A speech from the builder of the Confederate Privateers.
--In the
Music Hall at Birken head,
England, on the night of the 24th ult.,
Mr. Laird, M. P., made a speech with reference to the detention of the Confederate rams.
He is the father of the builders, and is connected with them in business:
‘
He then referred to the speech delivered within the last few days by
Mr. Cobden, in which that gentleman had been pleased to make use of some complimentary terms about the late firm at
Birkenhead.
He did not agree with all the remarks of
Mr. Cobden, that Government vessels should be constructed by private builders.
On the contrary, he thought it was desirable that the
Government should have a portion of the work done at private establishments, so that in case of war they would not only have the dockyards to fall back upon, but the resources of the private yards.--[Hear, hear.] He urged that both in engineering and shipbuilding, as well as in other matters, competition was beneficial, and brought-out the event and ability of the competitors.
In support of this view he referred to two ships which had been built in this neighborhood — the
Alabama and the
Florida.
[Applause.]
’
He was not afraid or ashamed to own
that his sons built and designed the Alabama-- ["Hear," and cheers]--nor, he was sure, was the builder of the
Florida ashamed to say that he designed and built that ship; but the testimony borne to the character of these vessels was not the testimony of
Birkenhead, or
Liverpool, or this country, but of
America.
These two vessels had been built a long time, and they had defied the efforts of four hundred ships of-war to capture them.
These ships, he repeated, were designed by private individuals and built for private individuals; but in this country the system was for one man to carry the brains of the whole talent for building ships.
He next referred to the want of sufficient dock space for Government purposes.
Referring again to the
Alabama, he contradicted various statements which had been made about her departure from this port, said that she was lying in the dock ready for sea for some time, and was visited by numbers of curious people; that she went into the river in the night, but stopped there until eleven or twelve o'clock the following day. Lord Palmerston had expressed his doubts whether the
Government would not have rendered itself liable to damages if they had seized the
Alabama, but the recent speech by Earl Russell at
Blairgowrie did not seem to agree with that delivered by the Premier.
Earl Russell had undertaken to say something which he would not be able to carry out. He laid it down that if they found the law not sufficient they would go to Parliament for an indemnity.
He (
Mr. Laird) believed Parliament would not indemnify to act if it was supposed, to transgress the law. [Cheers.] Up to the time an act of indemnity was passed there was a law by which all were bound.
Laws were not made for an Administration, but for the country, and they were bound to obey the law as they, found it, and they were not bound to obey laws made hereafter.
[Hear, hear, and applause.]
Mr. Laird concluded by alluding to the speech recently made by
Sir Roundel Palmer,
Attorney General, pointing out the inconsistency of that gentleman contradicting in October statements which were made by himself in March last.
