Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1856-01-05

during the wars, which from time to time, &C.
cur among the great powers of the world
Performirgsa nit the duties of neutrality towards
the btlligefent states, we may reasDnabig e&7s
pect them not to interfere with our lawtpl eng
joyment 81 its benefits. Notwithstanding the
existence Of such hostilities, our cttizenkfetaip7
tle individual right to continue all their accpsz
toned pursuits, by land or by sea, at home or
abroad, subject only to such restrictions in this
neutrality-suspicious. ~efzwar, the usage efaiaars
tions, or special treaties, may impose and it is
our sovereign right that our jurisdiction and
our territory shall not be invaded by either of
the belligerent parties, for the transit of their
armies, the operations of their fleets, the levy
of troops for their service, the fitting ont OF
cruisers-byso or against either, or any other asst
or incident of war, And these undeniable
rights of neutrality, individual and national,
the United States viii under no circumstances
surrender. -,fgag ...T -- r.FH sas /
In pursuance of this policy, the laws Of the
I United States do not forbid their citizens to
sell to either of the belligerent powers, articles
contraband of war, or to take munitions, of
war or soldiers on board their private ships for
transportation ; and although in so doing, the
individual citizen exposes his person or proper
ty to some of the hazards of war, his acts do
not involve any breach of national neutrality,
nor of themselves implicate the government
Thus, during the progress of the present war
in Europe, our citizens have, without national
responsibility therefor, sold gunpowder and
arms to all buyers, regardless of the destina-
ton of those articles. Our merchantmen have
been, and still continue to be, largely employ
ed by Great Britain and by France, in trans
porting troops, provisions, and munitions of
war to the principal seat of the military opera
tions, and in bringing home their sick and dis
ahled soldiers but such use of our mercantile
marine is not interdictcd by the international,
or by our municipal law, and therefore does not
conpromit our neutral relations with Russia.
But our, municipal law, in accordance with
the law of nations, peremptOrly forbidS, not
only foreigners, but their own citizens, to fit
out, within the limits of the United States,
a vessel to commit hostilities against any State
with which the United States are at peace, or
to increase the force of amy foreign armed yes
sci intended for such hostilities against a friend
ly State. Nd Al. .sgIl ErI ge.3
-. Whatever concern may have been felt by
either of the belllgerent powers lest private
armed cruisers, or other vessels in the service
of one, might be fitted out in the ports of this
country, to depredate on the property of the
other, all such fears have proved to be ground
less. Our citizens have been withheld from
any such act or purpose by good faith and by
respect to the law.
While the laws of the Union are thus per-
emptory in their prohibition of the equipment
or armament Of belligerent cruisers in our ports,
they provide not less absolutely that no person
ChoIl within tho tarpitOry or iuricli.tiOn &C tbo
United States, enlist or enter himself, or hire
or retain another person to enlist or enter him
self, or to go beyond the limits or jurisdiction
of the United States with intent to be enlisted
or entered il the service of any foreign State,
either as a soldier, or a marine or seaman on
board of any vessel Of war, letter of marque,
or privateer. And these enactments are also
in strict conformity with the law of nations,
which declares that no State has the right to
raise troops for land or sea service in another
State, without its consent, and whether forbid
den by the municipal law or not, the very at
tempt to do it, without such consent, is an at
tack on the national sovereignty.
Such being the public rights and the NUM-
cipal law of the United States, no solicitude on
the subject was entertained by this government
when a year since the British Parliament pas
sed an act to provide for the enlistment of TO-
reigners in the military service of Great Brit
ain. Nothing On the face OF. the act, or in its
public history, indicated that the British gov
ernment proposed to attempt recruitment in the
United States ; nor did it ever give intimation
of such intention to this government. 1t was
matter OF surprise, to find, subsequently, that
the engagement of persons within the United
States to proceed to Halifax, in Nova Scotia,
and there enlist in the service of Great Britain,
was going on extensively, with little or no dis
gulse. Ordinary legal steps were taken to ar
rest and punish parties concerned, and put all
end to acts infringing the municipal law and
derogatory to our sovereignty. Meanwhile
suitable representations on the subject were
addressed to the British government. rJ
Thereupon it, became known. by the admis-
sion of the British government itself. that the
attempts to draw recruits from this country,
originated with it, or at least had its approval
and sanction ; but it also appeared that the
public agents engaged in it had stringent in
structions" not to violate the municipal law of
the United States.
1t is difficult to understand how it should
have supposed that troops could be raised here
by Great Britain without violation of the mu-
nicipal law. The unmistakablc object of the
law was to prevent every such act, which, if
performed, must be either in violation of the
law, or in studied evasion of it, and in either
alternative, the act done would be alike iniuri-
Gus to the sovereignty of the United States.
In the meantime, the matter acquired addi-
tional Importance by the re%cruitments in the
United States not being discontinued, and the
disclosure of the fact that they were prosecut-
ed upon a systematic plan devised by official
authority, that recruiting rendezvous had been
opened in our principal cities, and depots for
the reception of recruits established on our
frontier and the whole business conducted
under the supervision and by the regular CO.
operation of British officers, civil and military,
in the North American nrnyiuceS and snmo IN