Punch (63.1872)

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VOLUME LXIII.-JULY TO DECEMBER, 1872.

THE GLADSTONE CABINET.—1872.

First Lord of the Treasury........ Right Hok. W. E. Gladstone.

Lord Chancellor......... Lord Hatherley (succeeded by Lord Selborne).

Chancellor of the Exchequer . . . . ... Right Hon. R. Lowe.

Lord President of the Council . . . . . Marquis of Eipon, K. G. (formerly Earl de Grey and Ripon).

Lord Privy Seal.......... Viscount Halifax.

Home Office.......... Right Hon. H. A. Bruce (now Lord Aberdare).

Foreign Office.......... Earl Granville, K. G.

Colonial Office......... Earl of Kimberley.

"War Secretary.......... Right Hon. E. (now Viscount) Cardwell.

Indian Secretary......... Duke of Argyll, K.T.

Admiralty.......... Right Hon. G. J. Goschen.

President of the Board of Trade...... Eight Hon. Chichester Fortescue (now Lord Carlingford).

President of the Poor Law Board...... Right Hon. James Stansfeld.

Vice-President of the Committee of Council on Education . Right Hon. W. E. Forster.

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster..... Right Hon. Hugh C. E. Chillers.

Chief Secretary for Ireland....... Marquis of Hartington.

POLITICAL

THE Eoyal Speech, on the prorogation of Parliament,
referred to the satisfactory result of the controversy
between England and the United States, which had arisen
out of the Treaty of AVashington. This reference is explained
by the rejection, by the Court of Arbitrators, which assem-
bled at Geneva, of what were known as the "indirect"
Claims for compensation put forth by America (see " Intro-
duction " to the last Volume), and their consequent abandon-
ment by the Government of that country. The decision
of the Court as to the direct claims, which both Great
Britain and the United States had agreed should be re-
ferred to it for final settlement, was not given until the
14th of September; and as the award aroused great public
interest, and is a prominent topic in the volume now under
consideration, it seems to call for particular notice. The
following extract, from Irving's Annals of our Time,
will supply the necessary details :—

"The Geneva Court of Ai-bitration issued an Award, unanimously
finding Great Britain liable for the acts committed by the Alabama;
by a majority of the Italian, Swiss, Brazilian, and United States
arbitrators against the arbitrator appointed by Great Britain, they
found Great Britain liable for the acts committed by the Florida,; and
by a majority of the Italian, Swiss, and United States arbitrators against
the arbitrators appointed by Great Britain and Brazil, they found Great
Britain liable for the acts committed by the Shenandoah after leaving
Melbourne. They unanimously decided that in the cases in which Great
Britain was held responsible, the acts of the tenders should be considered
to follow the judgment given in regard to the cruisers to which they were
attached. They decided that Great Britain was not responsible for the
acts committed by the Georgia, or by any of the other Confederate
cruisers, except the three above named. They rejected altogether the
claim of the United States Government for expenditure incurred in pur-
suit and capture of the cruisers. They decided that interest should be
allowed, and awarded a gross sum of 15,500,000 dollars in gold (about
£3,229,166 13s. id.) in satisfaction and final settlement of all claims
including interest. The amount of the claims preferred before the
Tribunal, as appears from the Revised Statement of Claims presented

SUMMARY.

j on the part of the United States in April last, was 19,739,095 dollars in
j gold, to which was added a claim for expenses of pursuit and capture, to
tbe amount of 7,080,478 dollars, with interest, at 7 per cent, on the whole
amount for about ten years, or, in all, 45,500,000 dollars in gold (or about
£9,479,166 13s. id.). This Avrard was signed by all the arbitrators, except
Sir A. Coukbubn."

The reasons of the Arbitrator appointed by England,
Lord Chief Justice Cockburn, for dissenting from tbe
Award of the Court were subsequently published, and
showed that he concurred with his colleagues as to the
Alabama, though not for the same reasons, but that
he protested against the allowance of interest, and its
amount.

We now turn to another, and more agreeable topic, in
which America was also concerned—the arrival in England,
in August, of Mr, Henry M. Stanley, who had been sent
out by Mr. Bennett of the New York Herald to search for
Dr. Livingstone in Africa, and whose search had proved
entirely successful. Mr. Stanley, who brought with him
despatches, letters, and journals from Dr. Livingstone,
reached England in time to deliver an account of his travels
before the British Association at Brighton. His services were
acknowledged by this country with marks of public ap-
proval, notably by the Eoyal Geographical Society, who
entertained him at a banquet, and presented him with
their Victoria Medal; and he was honoured with a letter
of thanks, and gift of a snuff-box from the Queen, with
whom he had a personal interview, when Her Majesty
was on a visit to the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland,
at Dunrobin Castle. Mr. Stanley found Dr. Living-
stone on the 10th of November, 1871, at Ujiji, the Arab
Trade Dep6t, on Lake Tanganyika ; and the details of
their meeting, extracted from a summary of Mb. Stanley's