Pomeroy weekly telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio) 1860-1866, 1861-05-10
From the National Intelligencer.
THE LAWS OF WAR.

Confederate Sta tes renders some inquiry
into the law of nations on this subject
appropriate, and interesting. What are
the legal consequences, and what the
practical bearing, of a state of wal upor
the individual rights of the two Confed
eracies having dealings with each other
are questions which should be clearly
understood. AS contribution from q
standard authority to the general stock
of knowledge on the subject, we quote
some extrats from Keats Commentaries
as found in Lecture 3, on the Law Of
Nations, volume l:
INTERDIcTIoN OF COMMERCIAL In.
TERCoURsE.-One of the immediate ano
important consequences of the declara,
tion Of war is the absolute interruption
and iuterdiction of all commercial cor
respondence, intercourse and dealings
between the subjects of the two countries
The idea that any commercial inter
course or pacific dealing can lawfully
subsist between the people Of the pow,
ers at war, except under the clear and
express sanction of the Government
and without special license, is utterly
inconsistent with the new class of duties
growing out of state of war. The in,
terdiction flows, necessarily, from the
principle already stated, that state Of
war puts all the members of the two ma
tions respectively y in hostilities to each
other; and to suffer individuals to carry
on friendly or commercial intercourse
while the two Governments were at war
would be placing the acts of Govern.
ment and the acts of individuals in con.
tradiction to each other. 1t would
counteraet the operations of war, and
throw obstacles in the way Of the public
efforts, and lead to disorder, imbecilitJ
and treason. Trading supposes the ex.
lstence of civil contracts and relations
and reference to courts Of justice; and
it is, therefore, necessarily eontradie-
tory In a state of war. 1t affords aid to
an enemy in an effectual manner, by en-
abling, the merchants Of the enemy's
country to support their Government
and it facilitates the means Of conveying
intelligence and carrying on traitor
Gus correspondence with the enemy
These considerations apply with pecu-
liar force to maritime States, where the
principal object is TO destroy the marine
and commerce Of the enemy in order to
force them to peace. It is well-set-
tied doctrine in the English courts and
with the English jurists that there can
not exist, at the same time, war for
arms and a peace for commerce. The
war puts an end at once to all dealing,
and all communication with each other
and places every individual of the re-
spective governments, as woll as the
governments themselves, in state OF
hostility. This is equally the doctrine
of all the authorative writer's on the law
of nations, and of the maritime ordi-
nances of all the great Powers of Europe
1t is equally the received law of this
country, and was SO decided frequently
by the Congress of the United States
during the Revolutionary War, and
again by the Supreme Court of the
United States during the course of the last
war; and it is difficult. to conceive of a
point of doctrine more deeply ,or exten-
sively rooted in the general maritime
law of Europe, and in the universal and
immemorial usage of the whole commu-
nifty of the civilized world.
1t follows, as necessary conse-
ouence of the doctrine of the illegality
of all intercourse or traffic, without ex-
press permission that all contracts with
the enemy made during the war are ut
terly void. The insurance Of enemy $
property is an illegal contract because
it is species of trade and intercourse
with the enemy. The drawing of bill
of exchange, by an alien enemy, on q
subject of the adverse country, is an il
legal and void contract, because it is a
communication and contract The-pur
chase of bills on the enemy's country
or the remission and deposit of funds
there, is dangerous and Illegal act be.
cause it may be cherishing the resources
and relieving the wants Of the, enemy
The remission Of funds, in money OF
bills, to subjects of the enemy is unlaw,
full. The inhibition reaches to every
communication, direct or circuitous.-
All endeavors to trade with the enemy,
by the intervention Of third. persons, or
by partnerships, have equally failed
and no artifce has succeeded to legalize
the trade without the express permission
of the Government. Every relaxation
the rule tends to corrupt the allegiance
of the subject. and prevents the wal
from fulfilling its end The only ex-
ception to this strict and rigorous rule
of international jurisprudence is the
case of ransom bills, and they are con-
tracts of necessity, founded on a state
of war, and engendered by it's violence
1t is also further consequence of the
inability of the subjects of the two
States to commune or carry on any cor.
respondence or business together thai
all commercial partnerships, existing
between the subjects of the two parties
prior to the war, are dissolved by the
mere force and act of the war itself; though
other contracts, existing prior to the war,
are not extinguished, but the remedy is
only suspended, and is from the inabil-
ity of an alien enemy to sue or sustain,
in the language of civilians, persona
standi IN judicio. The whole of this
doctrine, respecting the illegality of any
commercial intercourse between the in.
habitants of donations at war, exten.
sively reviewed, and the principal au
thorities, ancient and modern, foreign
-. I i
and the positions which have been laio
down established, in the case of Girls
void u.s. Waddington, decided in the
Supreme Court of this State, and after
ward affirmed on error.
D~A wealthy gentleman, who has s
decided will of his own, and somcwha
irascible temper, was sick. His troub
les were a gouty foot and discordet