Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-05-21
rRF REoCKARr Er EErRoPR.


mills Of Lancashire are closed, and the hands
who used TO work them are STIRRING The
question thus becomes very serious one. aad
the EuglIsh papers have again taken 20 urging
the raising of the blockade The London SG7f-
ard says every hour ol its pro0ugation ofers
new victims to the twin demons famine and
pesGIence; that If is a fictitious onei a
fraud upon ueUir8ls; entitled TO no Tecogni-
tion Oh the part Of other nations; sud that by
recognizing II, England IL c7ndemning thou
sands of her men TO starvation The argument
OF tie Standard Is 50 clear and significant il its
points that we transfer 1t to our columns, and
commend it 20 the careful peruSal of our readers:
The tide of dcstitutiOn is rising fast. Another
month and the proudest seats OF our national
industry Will be entirely submerged beneath its
DESTROYING food Alresdy the bread winners of
some hundred thousand mouths are dependent
for their own sustenauce, and that Of their be-
longings, upon the scanty dOles of the relieving
officer and the spasmodic charity of employers
and shop-keepers, tortured themselves by the
vision ct impending bankruptcy. Such their
fellows as are still earning wages cannot conceal
from themselves that their wages are but Q form
of charity. 1t does not pay the mill owner to
work but he shudders at the prospect of some
thousand Of tellow-bsiDgs reduced TO utter pen
ury This cannot last long Even if the mill
owner Is willing to 90 on At loss be must stop,
because the material in which he works is I'M
sttainable When the pleasant month of May
opens, and the We Ia is invited to admire the
produces of English industry and intelligence,
Lancashire and Yorkshire, which have contrib
uted 50 large part to the brilliant display will
be vast tracts of hopeless pauperism. and the
country which. standing on tine edge OF the |
pTecipice, seems utterly careless of the danger,
will itself suffer in every part from the mortifca
ton OF such important members
And sill this suffering and sorrow Ulgnt oe |
averted. If strong men are wasting, end weak |
women and children perishing from ~ant of
sufficient n0urisbmeut, is from no one of those |
DEGREES Of fate which men can only read and /
bend 10. The elements have not wsrTed with /
man and conquered him Neither parching heat /
and biting cold has destroyed the harvest upon |
which we reckoned. Nature has been bOuntiful
to man: but man has set himself 10 neUtTaliZe
her bountes. In the Southern States of the
North American Continent there are stored some
millions of bales of that raw material for the
want of which the mills of Lancashire are
closed and the bands who used 70 work them are
starving. The owners would gladly sell what
we want to buy; but 2 government, whose
yoke they have thrown Of presumes to inter-
fere and to pTOl0ng roveugetul struggle for
dominion iuevocsbly lost, iuterdicts this life
spreading commerce Ii the blockade of the
southern coast were legal we must bear it with
although every hour of It's prOlonga-
tiou offered new victims 20 the twin demons,
famine and pestilence. But the blockade of the
South by the Federal government is q fictitious
one entitled to 10 recognition the part Of other
nations II is fraud upon ueUtrals, and their
submission 10 il is a criminal completely in .
gross violation OF the laws Of nature and nations.
OF all the requisites which 90 TO legtimGtize
a bCckade-aUd the want or any one Of these
requisites entirely destroys its validity-;he first
5, that the squadron allotted for be purpose Of
IS execution must be competent 10 cut off all
with the intcrdictcd place or port
The proper definition Of blockaied place is one
.gaiust which attack i7 actually directed by .
uficient force The presence Of that force is, in
act. that only proper criterion by which the
leutral can ascertain the eXistencs of the block
de n HeuteeUille. q very cross grained OK .
