cite coal for foreign ports, nor for home ports south of Delaware Bay, Chap. XII. till otherwise instructed.' It was thereupon represented to the President that this order was unnecessarily stringent and severe upon general commerce, because it prohibited the exportation of coal to ports situated so far from the haunts and harbours of the pirates that the article would not bear the expense of transportation to such haunts and harbours; and therefore the Secretary of the Treasury, by the President's authority, on the 18th of May issued a new instruction on the same subject to the Collectors of the Customs, which was of the effect following:-The instructions of the 14th ultimo concerning the prohibition of the exportation of coal are so modified as to apply only to ports north of Cape St. Roque, on the eastern coast of South America, and west of the fifteenth degree of longitude east. Coal may be cleared to other foreign ports as before until further directed.

"The subject of supplies of coal and other merchandize in the meantime having engaged the attention of Congress with the result of the passage of the law before-mentioned, the Secretary of the Treasury, on the 23rd of May last, and as speedily as possible after the approval of the law, issued the following instructions to the Collectors of the Customs of the United States:- Until further instructed you will regard as contraband of war the following articles, viz., cannons, mortars, fire-arms, pistols, bombs, grenades, firelocks, flints, matches, powder, saltpetre, balls, bullets, pikes, swords, sulphur, helmets or boarding caps, sword-belts, saddles and bridles, always excepting the quantity of the said articles which may be necessary for the defence of the ship and of those who compose the crew, cartridge bag material, percussion and other caps, clothing adapted for uniforms, rosin, sailcloth of all kinds, hemp and cordage, masts, ship-timber, tar and pitch, ardent spirits, military persons in the service of the enemy, despatches of the enemy, and articles of like character with those specially enumerated.

"You will also refuse clearances to all vessels which, whatever the ostensible destination, are believed by you, on satisfactory grounds, to be intended for ports or places in possession or under the control of insurgents against the United States, or that there is imminent danger that the goods, wares, or merchandize, of whatsoever description, will fall into the possession or under the control of such insurgents. And in all cases where, in your judgment, there is ground for apprehension that any goods, wares, or merchandize shipped at your port will be used in any way for the aid of the insurgents or the insurrection, you will require substantial security to be given that such goods, wares, or merchandize shall not in any way to be used to give aid or comfort to such insurgents.

"You will be especially careful, upon applications for clearances, to require bonds, with sufficient sureties, for fulfilling faithfully all the conditions imposed by law or departmental regulations, from shippers of the following articles to the ports opened, or to any other ports from

Chap. XII. which they may easily be, and are probably intended to be, re-shipped in aid of the existing insurrection, namely, liquors of all kinds, coals, iron, lead, copper, tin, brass, telegraphic instruments, wire, porous cups, platina, sulphuric acid, zinc and all other telegraphic materials, marine engines, screw propellers, paddle-wheels, cylinders, cranks, shafts, boilers, tubes for boilers, fire-bars, and every article whatsoever which is, can, or may become applicable for the manufacture of marine machinery or for the armour of vessels.'"1

Under these instructions several vessels bound from New York to Nassau were refused a clearance, and the masters of others were informed that they could only be permitted to sail on giving security, according to the terms of the Act of Congress, that their cargoes should not be shipped, after arriving at Nassau, to any place in the Confederate States, or otherwise disposed of "to the aid and comfort" of the insurgents.

These measures were loudly complained of by the Nassau merchants. They had been in the habit, they said, both of importing largely provisions and manufactured articles from the United States, and of having the commodities which they ordered in England sent by the /Cunard steamers to New York, and thence re-shipped to Nassau; these commodities were wanted in the colony, and the detention of them was creating serious loss and inconvenience. Some declared that they had never run the blockade, nor shipped cargoes to any Southern State, and had no intention of doing either of these things. Others insisted that they had a right, as neutrals, to trade with either belligerent; and all contended that, when goods were sold in an open market, the vendor could not reasonably be held answerable for their ultimate destination.

These remonstrances were supported by the British Government, and a discussion arose, which was proIt was admitted, on the

tracted through many months.

part of Great Britain, that a belligerent Power has a

1 Mr. Seward to Mr. Stuart, 3rd October, 1862.

2 From July 1862 to July 1863.

THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT REMONSTRATES.

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right to protect itself within its own territory by refusing Chap. XII. ✓ clearances to vessels laden with contraband of war or other specified articles, as well as to vessels which are believed to be bound to the ports of an enemy; and that, so long as such precautions are adopted equally and indifferently in all cases without reference to the nationality or origin of particular vessels or goods, they do not afford any just ground of complaint. But the refusal of clearances to vessels laden with ordinary merchandize could not be justified on the mere assumption or surmise that there was danger of the goods coming into the possession of the insurgents, unless indeed there were reasonable ground for alleging and believing that some Confederate port was the true destination of the vessels or of their cargoes. Earl Russell pointed out that under a pretext so vague and indefinite the most arbitrary restrictions might be imposed on British trade :

"With reference to the measures that appear to have been taken by the United States' Government as to the trade with the Bahama Islands, Her Majesty's Government consider that a distinction ought to be made between shipments of coal and other articles ancipitis usus, the export of which may have been prohibited as contraband by general orders of the United States' Government to any places within geographical limits, and shipments to the Bahamas or any other part of the British dominions, of provisions and other articles of innocent use not prohibited or made contraband by any such general order. The prohibition of the former class of shipments is public and general, and it falls equally upon the shipping and commerce of all nations, and may be justified on the ground of the exigencies of a belligerent.

