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No. 428, June 5,1858.] THE 1>A 3)EB. 541 nt
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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THE AMERICAN DEMANDS . The difficulty of difficulties m the settlement of the demands which the A . merican Grovernment is making upon our own Government at the present moment lies in the idea of the humiliation , which ibis supposed this country would sustain were it to dp "what is demanded of ifc . But even if this dreadful humiliation were inevitable , it by no means follows that the sister Republic intends that humiliation ; on the contrary , the injury , if it conies to us , will come from the misconduct of our own officers . The causes that give rise to the demands of the American Government are not .
one , but many * The one which attracts inost attention at present is the case of a merchant ship , sailing in the Gulf of Mexico , which was visited by the commander of a British war-ship , whose breach of the law ixi doing so was aggravated by manners personally offensive , and by the fact that he had picked out this particular ship for his visit and search , neglecting vessels of other nations which had omitted , as he accused the American of doing , to salute His flag . The
pretext in this case was a search to ascertain the character of the vessel with regard to its being a slaver , or otherwise ; there appears to be no pretext for any suspicion of its being engaged in the slave trade . In another case , there appears to have been a general search of ships within the waters of a Cuban port ; a search made during peace , and again , in some instances at least , without any sufficient pretext . Other cases to have already mentioned as having occurred on the west coast
of Africa , where "there is a- system of fast-andloose , by favour of which actual slavers are suffered to proceed , at least some way , in the prosecution of their trade , while hond jiile traders coming for palm oil are impeded under a pretext of the suspicion that they are slavers . The apology in most of these casea appears to be that not onty are some Americans engaged in slave trading , but that the American flag is extensively used by the slavers of other nations in order to prevent , if possible , that visit and search which are necessary to ascertain their true nationality . If the
apology were strictly justified by the facts , it would only show one difficulty which exists in continuing to compel the suppression of the slave-trade by lorce ; but there cannot be any moral doubt thai in many casea the commanders of English ships pay no attention to other signs bj which they might ascertain the nationality of a ship without boarding or visiting it , avnd that , on the contrary they rather enjoy the opportunity which they thus acquire of trampling down the law of the United States . In order to understand the full force of
these complaints , we must call to mind some of the most prominent events by which they have been preceded . It is now some years since the American Government denied the right of our navy to search ships which manifestly belong to the United States . The utmost right which -was admitted was a visit to the ship , in order , by its papers , to ascertain its nationality . Our Government persevered with the demand for search through a very lengthened correspondence , but ultimately
gave up the claim , suffering it therefore to lapse , and the whole conduct on our side has subsequently been marked by abstinence from any attempt at renewal until now . More recently circumstances have contributed to place difficulties in the way of carrying out the suppression of the slave trade . The plan of M . Regis has shown a method by which the present system can he evaded . Attempts
have been made to strengthen the position of the suppressing force by obtaining new recruitments of the American , contingent . But all these requests have failed ; the Americans decline i ; o increase the strength of their force , and other nations show no disposition to alter the regulations . It is perfectly certain that fresh treaties for the purpose will not be obtained . The success of the free African
emigration is creating a very great activity in the traffic of carrying ovex negroes , whether ostensibly free , or otherwise . Hence , the officers of the English Government are excited to increased activity , at the same time that the prospect of ultimate failure lies before them . Annoyance at that prospect mingles with zeal ; political circumstances assist in the excitement of unfriendly feeling . The TJni ted States are suspected unjustly of intriguing against Spain and Mexico ; a
convention - . between- the states of Nicaragua and Costa Rica has just been concluded , in which the two States proclaim it necessary to form an alliance against the buccaueez'ing expeditions of Waikee , whom they assert to be patronized by the American Government . We arc in a position to state that this assertion is abso ^ lutely false , and we have ample testimony at Washington ¦ ¦' that when . General "Walkeu has visited-Mr . Buciiiina ^ , he has received no satisfaction , has met with no
encoxiragement , whilcthe laws of the Union have been publicly enforced against his combinations . The ultimate fate of Cuba , again , adds weight to the accumulated feelings of annoyance on our side , and the immense increase of trade between the United States and Cuba helps to show how steadily the lone star is moving in its path towards union with the galaxy ; but although we can thus account for the emotions which may prompt over-activity , trespass , and insolent bearing on the part ot English officers , we do not the more justify those excesses .
The demands made upon our Government consist in claims to compensate individuals who have been injured , and in the earnest desire of the American Government that peremptory orders for the discontinuance of the practice of boarding and searching American vessels should be given and enforced . Such a measure is called for on every account of right and prudence , and our Government can only refuse compliance under very grave
responsibilities . It will most likely comply ; it will pay tho iiue , arid in paying it acknowledge the oflence . The humiliation in such a case can only be imaginary ; for in reason it cannot bo considered ignoble to retire from a false position , or to make amends for a wrong committed in pursuit of an illusory object . Let Exeter Hall weep , wail , and gnash its teeth , the slave-protoctorato of England has been a sad mistako , a \ nd tho best advantage it can take of tho present state of things is
frankly to admit that the attempt to put down the slave trade has been a total failure , and to retire from the further prosecution of a useless labour .
