolution shall appear III
lie Qucen's speech at TIE opening OF tournament
Ard Secretary Fish himself is the authority tm Il
complete denial Of the report printed IN me LoRoon
Gly Tcleqrqpl that negotiations for the reform OF
re American ease have been opened between En-
..and aud America No such liz sOldIioHs NAVY 'o'"
.giln. proposed.
The London dispatches intimate that the British
government objects particularly TO the claims for
obstructive damages which the American case con-
,ins. II was impossible for the American Govern
cnt 70 omit these. The very language with which
e Treaty opens makes il necessary for at least
( urge those claims before the Geneva Conference
Tie Treaty provides for the amcable settle
ment of al points of difference between
tle United States and Great Britain These
Claims for constructive damages constitute one
OF those points Of difference. They have
been urged by American statesmen ever since the
close of the war. and Golden even informed Parlla-
mcnt as long ago as 1864, that Great Britain would
surely be called upon to pay them. Had the United
States omitted these claims from its case all points
Of difference would not have been settled by the
Treaty. Nobody now expects that they will be al
lowed by the Geneva Conference, but IT Is settled
principle in international, well as in other law,
mat a claimant must always ask for all that he
tniUks his due, even though he may have no good
reason TO expect to receive it.
To show that Great Britain has no right to COM
plain because claims for constructive damages are
aked for In the American case, it is necessary only
Ia remember the proceedings Of the Commission
which il now sitting in Washington in relation 10
a naymeut of the Confederate cotton bonds. 1t
Vas one Of the conditions insisted upon by our Gov
n1nent that il would not negotiate with regard TO
A,ose b uds at all and Secretary F1sh III
serted in the notes which passed between
MN and Minister Thornton phrase which
4 was supposed would entirely exclude them
from the Washington Commission, Notwithstanding
Minister Thornton protested that it was not possible
10Y any such claims upon the United states to be
laid befor, th4. Commission, under any circum-
s.ances But those claims were brought into the
Washington Conference and had to be acted upon.
The counsel for the United States refused to make
phy argument the mentS OF the>e Chains, Dut ON
.c-.d TO the jurisdiction of the Commission Tie
counsel for Great Britain made an argu-
neut in their favor; the Commission ruled
them out on the question Of jurisdiction. The
gerry suggestion that the United States should pay
The Confederate cotton loan would cause greater
.itement here than prevails in England yet, so
secure did Our people feel that the feeble attempt Of
some Democratic journals to alarm them in th, re-
,pect utterly failed.
Among the claims which our Government does eX-
Dec viii beawarded those for expenses attendant
Ipon the pursuit and capture of the Alabama and
lie other Anglo-COnfedeTate pirates. Careful
accounts Of all our expenses of this kind kent
1t the Navy Department, and payment has been
asked for Finally, nobody in Washington who
KNOWS the feeling of the English people, believes
that England would under any circumstances allow
the proceedings under the Treaty to be suspended.
She gained more indirectly by it, negotiation than
what simply accorded by the text of the
Treaty. For years." said Cabinet officer, this
afternoon, she had been under bonds not to med
die IN the politics Of Europe, and the dissolu-
ton Of those bonds worth far more TO her than
all the concessions which we have made. If heavy
constructive damages awarded to us, as is not
at all probable she might be driven by popular excite
ment into refusing TO pay them; bat you may rest
assured that she will hold on TO the Treaty until the
award is made"
lGENBRAJ PRESS DIsPATCHI
LONDON, Feb. 4, 1872.
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