The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-16 00:00:00

THE RIGHT OF SEARCH.

PROTEST OF GENERAL CASE AGAINST THE
DEMANDED CONCURRENCE OF THE
FRENCH GOVERNMENT IN THE TREATY
OF DECEMBER 20, 1841.
" Legation of the United States,
Paris, Feb. 13, 1842.
`.` Sir,:—The recent signature of a. treaty, having
for its object the suppression of the African slave
trade, by five of.the Powers of Europe, and to which
France is a party, is a fact of such general notoriety,
that it may be assumed as the basis of any diplo-
matic representations which the subject may fairly
require.
" The United States, being no party to this treaty,
have no right to inquire into the circumstances
which have .led to it, nor..into the measures it pro-
poses to adopt, except, so far as they have rea-
son to. believe that their rights may be involved
in the course of its execution. Their own desire to
put a stop to this traffic is everywhere known, as well
as the early and continued efforts they haVe adopted
to prevent their citizens from prosecuting. They
have been invited by the Government of Great Bri-
tain to become a party to a treaty which should regu-
late the action of the combined Governments upon
this subject; but for reasons satisfactory to them-
selves, and I believe satisfactory to the wmid, they
have declined this united action, and have chosen to
pursue their own measures, 'and to act upon their
own citizens only, without subjecting these to any
kind of foreign jurisdiction.
"In a communication .from. Lord Palmerston, her
Britannic Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs, to Mr. Stevenson, the Anierican
Minister at London, dated August 27, 1841, Lord
Palmerston claims a right for the British cruisers, and
avows the intention of his Government to exercise it,
to search American vessels at sea in time of peace,
with. a view to ascertain their national character. He
adds, that this examination of papers of merchantmen
suspected of being engagad in the slave trade, even
though they hoist an United States flag, is a proceed-
ing which it is absolutely necessary that British crui-
-sers, employed in the suppression of the slave trade,
should continue to practise,'. Sze.
" In a communication frc,m the successor of Lord
Palmerston, Lord Aberdeen, to Mr. Stevenson, dated
13th of October, 1841, .the views and determination
announced in the preceding letter are confirmed,,and
Lord Aberdeen thus states the ground upon which
rests this pretension to' search American vessels in
time of peace : But the undersigned must observe,
that the present happy•concurrence of the States of
Christendom in this great object (the suppression of
the slave trade) not merely justifies, but renders in-
dispenable, -the right now claimed and exercised by
the British Government,' that is to say, the _right
of entering and examining American vessels to ascer-
tain their true nationality.
"It is no part of my duty to offer any comments
upon this pretension, nor upon the reasons advanced
in support of it; and, if it were, I should find the duty
far better performed for me than I could perform it
for myself in the annual message of the President of
the L nited States to Congress of the 7th of December,
1841. In that document will be found the views of the
American Government upon this subject, and it is
there emphatically declared, that however desirous
the United States may be for the suppression of the
slave trade, they cannot consent to interpolations into
the. maritime code at the, mere will and pleasure, of-
ether Governments. We deny the right of any such in-
terpolation to any one, or all the nations of the earth,
without our consent. We claim to have a voice in all
amendments or alterations .of that code, and when' we
are given to understand, as in this instance, by aforeign
Government, that its treaties with other nations can-
not be executed without the establishment and enforce- I
meat of new principlesof
import maritimenpoorliscues,cetpothile)leal;;
plied without our consent,' •we must employ a lan-
guage
neither of equivocal
misconstruction.

" You will perceive, Sir, by these extracts, that the
British Government has advanced a pretension which
it asserts to be indispensable to the execution .of its
treaties for the suppression of the slave trade, and to
which the President of the United States has declared
that the American Government will not submit.
This claim of search, it will be observed, arising, as is
asserted, out of existing obligations, has relation to
the isolated treaties for the abolition of this traffic,
which were in force at the date of the communica-
tions of Lord Palmerston and Lord Aberdeen. It is
now known that the combined treaty upon this sub-
ject is more extensive in, its operations, and more mi-
nute in some of the details of its execution, than the
separate treaties with France, which, preceded it, and
equally indefinite in the duration of its obligations.
Of course, measures which were not only 'justifiable
but indispensable' for the execution of the latter will
find equal justice and necessity in the obligations of
the former.
" With this previous declaration made by one of
the parties to this quintuple treaty, concerning its
operations, the American Government cannot shut
their eyes to their true position. The moral effect
which such a union of five great Powers, two of
which are eminently maritime, but three of which
have never, perhaps, had a vessel engaged in that
traffic, is calculated to produce upon the United
States and upon other nations, which, like them, may
be indisposed to these combined movements, though
it may be regretted, yet furnishes no just cause of
complaint. But the subject assumes another aspect,
when they are told, by one of the parties that their
vessels are to be forcibly entered and examined, in
order to carry into effect these stipulations. Cer-
tainly the American Government does not believe that
Powers, the high contracting parties treat*, to this trea,