Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1811-10-25

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visions. and in which he certainly had note
rious part On the 9th of May, 1898, the
British brig Fanny was captured onfyJour Of
fz,e miles from the light house IN Cape Hen
~ ! (the very point from which MI. Gehet
would now measure our territorial sea- oy
one of those audacious plcaroons ttted out oY
this very Genet in defiance OF all law and all
decency, and for which if he had not been a
public officer he would probably have been
hanged. An appeal was made to our govern
roent on behalf of the owners, ane. Mr.. Genet,
afraid that he and his brethren might be strip
ped of their ill-gotten spoil, on the 18th sep
tember addressed note to Mr.. Jefferson, then
secretary of state, desiring the American go
yernment " 10 define the ea'tent % RE h11e q
territorial protection on the coasts 81 the UaHed
.S.ates.' In answer to that note, MIR. Genet
tells us. that Mr. Jefferson in letter to me
of Nov. s. 1898, without enlttlngf decided
opinion on that subject, states that the Fres'-
den. had Professionally given instructions TO
the officers acting under his authority, 10
consider the Eae Of territorial, froteefion on ne
coasts of the United States as restrained Tor
the present to the distance OF one sea lsagHe,
or three geographical miles from the sea shore "
g And 7 am satisfied" he continues, +" that
Mr.. Jefferson never understood by that line
of protection, the maritime dom,nion. Pray
sir, be good enough to point out the alstlnc-
ton. Is it not an established principle that
the RIGHT of national protection, whether on the
sea or on the land, is cOertensiue with the do
main? Can the United States claim terri
tory without also claiming the exclusive right
Of commanding and protecting 1t Nations
(savs Vattel, B. !. CHI. IS, sec. $3.50 may ex-
tend their dominion over the sea along their
coasts, as far at they are able 10 hrotect their
rights" g A nation that occupies the ADA
cent sea, (says Azuni, part !, Oh. 5, sec. 2,
and ] II has the sovereignty as we'll as the DO
aH,.ioa of it, and enjoys there all those rights
which appertain to 1t On the land. Aud this
Ro7aiaion Of the adjacent sea extends as tar as
can be held nom the main land
as far as i! can be defended ard projected.
When General Washington and Mr.. Jefferson
therefore fixed the line cf territorial hrotec-
tion, they defined the actual Hctent OF our ma
ratime domInion. Indeed this WAS the sole
object Of their letter. For il the British brig
had been taken zvilhin the limits Of any ma-
RHINE dominion, our government was bound
by its neutrality to restore the property. And
accordingly, Mr.. Jefferson thus concludes MS
letter" 1t appears from the evidence that
this capture was made four or tire miles from
the land, and consequently zvthout the line
Professionally adopted by the Presldent'S-
And on this groxnd alone was Mr.. Genet per-
mitted to riot undisturbcd in the plunder'-
But it is worthy of remark, that In this very
letter, written more than ten years alter the
British treaty (under which Mr. Genet claims
tweHty leagues Of territorial sea and written
too for the sole purpose OF ascertalnllig our
maritime dominion, there is no pretence by
the President or Mr.. Jefferson of any claim
whatever under that treaty. But OIL the con-
trary, an open remuneration OF all right OF ma
RHINE protection beyond the distance OF one
marine leagUe-It is true that this arrange
ment of the executive and the department of
state was hrovisi0nal-but it was dehnitively
and uiti,natehy settled and adopted, the very
next year, by the highest authorltv-by So
Tenn act of Congress, passed the 5th of June,
l7o4g And from that day to this, the mari
time dominion of the United States, which
like that of all other nations is coextensive
with the jurisdiction OF our admiralty courts,
has been universally considered, at home and
abroad, as limited 10 the distance Of one ma
,iue league from the sea shore: an opinion
that has been sanctioned by express provi-
sions in all our treaties, and by the uniform
decisions of our maritime courts, * which
never has been questioned till this THEIR
SITES of our country came to perplex and
disturb the nation.--Has Mr. Genet forgot
ton the case of the British ship William,
taken by his name-sake, the little pirate lie
Citoyen Genet" srifhin .6ve mi'es of the light
house on Cape-Henry, (the very same spot
AGAIN. and ultimately delivered up to French
pillage by the American government, be-
cause the admiralty court of Pennsylvania
held that it could not take cognizance of
the case.-the capture haUing been made
7ri.hout rke maritime dominion and juris-
diction ofthe United States Has he forgot
ten how he and his gang of consuls protested
against the seizure by the deputy marshal of
that district, on this very ground,t and vo-
mited forth their curses against General
Washington until the nation grew giddy
with the noise? And yet now this same Ge-
net, who then screamed for spells that were