The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-05-26

sion of the whole subject
THE RIGHT OF sEARCH.--AN ENGLISH VIEW
It is not our way of reaching conclusons to infer
that newspaper, however high its stanoag and
whatever may be its ability, expresses the views OF
whole people upon any question We have before
us the New York Albion, paper decidedly English
in tone, sentiment and we may add without offence
prejudioes The English have prejudices They are
not only justly tenacious of their rights, as they
ought to be- but they are also confessedy tenacious
in maintaining every claim no matter how it orgna-
ted which they have set up in their intercourse with
other nations. England for a long time has e1er-
cised dominant power over the high seas and
has also exerted over the councils Of nations q
dominant influence. Their shipsofwar have claimed,
for instance, the right to search merchant vessels
sailing under the flag Of other nations. This claim
is based upon the principle that it is the duty OF ma
tional vessels to guard the legitimate commerce OF
the world against imposition, fraud and piracy 1t
=. in other words, the exercise Of maritime police,
by which for the alleged purpose Of testing the &C
tua character of merchant ship, the right of search
is claimed
We desire to present to the reader the actual po-
sition of her Majestys government upon this sub
iect. The war of 1912 between Great Britain aud
the United States involved in point of fact the pre-
tension of that government, that the war vessels OF
England had the right to search and detain not only
American but the merchant vessels OF every other
nation sailing upon the high seas The peace which
followed the struggle Of 1872 did not embrace the
actual subject of difficulty which had caused the
,,,do tnndo on If
the water that the pretension would not be revived
In speaking upon the Right of Visitation and
Search" Wheaton, quoting from Lord Palmerston,
says: tt'
mot only So but it is directly at with official
communication made by Lord Palmerston to the gov
eminent of the republic of Hayt under date OF 9th
of January, l84O few months after the Portuguese
suppression bill brought into the House
of Commons by his lordship In this communication,
which is quoted by Mr. Stevenson, in his note to Lord
Palorston on the 9th of February 184l the latter
fers to law passed in 1889 by the Haytian govern
ment providing that any vessel, whether Haytian or
otherwise found in the act Of slavetrading should be
seized and brought into port Of the republic for adud
cation The communication states that
Her Majestys government wishes to draw the
attention Of the Haytan government to a matter OF
form in this law, which may possibly give rise to
embarTassments. The law enacts that all vessels
whether Haytian foreign which may be found IN
the act Of trading shall be seized and brought
into q Haytian port. Now, HGyt has undoubtedly
full right to make such enactment about her
own citizens and ships but her Majestys government
appehend that Hayti has right to egisate for the
ships and the subjects citizens OF other States That III
time of peace ships belonging to one State have
right search and detan ships sailing under the flag Of
and belonging another State without the permission
of State which permission is generally sgnfed by
treaty and Haytian cruisers to stop search, and
oan merchant vessels sailing under the flag Of and be-
longing another COUNTRY even though such vessels
were engaged the slaveade the State to which such
vessels belonged would have just grounds for demanding
satisfaction and reparaton from Hay unless such State
had previously given to Hayd by treaty. the right OF
search and detention
This language of Lord Palmerston in 1S40
ceived by this country utter disavowal of all
claims to visit search American vessels upon the
high seas 1t is very significant in the use of words
omitted by Lord Aberdeen in discussing the
subject two years afterwards. Lord Palmerston de-
nounces it as q belligerent right and defines its
practice to be to "aop, search, and detain mer-
chant vessels sailing under the flag of, and belong
ing to, another country; Lord Aberdeen, two years
later calls it in much softer terms, the verfcnton
Of the nationality of the vessel How such verif-
cation can be established without stopping and de-
tanning" the suspected ship, we cannot comprehend
But the truth is, Lord Aberdeen intended sim
ply to reassert the right of search and adopted the
less offensive word visitation" means of ex-
pressing an old idea.
Subsequently the British government, influenced
perhaps by strong protests urged against the
practice of search, so far as American ships are
concerned, in 1912, in letter from Lord Aberdeen
to Mr.. Stevenson conceded that the right of search
was beligerent right, having no existence on the
high in time Of peace but claiming under
another name, that of visitation, the same practi-
cal end. Wequote from Lord Aberdeen paragraph
maintaining this distinction:
The undersigned again renounces, he has already
done In the explicit terms any right the part of
the British government to search American vessels in
times of peace The right Of search except when especially
conceded by treaty purely belligcrent right and
have no exstence the high seas during peace The
undersigned appchens however TINT the right OF search
not confined the vcrhcation of the nationality Of
vessel also extends to the object of the voyage
and the of the cargo The sole purpose OF the
British cruisers is ascertain whether the vessels they
meet really American not The right asserted has
truth resemblance to the right of search either in
principle practice is simply right to satisfy the