The Alabama Indemnity

The London Times contains a long article upon the settlement of the Akbama claims, rith which npon the whole it professos to be satislied. It will be remembered that the arbitrators originally awarded the Uuited States $15,500,000, as a settlement of these claims, aud that the oommïesionere to make the awards havj distributeJ abont 810,000,000, leaving a surplus of 45,500,000, upon whieli there is no individual olaim that ia allownble. At first it wonld appear that thf re. is a discrepaney, and tbat Great Britain had paid $5,500,000 more thaii is necessary to satisfy the ckiiaa. Tho Timen, J'Owcver, poiuts out to it8 readers the vjry natural distinction that, while the arbitratora sidered the responsibility of Great Biiiaia witli referonco to a":f the cruisers j wbich had coinmiitoii depredations and j thj direct destructiou of property ; sioned by them, the comoihsioners have ! hid to decide hov ar individuáis were j damaged, and to admit claims only so fnr as ihey could bo enbstantiated. Af tor the lapee of yonrs, it hsa been difBcult sometimes to trac? the various persons intorested in tho ownership of vessels.] Where the vpsscI was fnlly insured, the ; owners joceivod tlifeir oouopeusation and the underwritors alao received theirs, as they insivred at war risks - in fact, íasured themselves for high premiums against the very losses which occurred. Thus, althongh the commissioners may not sneceed in distributing the whole of the award, it was just for tke arbitrators to award the amount thoy did, since in a certain manner the whole people of the