In the autumn of 1862, Gladstone, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, opened a cabinet debate on whether Britain should intervene. Gladstone had a favourable image of the Confederacy, and indeed of slavery (his family wealth depended on slavery in the West Indies). He emphasized the humanitarian intervention to stop the staggering death toll, risk of a race war, and failure of the Union to achieve decisive military results, but Prime Minister Palmerston had other concerns at the same time, including a crisis connected with the overthrow of the Greek king, which put the Eastern Question in play. The Cabinet decided that the American situation was less urgent than the need to contain Russian expansion, so it rejected Gladstone's suggestions.