"But Her Majesty's Government cannot so regard the interference of the New York Custom-house with the ordinary exports to the Bahamas of dry goods, plain and printed cotton fabrics, &c., shoes, medical drugs, flour, and provisions. Trade between the United States and the Bahamas is regulated by the Treaty of 1815 between the United States and Great Britain, the stipulations of that Treaty having being extended to the Bahamas in 1830 by the mutual acts of both Governments. By the Proclamation of President Jackson,

1 The Articles in the Treaty bearing on the question are as follows:

"Article I. There shall be between the territories of the United

Chap. XII. dated the 5th of October, 1830, pursuant to the Act of Congress of the 29th of May, 1830, it was expressly declared to be lawful for British vessels from the Bahamas to import into the United States, and to export therefrom, any articles which might be imported or exported in vessels of the United States. This engagement is still in force, and any prohibition of or interference with exports of ordinary commodities, not contraband of war, from New York to the Bahamas in British vessels is plainly inconsistent with that engage

ment.

"Her Majesty's Government cannot, therefore, in the absence of any evidence that the articles in question were destined for the so-styled Confederate States, pass unnoticed the general restriction which has been imposed on their export from New York to the Bahamas, and I have accordingly to instruct you to address a representation on the subject to Mr. Seward." 1

States of America and all the territories of His Britannic Majesty in Europe a reciprocal liberty of commerce. The inhabitants of the two countries respectively shall have liberty freely and securely to come with their ships and cargoes to all such places, ports, and rivers in the territories aforesaid to which other foreigners are permitted to come, to enter into the same, and to remain and reside in any parts of the said territories respectively; also to hire and occupy houses and warehouses for the purposes of their commerce, and, generally, the merchants and traders of each nation respectively shall enjoy the most complete protection and security for their commerce, but subject always to the laws and statutes of the two countries respectively.

"Article II. No higher or other duty shall be imposed on the importation into the United States of any articles the growth, produce, or manufacture of His Britannic Majesty's territories in Europe, and no higher or other duties shall be imposed on the importation into the territories of His Britannic Majesty in Europe of any articles the growth, produce, or manufacture of the United States, than are or shall be payable on the like articles being the growth, produce, or manufacture of any other foreign country; nor shall any higher or other duties or charges be imposed in either of the two countries on the exportation of any articles to the United States or to His Britannic Majesty's territories in Europe respectively than such as are payable on the exportation of the like articles to any foreign country; nor shall any prohibition be imposed on the exportation or importation of any articles the growth, produce, or manufacture of the United States or of His Britannic Majesty's territories in Europe, to or from the said territories of His Britannic Majesty in Europe or to or from the said United States, which shall not equally extend to all other nations."

1 Earl Russell to Mr. Stuart, 18th July, 1862.

"Great Britain has declared her neutrality in the contest now Chap. XII. raging between the United States' Government and the so-styled Confederate States. She is consequently entitled to the rights of neutrals, and to insist that her commerce shall not be interrupted, except upon the principles which ordinarily apply to neutrals. These principles authorize nothing more than the maintenance of a strict and actual blockade of the enemy's ports by such force as shall at the least make it evidently dangerous to attempt to enter them. But the fact of a neutral ship having succeeded in evading a blockade affords no ground for international complaint, nor is it an offence which can be punished upon any subsequent seizure of the ship after she shall have successfully run the blockade. Her Majesty's Government consider that it would be introducing a novel and a dangerous principle in the law of nations, if belligerents, instead of maintaining an effectual blockade, were to be allowed, upon mere suspicion or belief, well or ill-founded, that certain merchandize could ultimately find its way into the enemy's country, to cut off all or any commerce between their commercial allies and themselves. This would be to substitute for the effectual blockade recognized by the law of nations a comparatively cheap and easy method of interrupting the trade of neutrals. But when this illegal substitute for such a blockade is applied to a particular nation on account of the geographical position of its territories or for other reasons, while the same ports of the belligerents are open for like exports by other nations, the case assumes a still graver complexion."

On the part of the United States it was insisted in reply that neither the Act of Congress nor the instructions of the Treasury Department were liable to the objections urged against them. They do not expressly, or by any implication, discriminate against Great Britain, her colonies or dependencies, and in favour of any other nation, or even of the United States. They do not discriminate between British ports, British merchants, British vessels, or British merchandize, and the ports, merchandize, and vessels of the United States, or those of any other nation." There had been no prohibition of any article the growth, produce, or manufacture of the United States, or of Her Britannic Majesty's territories in Europe, within the meaning of the second Article of the Treaty :

1 Draft Note to be addressed to Mr. Seward, September, 1862.

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