Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1808-11-25
REPORT

Thf committee to rDh0m 1uns referred so Hatsch
&c the n,sssaye Of the President Of thu q.
States, Of the 9Th INST as respects 0ur re-
jatiosss NTH foreign Poruers,
REPORT, IN PART 81
81 INTER- period of twenty -hvc years OF
neace. hardly interrupted By transient hosti-
flies, and of prosperity unparalleled N the
history of nations; the U. States are, Tor the
3 6rst time Since the treaty whlch terminated
the revolutionary war, placed In a situation e
rually difficult. critical and dangerous.
Those principles recognized by the oiyisiz-
Cd world under the name of Law of nations,
which heretofore controlled belligerent pow
ers. regulated the duties Of neutrals, and pro-
s tccted their rights, are now ayowediy dlsrc-
gardeel or forgotten by G. Britain and France.
Each of those two nations captures and con-
dennis all American vessels trasiing with her
: snemies or her enemy allies and every Eu'
iopean power having become party IN the
contest, the whole of our commerce Wath;
Europe and European colonies, becomes lin-
bic to capture by either one or the other. II
.here be any nominal exception, il IS made on
condition o. tribute, which only Odds insult
to the injnry.
The only plea urged in Justification ofsbesc
hostiiities, is that of retaliation, grounded on
apresumed acquiesccnce of the Y. States IN
various aggressions by the other party. Nav-
ing discussion of the correctness CT the
principle of retaliation, a principle douhtulin
itself, and altogether inainiss5le to he .ex-
tent to which it las been carried, and when
operating OH the neutral rather than on the
enemy; it is altogether untrue that the y. S..
have ever voluntarily asquiesced ia the m.
lawful aggressions of either natioa; omitted
or delayed any measures calculated to obtain
redress, orin any respect tlcviated from that
simpartiality to which they were bound by
their neutrality. France has alluded TO the.
violations Of the national flag, and of the So
vvreigpty of the u. States, 10 the instances OF
Pierce's murder, of the outrage on the Che
sapeakc, and of the destruction of the 1mpe-
.xious. The measures taken to obtain redress
& IN those cases, are Of public notoriety, and it
MAJ. be aided, that with the exception of the,
last, those aggrcssions on the sovereignty of
the u States did not affect their neutrality,
and gave no right to France either OF COM
s plant interference. Setting aside irregu-
iarities of less Importance and equally cherge-s
able to both nations, such as the British order.
sos June, 1903, and the decree ,of the French
general, Ferrand the principal yiolationsby
En-, land Of the neutral rights Of America,
prior to the Berlin decreesof Nov. 1906, and
which, if acquiesced in, might have given
grounds OF complaint TO France, arc the Cap
Ture of American vessels laden with colonial
~roducc, founded on rendwal Of that pre-
tended principle generally called I" the rule of
1856" the impressmcpt of American sea-
men, compelled thereby to become the auxi-4
llaries of England against France, and procla-
nation or nominal blockades, Maeticularly
notified in May, 1905.
1t will not be asserted, that the U. States
ever tamely aceniesced in either Of those pre-.
tensions. II win not be denied. that with
respect to the two first, the most strenuous
efforts were necessarily made to procure an
alteration of the British system.
ftris true, that to the nominal proclamation
blockades of England, the U. States had OPP
posed only spirited and repeated remonstranc-
cs, and thst these had not always been sue
eessful. But the measures which a neutral
nation may be supposed bound to take, against
the inffactions of It's neutrality, must always
bear certain proportion to the extent and
nature Of the injury received, and to the
means of opposition. Itcannot certainly be
pretended. that hasty resort to war should
in every such instance have become the duw
of America. Nor can the irregularities of
England, in declaring in a state Of blockade,
acertain extent of coast, partof which was
not, and the whole Of which could not, even
) by her powerful navy. be actually invested and
s blockaded, be plead in justification of that
decree, by which France, without an efficient
hcet, pretends to announce the blockade of
che doninions of power which has the IN
&c H. LII