Mr. Lindsay.
M. P., on the American War.
We find the following report of
Mr. Lindsay's speech to his English constituents, in the Liverpool Post, which, we are sure, will be read with interest:
Mr. Lindsay gave a long account of the visit he recently made to the
United States, with the view of inducing our cousins across the water to adopt several reforms of vast importance to the shipping interests of both nations.
He said the
Government then of
America and those who were now in office — at least the
Vice-President of the
United States of America--all but admitted that, upon principles of justice towards
England, and for their own interest, they would be bound to open, at least to the ship owners of
England, the trade between the eastern and western ports, and throw open the whole of the trade upon the lakes.
In regard to the other questions, he heartily and warmly concurred with him; and he agreed with the
Government of the day, even to the very clauses of the
Convention.
He was happy to tell them that our own Government had taken into consideration those questions; and he might be permitted to say that the
Government of
England had entirely approved of the clauses of the convention which he proposed to the
United States of America.
They had hardly even altered a word of the first draught of that convention.
Why it was not ratified, every one knew.
Immediately after he left the States that unfortunate recession movement took place.
But he did not doubt, when those troubles were settled — which he hoped they might be-- that thatconvention would be signed between the two countries.
Speaking of the civil war, he said that in traveling through the States of
America he save that separation was a mere question of time. It was clear to his own mind that, however well a republican form of government might answer a limited number of people, and in limited territories, yet, when a nation amounted to a wards of 30,000,000, and spread over thousands of miles, consisting of 33 different States each in itself a sovereign State, with a separate Legislature, with interests opposed to each other, with feelings different in many respects — however well a republican government might answer on a limited scale, it was impossible to govern a vast tract of country such as that — a mighty mass of people, by that form of government.
In the present struggle, our policy, he thought, ought to be one of strict non-intervention; but, as
Lord John Russell had made one step by acknowledging the Southern Confederacy as belligerents, he felt that when the proper time arrived, it would be desirable that he should take another step in advance,
and acknowledge the Southern Confederacy as an independent power. It must come to that in time; and he thought that if
England and
France, at the proper time, acknowledged the Southern Confederacy as an independent power, it might stay
this cry for vengeance which, he was sorry to see, came from the North against the South.It might stay that desire to march those armies into the
Southern States for the purpose of subduing those States.
It might tend to save much bloodshed, and it would be adopting a course which would he of great benefit to the people of
England and to the people of
America themselves.
Many excellent friends he had were in the
Northern States; but he was bound to state
that the system of taxation which they had long carried out had been a system of great injustice to the people of the Southern States of America.Now when they looked to the exports of
America, and where those exports came from, they would not be surprised at the
Southern States resisting what they thought to be a pressure.
Last year the exports from the
United States amounted to 350,000,000, in round numbers of dollars.
It they analyzed that, they would find that out of those 350,000,000 of dollars, 250,000 consisted of the produce and manufacturers of the
South.
He learned from high authority that the
Southern States could turn out an army of close upon a million of men, well trained in arms.
Their whole policy seemed to be to stand on the defensive.
He had reason to believe that they never had, and had not now, the remotest idea of attacking Washingtons; but they would defend, he believed, their States and their homes to the very utmost.
He deposed the course which had been adopted by the
Southern States of issuing letters of marque, because he feared that these letters of marque would set loose upon the occan men of the worst description, and he feared that those men would be something worse than privateers — that, when opportunity suited, they would be little better than pirates, and that they would not pay that respect which ought to be paid to the neutral flag, or to the lives which ought to be protected under that flag when there was a large amount of sport to be obtained, (hear, hear.) With regard to a blockade, he need not state that that blockade must be an effective one before we could respect it; and he did not see how they could maintain an effective blockade along that vast line of coast — But while the blockade was maintained even at the principal ports it must be a matter of serious loss to the shipowners and merchants of
England.
