Mr. Adams to Mr.
Seward.
No. 392.]
Legation of the United States,
London,
April 24, 1863.
Sir: Her Majesty’s government does not seem yet
to be quite satisfied of the sincerity of my denials of the enlistment
of men in this kingdom under the
[Page 260]
authority of the United States. I transmit a copy of two more notes
which have passed on the subject.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.
Lord Russell to Mr. Adams.
Foreign Office,
April 16,
1863.
Sir: With reference to your letter of the
10th instant, in which you repeated the denial you had formerly made
of the truth of the report that men were being recruited in this
country for the United States army, I think it right to communicate
to you the substance of a report which has just been made to her
Majesty’s government with regard to the number of persons who are
now being shipped as emigrants from Queenstown for New York.
It is stated that within the last fortnight 1,278 emigrants have
sailed, the greater number being strong, active young men; that it
cannot be doubted that they are intended for the United States army,
and that, in fact, many of them do not deny it.
A certain number of these men were militiamen from Cork and its
vicinity, and they informed the emigration officer that they would
get from $250 to $300 bounty. It also, appears that the prospect of
this large bounty has been held out to young men, by general rumor,
throughout the country.
It is further stated that the friends of these persons in America are
paid so much for obtaining and bringing them out to New York.
I do not think it necessary to encumber this letter with further
statements of a more or less trustworthy character which have
reached her Majesty’s government corroborative of this asserted
recruiting of her Majesty’s subjects for service in the United
States army, and I shall therefore merely add that I am informed
that about 800 young men were booked to sail from Queenstown by the
steamer of the 9th instant, it being freely spoken of that all the
young men were going to join the northern army, and that although
the Inman Company have put on additional steamers, the number of
applicants for passage is so great that they cannot all be
accommodated, and that several hundreds are consequently left behind
each week.
I have the honor to be. with the highest consideration, sir, your
most obedient, humble servant,
Charles Francis Adams, Esq.
Mr. Adams to Lord Russell.
Legation of the United
States,
London,
April 18, 1863.
My Lord: I am very much obliged to you for
the courtesy extended to me in the communication of the substance of
a report which has been made to her Majesty’s government with regard
to the number of persons who are now being shipped as emigrants from
Queenstown.
The fact that a great many people, especially in Ireland, have been
anxious
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for some time past
to find their way to the United States, has been made known to me by
the frequent applications to this legation for free passage. A
considerable proportion of these contain offers to enlist in the
service of the government. No doubt they are more or less influenced
by the high bounties offered in America, accounts of which have been
from time to time published in the newspapers here. To all such
solicitations the answer given from here has been uniformly to the
effect that no authority has been given by the government to listen
to any proposals of the kind, or to make any engagements whatever.
Instructions have likewise been sent to the respective consuls who
have reported similar proposals to me to make the same answer. I
have no reason to believe that any American citizen in England
clothed with authority has ventured to act in any other way.
It is proper for me to add, in explanation of the emigration that is
taking place, that a gentleman of influence in America now in
London, who is in a situation to know, has lately informed me that
some of the great corporations for the extension of railways in the
western part of the United States having experienced inconvenience
from the liability of the laborers in their employ to be drafted for
the war, and apprehending more, are making efforts to procure large
supplies from other countries of aliens who are, from that
circumstance, exempted from the risk of being called into service.
It may well be that some of those who desire to get across the ocean
for the purpose of enlisting expect to take advantage of the
opportunity thus placed before them.
In addition to this, there is no doubt of the fact of a scarcity of
laborers in the United States. I learn from private sources that the
rate of wages is very much advanced.
I am led to believe that these causes, in addition to the alleged
distress of the population of Ireland, may explain the phenomena of
emigration to which your lordship has been pleased to draw my
attention.
I pray your lordship to accept the assurances, &c., &c.,
