The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1862-01-04

en- thsn "a sAas sesll follow n The bsIllesss,
right of asaesA were uniyersally renowned Or
aboehhsd fsess1r. Bat carry the cAss one 81
farther What u IL State that has made Il
capture unssasoaAbly refuses to hear the con
plant Of The nsutsal or 70 redress Il! In thu
case, the very cot d oaptufe Wsuld be an cot
war--of war begas Htthsst nofice, and pos
bly, sntirsly witAsatt l0SoGo13o6. tx
think I'll unpse5adlps1m minds TN agree tha,
imperfect - the existing judicial ssusdy ma
be supposod 70 be, q wouid b, % % esners
practice, better 70 follow il than to adopt d.
summary one Of leaving the decision With tb
captor, and relying upon diplomatic debates {,
review his deoision. Practically, Il Il . osea
ton Of CHOICE between Law, with It, impssfsc
tons and delays, and wAr, With its evils ant
Oscillations Nor ID Il ever to be forgotten tina
neutrality, honestly and Justly preserved; 10 al
ways The hasbtnger Of peace, and therefore /
the common lnesrest OF nations, which Il ooly
saying that It II the interest of humanity itself
Al the same time II b not to be denied that Il
may somstiues happen that the judicial remedy
viii become impossible, - by the shipwreck o.
the prize weasel, or other circumstances which
excuse the captor from sending or taking hes
Into port for cop6scation. Ia such case thS
right Of the captor to tho custody Of the cap.
tured persons aud 70 dispose Of them, If they
are really contraband, 20 - 70 defeat their I'm.
lawful purposes, cannot reasonably be denied.
What rule shall b applied 10 such . case -
Clearly. the captor ought to be required TO show
that the failure Of tho judicial remedy. resulta
from circumstances beyond his control, and
without bis fault Otherwise, hs would BE- al.
lowed to derive advantage from wrongful cot
Of his own.
In the present case. Captain Wilkss. ate.
capturing the contraband persons and making
prize Of the Trent In what seems to N Z per.
fectly lawful manner, instead Of sending her In.
to port, released her from the capture. and per,
mittsd her to proceed with her whole Cargo
upon her voyage. He thus sf|sctually prevent.
cd the judicial examination which might other.
Wise have occurred.
Il, now, the capture Of coutraband persons
and the capture Of the contsaband vessel are to
be regarded, not - sWo seperats or distinct
transactions under the law Of nations, but ~
one Transaction, one capture only, then It fol.
lows that the capture IN THE case was left un.
finished, or was abandoned. Whether the uni
ted States have right to retain the chief pub
lie benefits Of It, namely, the custody Of the
captured persons on proving them to b con.
traband, will depend upon the preliminary
question whether the leaving of the transaction
unfinished Was necessary, or whether It was un.
necessary and therefore voluntary. If Il was nee.
essary, Graat Britain, - we suppoas, must of
course valve the defect, and the consequent
failure Of the judicial remedy. On the other
hand, it IL not seen how the United States can
insist upon her waiver of that Judicial remedy,
If the defect of the capture resulted from an act
Of Captain Wilkes, which would be fault on
their own side.
Capt Wilkes has presented to this Govern.
msnt his reasons for releasing the Trent. 1T
forbore to seize her, }" he says, :" in consequence
Of my being 90 reduced in officers and Grew,
and the arrangement it would cause innocent
persons. there being large number Of passen.
gers who would have been put to great loss and
Inconvenience, ~ well a. disappointment, from
the interruption 1t would have caused them IN
not being able to Join the steamer from St.
Thomas TO Europe. therefore concluded to
sacrifice the interest Of my officers aud crew in
the PRICE, and suffered her to proceed after the
detention necessary to effect the transfer of
those Commissioners, considering had obtain.
ed the important end had In view, and which
adected the Interest Of our country and In.
terrupted the action Of that of the Oonfed.
crates"
shall consider, frat. how those reasons ought
to affect the action Of this Government and,
secondly, how they ought to be expected to
Affect the action Of Great Britain.
The reasons arr satisfactory to this Govern.
ment so far as Captain Wilkes il concerned Il
could not desire that the San Jacinto, her on
GERS and crew, should be exposed to danger and
lose by weakening their number to detach
prise crew to 60 ON board the Trent Still less
could 1t dlsavow the humane motive of pre.
venting Inconvenience, losses, and perhaps dis.
asters, to the several hundred innocent passen.
gers found on board the prize vessel Nor
could this Government perceive any ground for
questioning the fact that these reasons, though
apparently incongruous, did operate in the mind
of Captain Wilkes aud determine him to release
the Trent. Human actions generally proceed
upon mingled, and sometimes conflicting, mo-
tives He measured the sacrifices which this
decision would cost. It manifestiy, however,
did not OCCUR to him that beyond the sacriace
Of the private interests (ss he calls them, Of bis
Officers and crew, there might also possibly be
sacrifice even Of the chief and public object
OF his cspture-namely the right OF his Gov.
srnmen. to the custody and disposition of the
captured persons. This Government cannot
oensure him for this overnight I. confesses
. .ua' nls wno.e suolect came unforeseen upon
nv ,as uovslnmeot, = Doubtless did upon hin.
In present convictions on TIE point In question
s.e soe result o. democratic examination and
slons previously formed
Nevertheless. the question now 10, not whether
Osptan Mnkes Is justified to hts Government in
WA. ns QUO, out what Y the present view of the
government % to the eject OF what he has done.
Assumlng now TOT argumsnts sake only, that
tns Eslease OF t1e Trent, II voluntary, involved
.easer OF me claim Of the Government to hold
me captured persons, the United States could In
.n.. G.ss nave no hesitation in saying that the
= -. wn.Cn nss tsos already been approved BY the
oo.sanmsu. nun pc allowed 70 draw its Legal
consequences after It, It y of the very nature
q gu. OF CHARITY that the gtver cannot, after
.ns ste!c.ee OF eis oensvolsnes 10 past, recall or
"T My ~ Isnenu. .
W are mus Drought dirscs'y 70 the question