Opinion of law-officers. We are of opinion that no proceedings can at present be taken with reference to any of the matters alleged as breaches of neutrality in the accompanying printed papers. If the persons alleged to be Englishmen or Irishmen who have been serving on board the Alabama are natural-born British subjects, they are undoubtedly offenders against the foreign-enlistment act. But, not being (so far as it appears) within British jurisdiction, no proceedings can now be taken against them; and it is, under these circumstances, unnecessary to enter into the question of the sufficiency or insufficiency, in other respects, of the evidence against them contained in John Latham's affidavit of the 8th January last. Whether any acts were done within the United Kingdom to induce all or any of these persons to enlist in the confederate service, or to go abroad for that purpose, which would be punishable under the foreign-enlistment act, is a question on which these papers throw little or no light; certainly they furnish no evidence of any such acts against any persons or person now within British jurisdiction, on which any proceedings could possibly be taken under that statute. So far as relates to the supply of coals or other provisions or stores to the Alabama, and the payments made to relatives of seamen or others serving on board that ship by persons resident in the country, we are not aware of any law by which such acts are prohibited, and therefore no proceedings can be taken against any person on that account. So far as relates to Mr. Dudley's argument (not now for the first time advanced) that the Alabama is an English piratical craft, it might have been enough to say that Mr. Dudley, while he enumerates almost everything which is immaterial, omits everything that is material, to constitute that character. The character of an English pirate cannot possibly belong to a vessel armed and commissioned as a public ship of war by the Confederate States, and commanded by an officer belonging to the navy of those States, under their authority. Such the Alabama undoubtedly is, and has been, ever since she first hoisted the confederate flag, and received her armament at Terceira. Even by the schedule of John Latham's affidavit, in which he describes the greater part of her petty-officers and seamen (on what evidence we know not) as Englishmen or Irishmen, it appears that twenty out of the twenty-five superior officers (as well as the captain) are not so described; and of these twenty officers one is stated to be the brother-in-law of the President of the Confederate States. It is to be regretted that, in any of the discussions on this subject, so manifest an abuse of language as the application of the term "English piratical craft" to the Alabama should still be permitted to continue. (Signed) ROUNDELL PALMER. SUMMARY. The Alabama was built at Birkenhead by a ship-building firm which had for a long time carried on a very extensive business. The building of ships of war required for the use of foreign governments, and ordered by such governments directly or through agents, had formed a part of the ordinary business of the firm. It has been alleged that one of the members of the firm was a member of the House of Commons. This allegation, if it were true, would be immaterial; but Her Majesty's government has been informed and believes that it was not true, and that Mr. John Laird, who was member of Parliament for Birkenhead, and had formerly been a partner in the business, had ceased to be so before the building of the Alabama. The vessel appears to have been completed by the builders for delivery in the port of Liverpool, and to have been delivered accordingly; and Her Majesty's government sees no reason to doubt that the building and delivery of the vessel were, so far as the builders were concerned, transactions in the ordinary course [118] *of their business, though they probably knew, and did not disclose, the employment for which she was intended by the person or persons to whose order she had been built. The general construction of the vessel was such as to make it apparent that she was intended for war and not for commerce. The attention of Mr. Dudley had been called to this vessel in November, 1861, by his predecessor in office. The attention of Her Britannic Majesty's government was for the first time directed to her by Mr. Adams, in a note received on the 24th of June, 1862. Mr. Adams's communication was referred immediately to the law-officers of the Crown. Inquiries were directed to be forthwith instituted at Liverpool, and such inquiries were instituted and prosecuted accordingly. Mr. Adams was at the same time requested to instruct the United States consul at Liverpool to submit such evidence as he might possess, tending to show that his suspicions as to the destination of the vessel were well founded, to the collector of customs at that port. In order to enable Her Majesty's government to justify and support a seizure of the vessel, it was necessary that the government should have reasonable evidence, not only that she had been or was being equipped, armed, or fitted out for war, but also that she was so equipped, armed, or fitted out with the intention that she should be used to cruise or commit hostilities against the United States. Admissible and material evidence, tending to prove the existence of such an unlawful intention, was for the first time obtained by the cus toms officers at Liverpool on the 21st July, 1862, and came into the possession of