government of the opposite party-has a constitutional right to choose either of the two alternatives, resignation or dissolution. Moreover, those who began the unfinished work of reform should finish it; and therefore, argued the official party, let other questions stand over, leave us in peace to finish the reform measures, help us to acquit ourselves of the task quickly, and then we will dissolve as soon as you like; we will have the election in October or November if possible. In these views many of the soundest and most advanced liberals heartily concurred; but it is understood that Mr. Gladstone was advised by those immediately around him to persevere with his Irish bill. It was then resolved by the government to take the opinion of the house upon another subject, and if successful on that, to let the Irish question pass, not without resistance, but without making it a question on which the cabinet should stake its strength. The liberals exclaimed against the "unconstitutional" idea that a defeated government, convicted of having no majority in the representative chamber, could continue in office. But two influences imposed some check upon the more impatient liberals: the growing dissent of the most advanced and intelligent of their statesmen from a factious fight, and the fear of a dissolution, which probably would not have increased the liberal majority with the present constituency. The measure chosen by the government for a trial of strength was the boundary bill, to which several boroughs took strong objections. The most obvious were, that the boundaries of the towns were often fixed arbitrarily, and not in accordance with the municipal boundaries; and that in some cases districts which would yield new liberal electors to vote in counties where they might contribute gains to the liberal cause, were arbitrarily annexed to towns where they were not wanted; some towns being actually star-shaped on the new outline of their parliamentary bounds. The committee on the bill stood for the 12th of May, but the result was that no trial of strength took place. The influence among the liberals heretofore pointed out, gathered force so much that quiet counsels prevailed, and the government, on its part, made a marked concession by agreeing that the objections advanced by the several boroughs should be referred to a select committee. All parties agreed. The committee was ultimately appointed, the cabinet naming the members with scrupulous fairness as between the parties, with Mr. Walpole, a member of the boundaries commission, to connect the two inquiries, and it has been getting through its work in a very satisfactory manner.

Thus all seemed smooth, when another ministerial crisis unexpectedly occurred in the committee of the whole house on the Scotch reform bill. Mr. Baxter moved and carried an amendment to provide the seven additional members which were to be conceded to Scotland by disfranchising all English boroughs under a population of 5,000, and the amendment was not only carried, but accepted by the government. Then Mr. Bouverie struck out a proviso in clause three, which placed the actual payment of rates among the essential qualifications of the voter. Poor-rates are a novelty in Scotland, the poor-law having been introduced so late as 1832," and not having yet been adopted by the whole country, though it is constantly extending, and Greenock is probably the sole electoral burgh still ignorant of poor-rates. Mr. Disraeli moved the adjournment of the debate till Monday, the 25th, and everybody understood that, whatever the Scotch members might say, he was resolved to abide by that principle of rating which he held to reconcile extended suffrage with respectability and therefore with conservatism.

The juncture found the position of parties in the main the same, and yet not without rather important differences. In the first place, speak

ing quite generally, the Scotch members formed no insignificant section of those liberals who were for leaving the present government undisturbed in order to get this very bill, and yet now those gentlemen were opposed to the cabinet. On the other hand, the influence against undue pressure on the government had gained ground to an unexpected degree. The ministers had avowed that, saving the principle by which they had elected to take their stand, they were willing to consult the wishes of Scotch members and the local feeling and usage north of the Tweed, in a manner the most frank and practical. The week passed in quiet, informal council meeting on both sides, with still more quiet and informal negotiations between the two sides. The tories foresaw a more than probable liberal increase under the new constituency, but they desired— especially their leader did, and his colleagues stood by him—to finish their own work with eclat and to retire with dignity. And if some of the liberals were impatient of office, or others merely intolerant of a tory administration, under the lead of so inconsistent a strategist as Mr. Disraeli, the section of the party to which reference has more than once been made, representing as it did the old "Peelites," the late government, and the most independent thinking statesmen, had acquired the mastery.

Mr. Gladstone had introduced his Irish bill without opposition; the second reading stood for Friday, the 22d instant; and independently of the fact that the second reading is usually accepted as determining the judgment of the house on the principle of a measure, additional importance was attached to the proceedings this time, from a belief, not without some warrant, that Mr. Gladstone intended to exact a pledge from the government that it would actually undertake to accept his bill so far as to support it in the House of Lords. That the government would refuse everybody knew, and hence there seemed the possibility of a third of those ministerial crises which Mr. Bright had already declared "too much for his nerves." Mr. Gladstone, however, made no such unparliamentary demand; the opposition of the government-so necessary for consistency, and so essential to the position of ministers in the House of Lords, where the progress of the bill will no doubt be arrested -was quietly tolerated by the liberals; and the measure passed that telling stage by 54, a majority less than those which had carried forward the resolutions.

The incident was a favorable prelude to the meeting of Scotch members on the 23d, which terminated in a resolve to meet the government in a compromise, the Scotch members agreeing to disfranchise all who are exempted from poor-rates on the score of poverty, and the government, it was understood, agreeing to allow the franchise where there might be persons qualified, although there should be no poor-rates yet established in the town. The actual agreement on a middle term, however, necessarily stood for the evening of the adjourned debate in committee.

