The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1855-04-13
From mosis Register, Apnl o.
THE RIGHT OF SEARCH IN THE STRAITS OF
FLORIDA.

From Mobile Register, Ap1il q.
quE RIGHT or SEARCH IN THE STRAITS or
FLORIDA.
In lecture which we had the honor 10 deliver ID this
~, l.., wear we endeay ored draw attention 10 the
Ills 10 which American exposed IN us
Iv practicable outlet and inlet 10 the Gulf Of Mexico
,hroaeh the straits Of Florida ifpossble additional IN
- has been recently impaired TO this subject BY the oc
urreuce OF events the Cuba coast The cruisers Of
sau sent out sentines the qHi rps for apprenend
"A administering invaders have overhauled and hred INTO
,artcnu vessels several times within the past month
nr correspondent aMeckienberg stated Yesterday what
H. arded az the true principle Of international law on
mi. sabiec Right wrong il Is very certain that the
.riean government has uniformly and utterly denied
bs British claim Of right 70 search American vessels
rbis indeed was Of the main causes OF war between
he United States and Great Britain in 1872 The prnc-
NE has never been expressly yielded BY Great Britain al
houct she has abandoned the practice The last ana
rohaby The ablest argument made in defence OF this
ght claimed for British cruisers was by Lord Aberdeen
W. have n the paper within reach but he founded his
umeut principally en- the necessity Of the case growing
1 ~ the uses and duties of an armed For Of what
~ he argued are our cruisers If they cannot challenge
erchau ships the high TO ascertain their Character
purposes and destination How, for exampie-how could
SLAYER be detected and punished If the false wearing OF
the American flag to render her sacred from examine
ton The American doctrine Is, and has Always Deem
that the flag prina tdce protection 70 the ship you
board and search and find her TO be an enemy or SLAYER
All right but if she be what she appears TO be by her col
orr YOU make the mistake at your peril. Under no cir
rnanccs or pretext viii we allow the flag To be violated
That has been the doctrine Of the United States and
have not heard il conroyered until u became necessary
for the enemies Of the administration 10 palate the late
outrage OF firing the FL Dorado on the ground thai
Cuba was nenaced and the authorities had right to pat
roll the gulf and examine all suspcousooking strange
vese,s They have no right 10 make mistakes any
than man in walking the streets OF city has right TO
make advances TO respectable woman suspecting her to
be something else Such bunders committed az the
usr If the anthor Otherwise the ocean, which is the
common highway of nations, would be no longer tree
Commerce would be subjected to delays harassment and
injuries which would be ntoerable and the flag which she
carries at her peak the emblem of her counrys sover
eighty over her deck, and token held out to all the
world of her counys power and will TO protect her might
as we'll be slowed away in the lumber with her ropes
ends paint pots deck-scrapers and holy-stones.
The occasion under the public consideration IS OF
All others the best calculated awaken American inter
est for nowhere is the American doctrine of sacred mmu
ny TO her ships and from foreign interference
= 50 important as in the Gulf of Mexico.
Has the reader adequate conception of the extraord
nary position of the Gulf of Mexico highway for the
ade Of the agricultural mineral
and peoped regions which surround it? There is not
mcb another the globe On its northern border the
American republic extends twelve hundred miles from its
ddwater the lakes and embraces population of man,
millions Of reemen, nnequaed by any past generation of
in enterprise intelligence growth, and all the ele
Of prosperity South of lie the West Indies espe
tally Jamaica and the Windward islands dependent upon
Is waters for their commercial outlet Then there the
eastern of South America the great trade destined
be developed the waters Of the Amazon and the
trade with Brazil and with the extensive regions Of the
Pacific the transit trade the neck and by
the lakes Of Central America from California Oregon
aud the Pacific ses-aI Of which has to pass almost,
within cannon-shot Of Key West and Tortugas and
Of directly through the straits of Florida Then look
the commercial exchanges between the North and the
South carried in the thousands of coastng tonnage
and the immense value of their cargoes Sum it ali up
and we have dependent upon the fleet that commands the
straits Of Florida (l50 miles long by so miles broad)
annual value in tonnage and reights of no. less than
ss0oO00ooo Is this time for this country relax the
u. OF the freedom of the seas her merchantmen which
she has steadily maintained with the pen Of her diplomacy
and fought for under the inspiring motto of free trade
and sailors righs? Shall yield principle that places
SIX hundred millions of ships and commerce the
mercy Of the caprice the insocnce of Spanish cruisers
Who from the lookout haven of the Havana can come
put from beneath the guns Of the Moro and the Cabanas
nd in few leagues of seaming, command position to
nnoy and harass merchantmen
All these are reasons weghty enough why the nation
hch possesses such vast interests the gauntlet
straits should possess the position which commands
hem but more, trow why rule of maritime law as
I'd as our government should now be yielded, when ou
Progress in wealth and commerce has vastly enhanced its
aue and Importance. Not only principle, but the high
considerations of policy and of interest, demand that
right OF vessels covered by the American flag to pass
nmoested over the blue of the gulf should be
ntained and defended with the whole physical force Of
American government and the whole moral energy Of
ut people