The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1808-11-22
mo. 50.


IN, prevent Council rigid i'll it's duty, to pro-
nounce, in conformity TO the decree of the
decree Of the 2ist OF November, and of the
declaration which follows it,"
IL would appear from this paragraph, that
not hiding 1t easy 70 unite the knot, the
council had determined to cut it. Pressed
! by the tact that an Interpretation of che de-
gree had been given by "a minister OF his ma
iesty, specially charged with its execution,
thcy wouid now escape from this fact and
Prom the conclusions to which it evidently
leads, by alledging,
! l. nat at no time had the council parta-
Zen OF the. opinion given by vac minister:
and
2. That this opinion, being that of an in
dlVicual. Could not possess either the force
OF the authority of one. truly ministerial
! 1t appears to me, rs think nc will appear
toyour excellency, that the council have, in
These statements been less correct than is
usual to them on similar occasions. If, as
they now assert, they have never partaken
OF the minister's opinion if they have even
nes,tated on the question whether the decree
OF November did or did not derogate from
the treaty OF 1900, why, l ask, suspend the
American cases generallys or why decide as
they did III the Ca of the Eibernia! If {
mistake not, we find in this case the rccop-
milton OF the very principle laid down bv the
minister otmarine. That officer says, Jimmy
| opinion the November decree does not worn,
any change in the rules at present observed
with respect to neutral commerce, and con-
sequently none in the contention CT the Sch
Nendemaire, year g" And what saws the
Council? Submitting that this part of the
cargo the rum and ginger) was of British
origin, the dispositions OF the November de
| cree Syh1ch contain nothing with record ia
their o7vm influence over The convention of
| the 8fh pendeniair6, year 9 J evidently can
not be applied to a ship leaving America on
the 9th OF the same month of November;
and OF course cannot save authorized her
| capture in The moment she was entering the
| neutral port of her destination" We have
here three distinct grounds of exemption
from the effects of the Novenber decree.
| 1st The entire silence of that decree with
regard to its own influence over the convent
on of 1900:
I'd. The early ferioa at which the shin
left the u S. and
Sd. The rcut9ai character Of the port to
whic; she was destined
! If such, sry were the principles admitted
b. the council on the 5th of March last.
with what correctness can it be now said
that at no period have they partakcn of th..
opinion of the minister"
! The second fact asserted by the council is
1
ton given on the 9th OF December 1906. was
iTIUate, not Public, or i'll other words, THAI
! 1t was the Interpretation of the man, not that
| OF the minister, and as such, cannot outweigh
the more recent declaration coming direc&Iy
from his majesty himself
| On the comparative we5 hit of these decla-
Tations shall say nothing, nor shall I do
more TO repel the first part of the insinuati-
on { that the minister's declaration suast that
onty ct me inaiUidUai) than TO submit. to
your cxcelency my letter of the Doth of Dec
1890, claiming from that minister an official
Interpretation OF the decree in question, and
his answer of the Oath of the same month.
giving to me the Interpretation demanded.
- your EXcellency, who as late as the
2lst or August last, considered the minister
OF marine as the natural organ of his males
TVS VIII, In Whatever regarded the decree
aforesaid, and who actually applied to him
Tor Information relating TO 1t, this allegation
OF the council of prizes aud the REASONING
founded upon IL, Cannot but appear very ex-
traordinary, and will Justify me in REQUESTING.
that ms majesty may be moved TO set aside
the decision i'll question, en- the ground of er-
ror In the opinion of the council
If in support os this conclusion have
ldrawD no arguments from the treaty Of
Iooo, nor from the laws of nations, your ex-
celleDcy VIII not be at a loss to assign to this
| omission Its true cause. 1t would surely
nave beep'a useless formaiity to appeal to AL
thorites, not only practically, but even pro-
fessedly extinct. IL the letter of the minis
ter OF Justice of the 18th September, we are
told by his majesty himself, that since he
had not Judged proper to make any excep
ton in the letter OF his decree, there was no
room to make any in its execution" & in the
report OF YOUR e&cellency's predecessor. OF
the 2oth November, 1906, we have these me
morabe words:
England has declared these places block
! aded, before which she had not a sinrle shir,
OF war.--~5he has done more, for She has
declared in state of blockade, places. which
all her assembled forces were incapable of
kad'ng--immense coasts, and a vast en-
pure Afterwards, drawing from a chine
rical right and from an assumed fact the con
sequence that she might justly make her
prey OF every thing going to the places laid
nnder introduction, by a simple declaration G
the British admiralty, and every thing arts
! ing theretrom, and carrying this doctrine in
TO eject, she has alarmed neutral ma virators
and driven them to a distanc from ooffs VII
/ tncrtheirintcrests attracted them, ana which
the Jaw OF nations authorised tEem tn fire.
| qheht. } hus 1t IS, that she hasturred to he
o"h proht, and to che dctriment Of Eurane
but more particularly-sf France. the audaci-
! ~ with which sne Knocks al all ,.;n6fs a1,f
/ Tn1rV