Her Majesty's government on the following day. This evidence, however, though admissible and material, was very scanty, consisting in reality of the testimony of one witness, who stated facts within his own knowledge, that of the other deponents being wholly or chiefly hearsay. Further testimony was obtained on the 23d July, and additional evidence on the 25th July. It was the right and duty of Her Majesty's government to inform its judgment as to the credibility and sufficiency of the evidence obtained as aforesaid, by consulting its official legal advisers. Nor can any reasonable time taken by the advisers of the government for deliberation, especially when additional materials were being daily received and sent to them, be a ground for imputing want of due diligence to Her Majesty's government. One of Her Majesty's ordinary legal advisers, the Queen's advocate, now deceased, was at that time seriously ill of a malady from which he never recovered, and this was mentioned at the time (on the 31st July, 1862) by Lord Russell to Mr. Adams, as a circumstance which had occasionnd some delay.1 All the evidence obtained as aforesaid was in fact referred by the government as soon as obtained, with the utmost expedition, to its legal advisers. The advisers of the government, on the 29th July, reported their opinion that the evidence was sufficient to justify a seizure of the vessel. On the day on which this opinion was given, and before it could be reported to the government, the Alabama put to sea. She had not been registered, and the application for a clearance, which is usual in the case of ships leaving port, had not been made, and the intention to carry her to sea was concealed by means of an artifice. The destination of the vessel, and the course which she would take after putting to sea, were entirely unknown, except to the persons immediately concerned in dispatching her. Orders for arresting her were, however, sent by the government to various places at which she might probably touch after leaving Liverpool, and to Nassau. The Alabama sailed from England wholly unarmed, and with a crew hired to work the ship and not enlisted for the confederate service. She 1Appendix, vol. 1, p. 249. received her armament at a distance of more than a thousand miles from England, and was armed for war, not within the dominions of Her Majesty, but either in Portuguese waters or on the high seas. The guns and ammunition which were put on board the Alabama off Terceira had been procured and exported from England in an ordinary merchant-steamer, which loaded them as cargo and sailed with a regular clearance for Nassau. The Alabama was commissioned by the government of the Confederate States, and commanded and officered by American citizens. Of the crew a considerable number were British subjects, who were induced by persuasion and promises of reward to take service in her while she was off Terceira. Others were American citizens, and the proportion which these bore to the rest increased during her cruise. After having been armed and commissioned as a ship of war of the Confederate States, the Alabama was admitted in that character into ports of all the countries visited by her, among which were several of the colonies of Great Britain. In these she was received on the same footing as elsewhere, without favor or partiality. No serious endeavor to capture the Alabama appears to have been made on the part of the Government of the United States. The [119] Tuscarora, which had been summoned by Mr. Adams to an Eng lish port in order to intercept her on her departure, failed to do so, apparently through the remissness of the Tuscarora's commander. During the whole cruise, which lasted nearly two years, and until she sailed from the port of Cherbourg to engage the Kearsarge, she was only encountered twice by United States ships; once in the Gulf of Mexico, when she voluntarily provoked an action and sunk her opponent, and a second time when she eluded the pursuit of the San Jacinto, at Martinique. Her Britannic Majesty's government cannot admit that, in respect of the Alabama, it is justly chargeable with any failure of international duty, for which reparation is due from Great Britain to the United States. 23 A [120] PART VII. STATEMENT OF FACTS RELATIVE TO THE GEORGIA. On the 8th April, 1863, Mr. Adams addressed to Earl Russell a note VIL- The respecting a steam-vessel, built in Dumbarton, in Scotland, and at first known as the Japan, but subsequently as the PART Georgia. Georgia. This vessel had put to sea six days before the date of Mr. Adams's note, and was at that date out of the Queen's dominions. No information whatever relating to her had previously reached Her Majesty's government. Mr. Adams's note was as follows:1 Mr. Adams to Earl Russell. