The Government has published a mass of correspondence between Earl
Russell and Mr. Adams in the matter of the Alabama. The drift of the whole is a demand put forward by the United States that Great Britain shall compensate all American owners who may be losers by the Alabama, that vessel being built by British ship- wrights, and manned by British sailors, and therefore a British ship. The absurdity of the demand may be demonstrated in three lines. The Alabama is either a man-of-war or a pirate. If a man- of-war we have nothing to do with paying the value of her cap- tures, though the South may have ; if a pirate, we are no more responsible for her than for any other pirate which may happen to have English sailors on board. Let the American Government catch her and hang her crew, as we shall do if she touches British ships. Earl Russell replies that he can see no prima facie ground even for arbitration, and declines absolutely throughout to acknow- ledge any responsibility. The tone throughout is moderate except in one despatch of Mr. Seward's, in which he threatens to seize the Alabama in British ports, a despatch which Mr. Adams very wisely did not present. It was probably produced for home con- sumption only—the kind of " dodge" which Mr. Seward so often mistakes for statesmanship.
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