New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1861-05-01
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We elip tlia Following article, having reference
5 this subject, from she Cincinnati Enquirer of the
Nib nlt,, fpf Inc purpose Of making a few conn
nents thereupon:
DIFFfGtLFisss OF pRIv Altering. One great diift-
alty the Soetlaefn Canfederacy will lind in carry
ng ouSit palicY of issuing letters of marque aud
epyisa viii be in the fact that priyateering is no
niger considered Q legitimate mode Of warfare by
i afge portion of the civilized powers Some of
hem have absolutely refused TO acknowledge it as
permissible IN war. With such powers, privateer-
ing Is on q par with piracy. The United States,
however, acknowledged as legitimate, and cannot,
therefore, punish those engaged in 1t as pirates.
TIE parties engaged in it may, if taken, be treated
as traitors, and we apprehend that, while the pua
shinent to the guilty if convicted of treason, does
not offer much from that which would follow con
yctan of piracy, the culprit will not dispute much
about the character of the complaint.
The chief difficulty will be to find ports into
which to take prizes after they captured Every
Southern port will be closely btockadea, which
will make it exceeding difficult to get prize into
one The prisateers will hardly dare TO ia Their
captures into foreign ports, because no foreign
power has acknowledged the independence OF the
Southern GonfederaeY. They will, therefore, be
with their prizes ike the fellow who won the eIe-
phant in q raffle-won't know what TODD with them
after they take them. So long as the General Gov
ernment can hold Pickens. Key West, Tortugas and
Fort Monroe the pfivateers Of the Southern Con
federaey will have perilous time in pursuing their
business.
As yet, no priNateering commissions have been
issued by. the Montgomery Government nor will
any be issued until that Government formally de-
clares war against the Government at Washington,
or wherever else it may be located, of which Mr.
Lincoln is the nominal head. The proclamation Of
| President Davis was only intended to give notice
TO the world, in order that preparations then on
foot on more than one continent might be prompt
lyiconsummated. That was all. President Davis
had no legal right to put forth letters Of marque,
as the Congress of the Confederate States had not
invested him with that authority, and he is strict
in the purest sense Of the term We
are much gratiied in being able to inform the
Enquirer that the object of the proclamation has
been thoroughly accomplished.
The Cincinnati Enquirer is entirely correct when
it states the United States have maintained pri-
watering to be 4 legitimate Y mode of warfare,
" and cannot, therefore, punish those engaged in
| it as pirates = butts altogether wrong in intima
ting that the parties engaged in it may, if taken,
be treated traitors and punished accordingly.
~ stnltides itself in essaying to draw distinction
where there is no difference OF any Importance. If
they are lawful priyateersrnen, sailing under the
authority Of an established Government, they can
not be treated traitors, if captured, with any
show of Justice or legality However, that point
il Of minor moment and we will pass it by, merely
remarking, Ell pnssaat that if Lincoln's Govern
ment execute any of our lawfully authorized pri-
vatearsmen, a terrible retrbution will swiftly fol-
| low.
| There will be no difficulty in getting the prizes
| into ports. The idea of more than two thousand
miles of coast along which there are thousands of
harbors, nles, bays etc. precisely suited to priya
teering purposes being e closely blockaded y by
Lincolns shadow of a navy is preposterous. The
whole navy of England could not begin to closely
blockade such animmense line of coast. Further
more, we have the high satisfaction of informing
the Enquirer, that our prFateersmen will not feel
the slightest hesitation III carrying their prizes into
foreign ports.'' The chief powers of Europe
would be hugely delighted in Witnessing the
destruction of Northern merchantmen, as it would
throw into the hands Of their own marine an i'm
mense and exceedingly lucrative carrying trade
In to this there is not scintilla of reason
able doubt but that the Government of the Con
federate States will be officially recognized by the
great powers Of Europe, and that ambassadors
representing those powers, will be in Montgomery
in sixty days or thereabouts. We regret to feel
confident that this intelligence will not please the
| editors of the Enquirer, whom we have always
regarded as quite honorable and fair-dealing men,
considering the locality Of their residence and the
circumstances by which they are surrounded; but
we rejoice in the fact that it will make the fanatics
of the North howl in impotent rage.
! We do not often make predictions, but we will
make one now, and hope the Enquirer will mark it
down specially. It is this: If Lincoln's Govern
ment does not make peace with the Soulful it
refuses to recognize the sovereignty Of the Con
federate States-if it continues to wage war upon
Southern people, and attempts to interfere with
the inward or outward bound commerce Of South
ern cities by persisting in a paltry, paper block
adez-that by the first of next October, every So
called bloekading squadron will be sunk to the
bottom of the ocean, and every Northern port will
be closed BY an iron blockade
IL the Enquirer will only consult certain incon-
trovertbe statistics, which set forth certain abso-
lutte wants Of certain mighty nations, it will see
that our prediction is certain of realization, in
stead of being tinetured with the smallest extraya
ganee.
The Lincoln Administration, and the vile prin-
cple II represents is found to be deeply Inundated
in any contingency; and the only possible chance
it has of escaping the lowest depths of the abect
est humiliation is to back down \ from its con-
temptibly arrogant pretensions at the earliest pos
sible moment.
= a.