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, MY LORD: From information received at this legation, which appears entitled to credit, I am compelled to the painful conclusion that a steam-vessel has just departed from the Clyde with the intent to depredate on the commerce of the people of the United States. She passed there under the name of the Japan, but is since believed to have assumed the name of the Virginia. Her immediate destination is the island of Alderney, where it is supposed she may yet be at this moment. A small steamer called the Alar, belonging to Newhaven, and commanded by Henry P. Maples, has been loaded with a large supply of guns, shells, shot, powder, &c., intended for the equipment of the Virginia, and is either on the way or has arrived there. It is further alleged that a considerable number of British subjects have been enlisted at Liverpool, and sent to serve on board this cruiser. Should it be yet in the power of Her Majesty's government to institute some inquiry into the nature of these proceedings, in season to establish their character if innocent, or to put a stop to them if criminal, I feel sure that it would be removing a heavy burden of anxiety from the minds of my countrymen in the United States. I pray, &c., CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. From dispatches addressed by Mr. Adams and Mr. Dudley to their own Government, it appears that the consuls of the United States at Glasgow and Liverpool, and Mr. Adams himself, had for a long time been in possession of information respecting this vessel, and that she had long been an object of suspicion to them. Mr. Adams, on the 9th April, 1863, wrote as follows to Mr. Seward: Lastly, comes the case of the Japan, alias the Virginia. I have been long in the possession of information about the construction and outfit of that vessel on the Clyde, but nothing has ever been furnished to me of a nature to base proceedings upon. Learning, however, that she had gone to the island of Alderney to take her armament there, I made up my mind to send notice of it to the British government, and leave it to them to act in the case as they might think fit. Mr. Dudley, on the 3d April, had written as follows to Mr. Seward: Mr. Underwood, our consul at Glasgow, has no doubt informed you about the steamer now called the Japan, formerly the Virginia, which is about to clear from this port for the East Indies. Some seventy or eighty men, twice the number that would be required for any legitimate voyage, were shipped at Liverpool for this vessel, and sent to Greenock on Monday evening last. They are shipped for a voyage of three years. My 1Appendix, vol. i, p. 399. belief is that she belongs to the confederates, and is to be converted into a privateer; quite likely to cruise in the East Indies, as Mr. Young, the paymaster from the Alabama, tells me it has always been a favorite idea of Mr. Mallory, the secretary of the confederate navy, to send a privateer in these waters. I sent a man from here to Glasgow to accompany these men, to endeavor to find out the destination of the vessel, &c. He has not been successful yet in his efforts. He has been on board, and writes that she has no armament, and he is still there watching her. No communication respecting this vessel was made to Her Majesty's government until the 8th April, six days after her departure from British waters. The receipt of Mr. Adams's note of the 8th April was unofficially acknowledged by Mr. Hammond, one of the under-secretaries of state for foreign affairs, as follows:1 [Private.] Mr. Hammond to Mr. Adams. FOREIGN OFFICE, April 8, 1863. MY DEAR SIR: I found your immediate letter on my arrival at the office at 12.45, aud as your mail goes, I believe, to-day, you may like to know at once that within [121] half an hour of that time it was sent to the "home office, within whose particular jurisdiction are the Channel Islands. A copy will also be sent to the treasury as soon as it can be made. You shall have an official acknowledgment of your letter as soon as I can get Lord Russell's signature, but he is out of town. Very faithfully, &c., (Signed) E. HAMMOND. Copies of Mr. Adams's note were, on the same day, sent to the home office and the treasury, and those departments were requested to adopt, without delay, the measures most suitable for ascertaining the correctness of the report, and, if it should prove to be well founded, then to take the most effectual measures allowed by law for defeating the alleged attempt to fit out a belligerent vessel from a British port, and for bringing to justice all persons connected with the vessel who might have rendered themselves amenable to the law. In pursuance of this request, the following letter was addressed by the under-secretary of state for the home department to the lieutenantgovernor of Guernsey:2 Mr. Waddington to Major-General Slade. WHITEHALL, April 8, 1863. SIR: I am directed by Sir George Grey to transmit to you herewith, as received through the foreign office, a copy of a letter from the United States minister at this court, respecting a steam-vessel named either the Japan or the Virginia, reported to have left the Clyde for Alderney, where she is to receive on board an armament conveyed to that island by a small steamer, the Alar, belonging to Newhaven, and is to be eventually employed in hostilities against the United States; and I am to request that you will make immediate inquiry into the truth of the allegations contained in that communication. I have to call your attention to the statute 59 Geo. III, cap. 69. Section 7 appears to be applicable to this case, if the information which has been given to the minister of the United States of America should turn out to be correct. In that case the law officers of the Crown should be instructed to take without delay the proper proceedings authorized by the law of Alderney, to enforce the provisions of the act in question, and the officers of customs may be called upon to assist, if necessary. Sir George Grey will be glad to be informed of the result of the inquiry, and of any steps that may be taken in consequence. I have, &c., (Signed) H. WADDINGTON. The lieutenant-governor, on receiving these instructions, desired 1 Appendix, vol. i, p. 399. 2 Ibid., p. 401. |