,Ositor Of international law, whenever he las 70
Ieal with England. but undoubtedly a high au- ,
hority hes isId It down IN s. very recent pUbli-
alton thar " blockade is nothing hut the con
luast by q beiiigereut OF the naval territory of
Ms enemy round the place or port which be :
wishes tc close 70 commerce. Master ol that | /,
PORTION Of his adversary possessions, he lag
owu laws which ai ncutrsl5 are bound 20 re- !
pect But conquer involves taking possession
nd permanent occupation. and on this account |
has been laid down that the blockade must be / ,
cal and effective
Il is quite true ,h2- IN Ifs desperate struggle
.gainst NapoleoR, openly supported then Dy the
Whole of Europe aud secretly favored by the
United States, the British government declared |
whole coasts in n sta" IS blockade But these
which were never acted We g, we've
allied forth bv those mad DEGREES Of Berlin
Milan aad Fo6faiubleau by which Tho French
Emperor attempted to close EuTcp- against 7us
rol3F aus lEus EU8.h'l-t- -UI uSnu.actgrr--
But tas Uror deul caII1. boz appealed t0 5J tC0
American government iEasmCcn as it protested
aVeaiedy agains, these oriSs iu council I,
1as always insisted that -ho presence Of q com
3etent force at the entrance Of the port is ueces
ary 10 make a blockade effective. We and this
doctrine plainly enumerated in the ordinances Of
he Congress Of the Confederate States. in the
decisions of the prize courts ofthe United States.
p the messages Of ifs Presidents Cho dispatches
# liz foreign ministers aud the commentaries of
Is text writer's We find. moreover, in its tres
les, q definition which goes beyond al this, and
adopts fully the expression Of Gro'ips. opidlUH
,JsessUn - F.
Ia two treaties Of commerce entered into be |
ween the United States and some South Amer (
can republic blocksded piRca is defined as !
'one actually attacked by q beIigereut force. Z
,qpablp of preventing the entry of the neutral !
From this position the Federal government can
rot recede, and il is the one which clearly stamps
he fictitious character pf its own blockade of
he southern coast. There is no sufficient force |
IF any one Of the ports along that immense eX-
ent of coast. Seven ports of consequence, rs
Charleston, New Orleans and Mobile, are most VI
mperf5cty guarded The Federal feet is in {
act, employed for other services, and such few (
hips as are detailed for the blockade service
,ruise along the coast and pick up, Just as g
pirates would do, any vessel they may meet sail
ng to or from the coast which is said TO be {
1locaded; for this Is the evil which results from
he recognition by the English government of I
he blockade ship which is found in the ]
Of the interdicted c0gst may be j
eized and condemned Il is not very difficult t
o run the blockade from any one port; but no J
hipOwner viii risk the tender merces Of q
Judge Belts, who would condemn ship seized t
n New York halbor if it could be suggested S
hat she had been within the limits Of the nom
nal blockade, or was at all likely 70 90 there. !
And this Is the answer 70 Mr.. Bright when he Z
says, "t the blockade Of the south y
srn ports has been declared Ineffective, and yet
he effects Of its effectiveness had been deplOred'
Il is Ineffective in the sense that it IS quite def
,ient in those requisites which alone make It
effective or legal; II is Elective enough in pre-
venting commerce with the South, because ship
owners viii not incur the risk of condemnation.
Mr.. Bright never scruples to make false state
ment when be thinks it viii serve, even for an
instant the cause he has at heart Right and
wrong are determined with him entirely by his
passions. Ia calling the blockade Of the south
eTn coast legal one, he must have knowingly
Uudeniable facts, or cculd never
have INQUIRED into the requisites of blockade
By recognizing the blockade Of the southern
coasts we are c7ndemuing thousands Of English
men to starvation. and are giving most unfair
10 the Federal government. The feet
which it ought to employ in the blockade is de-
voted 10 predatory incursious on the enemy's
territory. We are aiding to pro.rGct barbarous
war, and putting ourselves forward to pay its
costs. The law OF blockade is one which must
be construed strictly. A nation which avais it
self of a measure 30 injurious TO ueutrals must
fulfill every one Of the conditions under which
its exercise is permitted. If it makes deiault in
one its right is lost. The Federal government
has made default in the most important requisite
OF blockade The default amounts, in the Ian
guage of u great Federal authority. 70 az "entire
defeasance Of the measure" II should he under
stood in Lancashire that the distress which pre-