ALABAMA CLAIMS. IT 



Britain in this perilous controversy ^vith tlie United 

 States, Imve ever Ijeenjiunislicd in any way. Indiet- 



Ibrxt the delay -w.-xs caused by tlic insanity of Sir .T. Harding, 

 xchich vuulc it necessary to call in other parties. "Wliat oilier 

 parties? Why, Ibrsooth, ibc other two "Law OlVicers of the 

 Crown" dis<;uised by Lord Itussell under the designation 

 "other parties." l>ut Sir K. I'abner .issures us that the pa- 

 pers [if, indeed, they were sent at all] must have been sent 

 originally "to the Law Ofiiccrs, i.e.^all three Law Ollicers." 

 Lord liussell therefore liad no more right to impute the delay 

 to Sir J, ITarding than to Sir AV. Atherton ; for, even to this 

 day, Sir K. I'almer can not say to which of the two, if to ci- 

 ther, the delay is imputable. And yet Lord Kussell implies 

 that the delay was occasioned by the insanity of Sir J. Har- 

 ding, while neither lie nor Sir K.l'almer ventures to aflirm that 

 the pajjcrs were ever sent to Sir J. Harding. 



In view of all these imperfect and irreconcilable statements, 

 the presumption remains that some person in the Government 

 had the means of traversing its intention, and withholding 

 these papers from all the three Law Oihccrs until the Alaha- 

 ma was ready to sail. I do not say Lord HusscU was that 

 person; but I think ho knows who it was; and if he desires to 

 vindicate his honor, of which he and the Chief Justice say so 

 much, he will best do it, not by "sneers" at tlio Americ.an 

 Counsel, but by disclosing the name of the person in the For- 

 eign Office who thus betrayed and dishonored the Govern- 

 ment. 



All questions depending on this incident arc ncnv termi- 

 nated. ]5>it the incident itself has permanent value as illus- 

 trating the weakness of the British Government on the side 

 of its'so-called "Law Officers,"— that is, busy members of the 

 Bar, distracted by their private practice, but in Avhose opin- 

 ions the Government lives and moves; who have "papers 

 sent" to them by the Government in cvei'y great emergency, 

 Avithout their being actual and ever present members of the 

 Government, like the "Law Officers" of the L'nited States. 

 Here, in the United States, as in the case of the Maimj, for 