I have said that the position is not so anomalous as it looks-that is, "constitutionally." In point of fact all parties seem now to be agreed that it will be best to finish the reform measure, and to leave any appeal by way of dissolution to the new constituencies. Thus the tory government, the government without a majority, is not allowed to "remain in power," as the phrase is; it is simply permitted to finish a particular task in which all parties are engaged, which they all wish to get finished without hinderance, and which must be got out of the way before an appeal to the new constituencies-created in England, but yet to be finished off in Ireland and Scotland-can be possible. The peculiar in

terruption in the progress of that necessarily complex and lengthened task occasions a situation wholly without precedent, but involving no political principle.

As before remarked, the question of the new Scotch constituencies may be regarded as practically settled. On Monday evening, the 25th instant, Mr. Baxter demanded for that kingdom the 10 members it is proposed to extract from the representation of England; but the gov ernment refused, and was sustained in this refusal by a majority of 39 votes in a tolerably large house. Last evening they obtained a still larger majority against Mr. Graham's amendment to divide Glasgow into three electoral districts. But they have yielded the promised seven, and thus succeeded in removing from serious controversy the Scotch part of their reform measures.

Next will come the Irish bill, but from present indications that will be carried in a form acceptable to both the ministry and the opposition. All, therefore, looks clear for an early closing session, it being now understood among members that the opposition have given up all present intention of displacing the ministry this year. They will, it is believed, go over to the new Parliament, indebted to the prime minister for secur ing by his tact a continuation of the leave and license of the opposition to finish the work in hand. The new elections will, in all probability, take place next spring, when will be made visible for the first time the constitution of the constituencies created by the reform measures passed in 1867 and 1868-measures characterized by Lord Derby, the prime minister under whom many of them were carried, as a "leap in the

dark."

I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,

Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD,

Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.

BENJAMIN MORAN.

Mr. Moran to Mr. Seward.

No. 42.]

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,
London, June 3, 1868.

SIR: Several of the London newspapers of last Monday contained the substance of the report of the royal commissioners appointed in January, 1867, to inquire into the character and working of what is known here as the foreign enlistment act; and yesterday the report itself, and its accompanying papers appeared in the form of a blue book. I have the honor to transmit four copies herewith, as well as copies of several of the most influential London journals, with remarks upon the amendments proposed by the commissioners. That some of these will be adopted by Parliament when the act comes up for alteration is tolerably certain. Mr. Vernon Harcourt, as you will perceive, dissents from certain of the recommendations of his fellow commissioners and gives his reasons in a rather lengthy paper.

The memorandum by Mr. Abbott of the foreign office on the neutrality laws of the United States goes somewhat into detail, but I have not yet had time to give it a careful examination or to form an opinion of its merits.

I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,

Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD,

Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.

BENJAMIN MORAN.

REPORT OF THE NEUTRALITY LAWS COMMISSIONERS, TOGETHER WITH AN APPENDIX CONTAINING REPORTS FROM FOREIGN STATES AND OTHER DOCUMENTS.

[Presented to both houses of Parliament by command of her Majesty.]

Commission.
Report.

CONTENTS.

Reasons given by Mr. Vernon Harcourt for dissenting from certain portions of the report.

Appendix:

I. British foreign enlistment act.

II. United States foreign enlistment act.

III. Historical memorandum, by Mr. Abbott.

IV. Reports from foreign States.

Proclamations, &c. issued by several foreign States on breaking out of the civil war in America.

V. British proclamations of neutrality.

VI. Regulations and instructions published by her Majesty's government during the civil war in America.

VII. Memorial from Liverpool shipowners suggesting an alteration in the foreign enlist

ment act.

COMMISSION.

Victoria, by the grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, defender of the faith.

To our right trusty and well-beloved Councillor Robert Monsey Baron Cranworth; our right trusty and well-beloved Richard Monckton Baron Houghton; our right trusty and well-beloved Councillor Sir Hugh McCalmont Cairns, knight, a judge of the court of appeal in chancery; our right trusty and well-beloved Councillor Stephen Lushington, doctor of civil law, judge of the high court of admiralty; our right trusty and wellbeloved Councillor Sir William Erle, knight; our trusty and well-beloved Sir George William Wilshere Bramwell, knight, one of the barons of the court of exchequer; our trusty and well-beloved Sir Robert Joseph Phillimore, knight, doctor of civil law; our advocate general; our trusty and well-beloved Sir Roundell Palmer, knight; our trusty and well-beloved Travers Twiss, doctor of civil law; our trusty and well-beloved William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt, esquire, one of our counsel learned in the law; our trusty and well-beloved Thomas Baring, esquire; our trusty and wellbeloved William Henry Gregory, esquire, and our trusty and well-beloved William Edward Forster, esquire, greeting:

