The Sun.
London, England, 1858-06-01 00:00:00

THE RIGHT OF SEARCH.

We extract the following from a letter dated
Washington, May 17 :

The schooner Mobile, trading between Mobile
and New York under a coasting license, was on the
29th ult., when within about 30 miles of Key West,
fired into, brought to, boarded, and searched by a
Bi itish man-of-war. The story of the master of the
vessel—which alone has been made public up to
this time—is that about 3or 4 o'clock in the after-
noon, the wind blowing stiff, with a chopping sea,
he was overhauled by a bark-rigged steamer carry-
ing the English ensign; that when within hailing
distance they were saluted with musket shots at
men in the rigging, at which the foresail sheets
were hauled to windward, the wheel put down, and
the vessel hove to ; that after this more shots were
fired, at which the captain's daughter (of five years
of age) advised her father to get " one of Mr.
Hopkin's awful guns and kill 'em ;" and that than
a boat with six men and a lieutenant came along-
side, and the officer came cn board, when the f.. -
lowing conver,ation ensu:A :-
66 Where is this vessel from ?—Mobile.
" Where is she bouud ?--To New York.
" Where is she owned ? —she is owned in New York.
1, Why (lid you lire into us ? Did you think us a
slaver ? —No.

•
" Dolu, t you see a man-of-war to sviudvvkird?-llow
should I know you a-as a inau-of-war.
" Didn't you see our pennant t—l didn't see it ; and
besides, we very often see American and Spanish men-
o' war with their colons flying but tLey never interfere
with me. I "v. ° b 'ch going and down the gulf these
20 years, and thisis the drat time I was ever interfered
with.

~ What is the number of Your craw ? —Ten men ; and
I alio have one passenger, my wif.., and two chilli-en.
yd. I want tl see our iitiate."
They went to your
cabin, where the enrolment
and license were handed to the officer :-
11 Where is your register 1 You ought to have a re-
gister—Our coasting vessels do not have registers. They
sail under a coasting license. Hero is my clearance
from Mobile in regular f inn (handing the manifest,
which the officer examined.) ,
got through, ;
"Have you if you have I wish to pro-
ceed. It is very strange that y.to should commence
boarding vessels iu this way ? ___Wo have ordt re from our
Government to board every vessel eve
Lin in
with in
pa using up and down the gulf." ,
The officer Oen returned to his vessel and the
American schooner continued 011 her way to
Boston.
About the same time a Boston bound vessel was
boarded under similar circumstances,
and with a
similar claim of right, exercised) however, in a more
offensive way even than this is represented to have
been. These cases having created a
groat sensation
in the mercantile communities
of New York and
Boson, I thought that a few days
spent at the
capital would be a profitable investment of time. I
find that representations of the facts have already
been made to the Government,
and that inquiries
will be instituted at once. _ If there is any one
point upon which the whole American community
_
Hostile is united it is itl-regard-to the claim of the right of
search on the high seas. as the North is
to slavery, I do not think that it could ever be
.
brought to consent to yield this power, and any
Administration that would wink at it must
-in-
evitably be defeated. And I think that the
country is equally united against the supposed
power of visitation,• as distinguished from the
right of search. This was_ a subject of dis-
cussion between the late Ills. Webster and the
late Lord Ashburton—a discussion that was
terminat,,‘d, like most diplomatic discusiions, by a
compromise that left the original question entirely
out of view. In this way
squa theron, d Powers came to agree
upon a joint African leaving to each
nation the police of its own vessels. If these new
orders have been issued, and are attempted to be
inevitably lead to trouble.
enforced, they must
The coast, golf, and West India commerce of the
/ Eastern States and of New York is very large. The
tobacco, sugar, and tropical fruits of Cuba and the
other West India islands, and the cotton, sugar,
and rice of the Southern States, all find their way
to market by the coasting vessels. Au attempt to
enforce a police visitation upon this trade must
create serious inconvenience, and lay the founda-
tion for a great deal of trouble. The necessity of
referring these questions to London gives, how-
ever, plenty of time for cooling down and for tom-
pefate consideration of the matter.