The Evening Star. THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 1872.

Evening Star, Issue 2973, 29 August 1872, Page 2

The Evening Star. THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 1872.

So far as news calculated to interest us in the Colonics is concerned, the telegrams received from Auckland yesterday contain none. Wo do not consider this an evil, for it is a sign that on. the whole the affairs of the world are progressing beneficially for the human race. The great event, on which national attention is now concentrated, is the Alabama arbitration 3 and it must be most satisfactory to everyone that, however it may result, the two nations, strongest because wealthiest upon earth, can relinquish the barbarism of arbitration by the sword, and submit the settlement of a dispute to the higher domain of reason and justice. It is quite likely that a certain class who dignify the evolutions of brute force with the name of courage, and whose notions of right and wrong have not advanced beyond mediaeval definitions, may sneer at the idea of such procedure. Very possibly had there not been at the head of the affairs of both countries statesmen who stand foremost in political foresight, the Alabama dispute might have led to serious complications, if not to war. Yet in view of the past we scarcely think such would have been the case. It is not the first time that between Great Britain and America national disputes have been amicably arranged. The last war with the United States was brought to a close in 1815. It arose from the issue of British Orders in Council seriously affecting American commerce, and through the Biitish Government insisting upon the right to search American vessels for British seamen. On that occasion, as now, a claim was put forward by the Americans for compensation for vessels condemned as prizes through the operation of the British Orders in Council ; but the feeling in the United States on the outbreak of the war was not one of general exultation. It was by no means acceptable to all the different States. Miller, in his continuation of Hume and Smollett’s History, says :

A war so differently affecting the different parts of the Union, could not fail to call forth those violent political contentions for which the republic is so much distinguished. At Boston the declaration of war was the signal of a general mourning : all the ships in the harbor displayed flags half-mast high; and in that city, as in other cities of the Northern States, public meetings of the inhabitants were held, at which a number of resolutions were passed, stigmatising the approaching contest as unnecessary and ruinous.

Tho Southern ports, on the other hand, rejoiced in the hope of picking up rich prizes in the shape of British vessels, and fitted out swarms of privateers to prosecute that species of sea robbery. But the war never was popular, and after a continuance of some four or five years, it was settled by treaty at Ghent—the United Stales abandoning their claim for compensation, and “ all conquests on either side were restored.” The most rabid stickler for national honor must confess that it would have been quite as rational and much more profitable to both countries and to mankind to have settled matters at Ghent before wasting millions of money and thousands of human lives. Commenting upon the cause of quarrel, Miller. says :—- The limits of the right of blockade stand fixed, by the law of nations, upon ground

that admits no serious dispute; and wit regard to the impressment of seamen, America did not deny that Britain had a right to reclaim her own subjects ; and Hie English Government did not pretend to have any right to impress any who were rea’ly and truly American citizens. The whole quarrel, then, was about the means of assertiuo these rights ; and had the Ministers of both countries sought for peace in the spirit of peace, that inestimable blessing must have been speedily obtained.

Since that day there have been several disputes that have been settled in peace, because “sought for in the spirit of peace,” There was an interruption to commerce in 1828, through the protective tariff of the States : in 1830 the ports were re-opened to British commerce without war. In 1837 and 1838 there were disputes about the Canadian insurrection, Americans helped the Canadian insurgents, and the British seized and burnt the American steamboat Caroline ; but that awkwardness was got over without war, although the affair was much complicated by the trial of Mr McLeod, charged with murder and arson, whose release -was demanded by the British Government. In 1841 there arose another dispute, which might have become a cause of war between the two countries. The American vessel, “ Creole,” was on her voyage to New Orleans with a cargo of slaves, when’they mutined, killed the owner, wounded the captain, and compelled the crew to take the vessel to Nassau, the chief port of the Bahamas, where the governor considering them as passengers, in spite of the protest of the American consul, let them go free. In addition to these various causes of dispute that occurred at that time, the boundary question was added. It was ultimately settled by arbitration and mutual concession. The 49th parallel was fixed upon as the boundary between the United States and Canada, and Great Britain obtained Vancouver’s Island and the free navigation of the Columbra river. There have at different times, too, been squabbles arising out of the slavery question, and there is an unsettled dispute of long standing concerning the fisheries. The points in dispute were raised in 1852, and in 1855 to this was added the question of enlistment of American citizens to aid in European wars. In such high dudgeon did the American Government treat an attempt to enlist soldiers for the Russian war, that the extreme step of dismissing the British Envoy, notwithstanding Lord Clarendon’s explanations was resorted to. It will be seen from this long list of grievances, settled without war, that it is not the fashion of Great Britain and America to rush into hostilities. Almost any one of those enumerated would be held sufficient to justify war, but both nations have too much at stake to risk it. Our contemporary supposes these to have been small disputes, but national feeling rose higher in almost every case than on the Alabama question. The only hope is that should that be satisfactorily settled by arbitration, other nations may follow the example : but this is not likely where family ambition, territorial acquisition, or religious enthusiasm lead to aggression.