Whereas we have deemed it expedient that a commission should forthwith issue to inquire into and consider the character, working, and effect of the laws of this realm, available for the enforcement of neutrality during the existence of hostilities between other States with whom we are at peace; and to inquire and report whether any and what changes ought to be made in such laws for the purpose of giving to them increased efficiency and bringing them into full conformity with our international obligations: Now know ye that we, reposing great trust and confidence in your knowledge and ability, have authorized and appointed, and do by these presents authorize and appoint you the said Robert Monsey Baron Cranworth, Richard Monckton Baron Houghton, Sir Hugh McCalmont Cairns, Stephen Lushington, Sir William Erle, Sir George William Wilshere Bramwell, Sir Robert Joseph Phillimore, Sir Roundell Palmer, Travers Twiss, William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt, Thomas Baring, William Henry Gregory, and William Edward Forster, to be our commissioners for the purposes afore

said.

And for the better effecting the purposes of this our commission, we do by these presents give and grant to you, or any five or more of you, full power and authority to call before you such persons as you shall judge likely to afford you any information apon the subject of this our commission, and also to call for, have access to, and examine all such books, documents, registers, and records as may afford the fullest information on the subject, and to inquire of and concerning the premises by all other lawful ways and means whatsoever.

And we do by these presents will and ordain that this our commission shall continue in full force and virtue, and that you our said commissioners, or any five or more of you, may from time to time proceed in the execution thereof, and of every matter and thing therein contained, although the same be not continued from time to time by adjournment.

And we do further ordain that you, or any five or more of you, may have liberty to report your proceedings under this commission from time to time, if you should judge it expedient so to do.

And our further will and pleasure is that you do, with as little delay as possible, report to us under your hands and seals, or under the hands and seals of any five or more of you, your opinion upon the several points herein submitted for your consideration.

And for your assistance in the due execution of this our commission, we have made choice of our trusty and well-beloved Francis Phipps Onslow, esquire, barrister-at-law, to be secretary to this our commission, and to attend you, whose services and assistance we require you to use from time to time as occasion may require.

Given at our court at St. James's the 30th day of January, 1867, in the 30th year of our reign.

By her Majesty's command.

REPORT.

S. H. WALPOLE.

To the Queen's most excellent Majesty :

We, your Majesty's commissioners, appointed "to inquire into and consider the character, working, and effect of the laws of this realm available for the enforcement of neutrality during the existence of hostilities between other states with whom your Majesty is at peace, and to inquire and report whether any and what changes ought to be made in such laws for the purpose of giving to them increased efficiency and bringing them into full conformity with your Majesty's international obligations," have now to state to your Majesty that we have held twenty-four meetings, and having inquired into and considered the subject so referred to us, have agreed to the following report: The statute now available for the enforcement of neutrality during the existence of hostilities between states with whom your Majesty is at peace is the 59 Geo. III, c. 69, commonly called the "foreign enlistment act." The title of that act is "An Act to prevent the enlisting or engagement of his Majesty's subjects to serve in foreign service, and the fitting out or equipping in his Majesty's dominions vessels for warlike purposes without his Majesty's license." And the preamble runs thus: "Whereas the enlistment or engagement of his Majesty's subjects to serve in war in foreign service without his Majesty's license, and the fitting out and equipping and arming of vessels by his Majesty's subjects without his Majesty's license for warlike operations in or against the dominions or territories of any foreign prince, state, potentate, or persons exercising or assuming to exercise the powers of government in or over any foreign country, colony, province, or part of any province, or against the ships, goods, or merchandise of any foreign prince, state, potentate, or persons as aforesaid, or other subjects, may be prejudicial to and tend to endanger the peace and welfare of this kingdom; and whereas the laws in force are not sufficiently effectual for preventing the same."

This, then, being the statute directly available in this country for the enforcement of neutrality, our duty has been to inquire and report whether it is susceptible of any and what amendments, and we are of opinion that it might be made more efficient by the enactment of provisions founded upon the following resolutions:

I. That it is expedient to amend the foreign enlistment act by adding to its provis ions a prohibition against the preparing or fitting out in any part of her Majesty's dominions of any naval or military expedition to proceed from thence against the ter ritory or dominions of any foreign state with whom her Majesty shall not then be

at war.

II. That the first paragraph of section seven of the foreign enlistment act should be amended to the following effect:

If any person shall within the limits of her Majesty's dominions

(a.) Fit out, arm, dispatch, or cause to be dispatched, any ship with intent or knowledge that the same shall or will be employed in the military or naval service of any foreign power in any war then being waged by such power against the subjects or property of any foreign belligerent power with whom her Majesty shall not then be

at war;

(b.) Ór shall within her Majesty's dominions build or equip any ship with the intent that the same shall, after being fitted out and armed either within or beyond her Majesty's dominions, be employed as aforesaid;

(c.) Or shall commence or attempt to do, or shall aid in doing, any of the acts aforesaid, every person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.

III. That in order to enable the executive government more effectually to restrain and prevent attempted offenses against section 7 of the foreign enlistment act, additional provisions to the following effect should be inserted in the statute:

(a.) That if a secretary of state shall be satisfied that there is a reasonable and