The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1862-01-23

nounclng the conspiracy and rebellion, ant
on the Sth OF January. 1888, came the frs
proclamation from President Van Buren,
Alter reciting the efforts made by him an.
by the governors of New York and Vernon
to prevent any unla1gful interference on tn,
part OF our citizens In the contest unfortu
nately commenced in the British provinces
and not withstanding the presence of the civi
officers OF the United States who, by his di
%recton, had visited the scene of connection
arms and ammunition have been procured
by tie Insurgents, in the United States, the
proclamation proceeded =
Now, therefore, to the end tia; the authority o. the Law.
may be maintained and the faith Of treaties observed, I, Martin
Van Buren,, do most earnestly exhort all citizens OF The tinted
states who have violated their duties to return peaceabiy &c
Their respeciatiSe homes, and hereby warn them that any
persons Uho shall comp oDiss the neutrality Of This Gor.
affairs Of The neigh6oring British proTi1ers, viii render II them.
selves liable to arrest and punishment under the Laws of the
AT the request of Lord Durham, Mr.. Van
Buren, had directed our commanding officer
on Lake Ontario to co-operate in any meas
ures which might be suggested by Lord Dur
ham tor roofing out the band OF pirates who
had their quarters among the thousand
ISLES" without the slightest regard TO the Of
hcial proclamation of their chief, Mr.. Will
liam Johnson, holding a commission from
the patriot Government, that the patriots
would carefully respect neutral waters and
the rights OF all citizens Of the United States.
On the 21st November, 1888, President
Van Buren, issued a second proclamation,
calling upon the misguided and deluded per-
sons 10 abandon projects dangerous TO their
own country, fatal to those whom thew pro-
fess a desire TO relieve, impracticable of exc
cuton without foreign aid, which they can
not nationally expect to obtain, and giving
rise to imputations, however ~unfounded,
against the honor and good faith of their
own Government.
The proclamation further called upon &" ev-
cry officer, civil and military, and upon eve-
ry citizen, by the veneration due by all free
men 10 the laws which they have assisted to
enact for their own Government, by his re-
gard for the honor and good faith of his
by his love of honor, and respect
Tor that sacred code of laws by which nation
al intercourse is regulated, to use every pow
er to arrest for trial and punishment every
offender against the laws providing for the
of our obligations to the other
powers of the world"
On the 4th of December, 1898, the Presi-
lent In his message to Congress, declared,
If an Instruction existed in Canada, the
lmicable disposition of the United States. as
we'll as their duty to themselves, would lead
hem to maintain a strict neutrality, and to
estraln It's citizens from all violation of the
avs which have been passed for its enforce
nent. But the Government recognizes a still
obligation TO repress all attempts on
he part OF Its citizens TO disturb the peace of
country where order prevails or has been
established"
Such was the neutrality on the part of the
United States towards Great Britain. It re-
the rebels of Canada not as bel.
gerentS, but as insurgents, and it enforced
5 neutrality not by forbidding lis citizens
assist Great Britain to maintain its au-
lorlty against the insurgents. but nv for
ldding them to interfere IN an unlavfuZ
'anner with the affairs of the Provinces.
1t needs no intimate knowledge of inter-
ational law, no study of Grotius, or Pufen-
orr, or Vattel, or Wheaton, no definitions of
lie rights of belligerents and privateers from
lie Consulate del Mare. from Lampredi, Ga
ami, Moser, or Huebner. to enable us to
the wide difference between the
we practised toward England and
er rebels, and that which England has in
against US; and no refinement of
asoning. nor subtle CLOSES INDUCED in by
e English press. have at all blinded the
people to the unfriendlv character
this royal proclamation.
The recognition of the independence of the
outhern Confederacy is a matter in the dis
elton OF England, and of all foreign nations. !
hen this independence is established as a
after OF fact, we expect it to be recognized
England does not SO recognize it. She
cognlzes the Confederacy as simply strug- !
ing for independence as were the insurgents {
Canada, and pending the struggle she :
lun.ePrS under DrofeSSionS IF ,au,oE., = {
lore our constitutional right to subdue !
I'm, and to recognize their rebellion as 1
vful war. Bound TO us by treaty ~stipuIa-
ms, she elevates them to an equality of
sitlon as regards belligerent rights under b
law OF nations. She places their usurped h
Ternment, based on treachery and slavery, t.
a par with that founded by Washington fl
his associates on the broad consent of the o
nerlcan people. She introduces Jefferson h
Wis and his confederates TO a limited ex- \
t into the family of nations, endorses the 81
,nses given by them TO pirates whose bru- n
cupidity is stimulated by brides of blood II
ney-twenty dollars for every murdered A
and transforms them into letters tn
marque, which the ships of all nations oil
bound to recognize, respect, and obey. "
Had she treated them as insurgents, they %
aid have had no other rights on the sea fe
n had Bill johnson, the pirate of the St. &C
Having proclaimed them bellig- dc
3, she has given them a commission not
ply to cupture American property in pr
erican vessels, but TO capture on the high m
American property on board whatever so
sci 1t may be found. and to carry the neu. an
vessel and cargo into a belligerent port X
further examination. She recognizes the cl;
It of the men who have robbed our treas wi
betrayed our forts, and flched our navy in
Is and a~rsenals to establish prize-courts W
decide upon the lawfulness of captures
lie by their commissioned cruisers and eS
lght into court for adjudication, and the I'll,
to be given by Davis courts is to be an