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SOMETHING TOO MUCH OF SLOUGH . One great merit of the Derb y Government is its indiscretion . The world has been half ruined by the discreetness of Ministers . Diplomatists , especially , are , by their very nature 3 so reserved , that most ^ roceedm ^ s on their parts are more like conspiracies than , honest doings . Therefore we are thoroughly disinclined to draw invidious comparisons between the above-board audacity of Tory statesmen and the subterranean tortuosities of the "Whigs . Nor is inexperience altogether a bad quality in a Minister . It saves the public from an infinite amount of deception . Men who have been in office for years acquire not only certain secretive habits , but learn to disguise their policy under false pretences , an art in which Lord Palmerston , the private Mr . Smith , and the confidential Lord Clarendon are adepts . The Derby people stand in favourable contrast with these veiled prophets of di p lomacy . They show their cards . They read their despatches aloud . Their secret committees sit with open doors . Presently , reporters will be admitted" to their Cabinet Councils . We know , at all events , what they are doing . An . d in this there is a positive advantage . Abominable as was the blunder of Lord Elleiiborougk ' s despatch , and still worse as was the error of its publication , it let the light into the Boai ^ d of Control so effectually that the public came and looked through the gratings , and scared a very dangerous official away trom his desk . Then > Mr . pisraeli went to Slough , and was immeasurably mdiscreet . The Whig opposition , hi and out of Parliament , was at" once m arms , and although no one can defend the Chancellor of tlie Exchequer for having , in Parliamentary periphrasis , stated 1 hat which was not in accordance with tlie facts , still we have gained a good deal by tlie explosion . We have had Premiers and ex-Premiers , Foreign Ministers and ex-Foreign Ministers , independent chiefs , and all sorts of expectants , making' clean breasts of it , and Mr . Disraeli himself backing out of his assertions with , ineffable candour . Here comes Lord John Russell explaining exactly wliat he knew of the Cambridge House covenant , informing us that he had held no direct communication with Lord Palraerston , confessing that lie had never been impatient on the subject of lleform , and ominously declaring that , should the practice of penal dissolutions be continued , he ii \ ay march under the banners of Finsbury , and vote for triennial Parliaments . Then , Lord Pahnerston relates how the Conspiracy Bill was concocted , and with frank temerity resumes his old way of . laying mysteries bare . And Mr . Disraeli has a second fit of indiscretion . He ; permits the country to " know him as apolitical rlodmadod . " When I say I did , " that distinguished person said , " I mean ' that I did not . " So , Mr . Disraeli , when he said that we were -within a few hours of war , meant that peace was quite secure ; when he talked about massacre , he alluded to mercy ; when he pointed to a cabal , he was looking skywards . When he hinted at a diplomatist ' s intrigue to engulf Italy in a conflagration , uotliing was farther trom his thoughts . Public men , in fact , according to the precedent thus establislied , are not expected to be serious at public dinners , even when treating of the gravest matters and affecting the gravest tones . The Chancellor of the Exchequer is most merry when most dismal , and when he holds up his predecessors as fiends in human shape , burying all India in vengeance and slaughter , he is only poking fun at the Buckinghamshire electors . Other men have done the same . Sir James Graham had his little ioke at the Reform Club about the Russian war , and Lord Palmerston , when the Coldstrcams were about , to take their bath of blood , was particularly lively on the subject of Ilobinson Crusoe . Thus , all statesmen liavc their humours , mid it was a prodigious burlesque to remind Mr . Disraeli that he was at least in the place of a statesman , and should learn to behave himself with more dignity . Of course , ho is not dignified . He is random , reckless , unmitigated in las assurance , and does vvlial he can to make tlie great Conservative party ashamcc of him . But what can ho or they do ? He is tin fastest horse in tho stable , they say , and they musl make use of their property . Por liis own part , hi pursues his own interests ; and it is his interest , ii every sense , to retain possession of the office ii
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—^ _ There is nothing so revolutionary , because there is nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keepthin . gafi . xed'whenalltlie'world ia'by the very la"w pf its creationin eternal progress . —Db . Ahnoip . . ¦ — ' —— a — ' ¦ — . ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦
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VT \ ZJ - * - SATITBDAY , JUNE 5 , J . 858 .
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NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS . Itis impossible to acknowledge the mass of letters we . receive . Their insertion is often delayed , owing to a press of matter ; and when omitted , it is frequently from reasons quite independent of the merits of thecominunica . tion . , No notice can be taken of anonymous correspondence Whateveris intended fo * insertion must be authenticated by the name and address of the writer ; not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee o ? liisgoodfaith- We cannot undertake to return rejected communications
No. 428, June 5,1858.] The 1≫A 3)Eb. 541 Nt
No . 428 , June 5 , 1858 . ] THE £ 33 A D . E U . 541
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Leader (1850-1860), June 5, 1858, page 541, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2245/page/13/
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