Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1863-10-24
a STRONG PIsOTE EST.
A Warming TO ilsc british Govern
Hicnt.


One of the strongest protests that has
been made against the outfit of the rebel
pirates in British ports appears in the
Peoples JourHol of Dundee, Scotland The
whole case is cevcrly stated as follows:
'Is IT RIGHT -Four swift and powerful
steamers, built under the supervision of
Well-known Confederate officers, to the order
OF the Confederate government, and thor
oughly equipped for war, in and from our
seaport,, have now almost cleared the seas
of the ships of "a maritime power whose
merchant marine is equal to our own. These
four vessels, paid for in British gold. con
structcd 10y British shipbuilders, equipped
in British ports. and manned hy British
sailors, now cruise on their work of destruc-
ton. with the British flag hoistcd as IL
dccoy for the entrapping of the merchant
vessels of the Juit,d States. Of the four
prlvaicers, only two. the Florida and the
Suutherner have ever been in Il Confederate
; ap"rt. They are all entirely British in
their design and outfit. They belong to
II" recognised state; they obey no recognised
law they have no Stdtus as the war-ships of
any sovereign Power BrHiSh .tiom their
heet to Me'r Pohh0htS, they haze n0ththy Con-
.fedtrate otOW Hem except the colorado
prcteXt of II so-Called commission from an
lnsurgent subject of the United States.
Dtilt IN defiance of our municipal law,
equipped under cover of untruths. got out
OF our ports clandcstinely, and withoat any
legal clearance, and now engaged in burning
ships on suspicion, and without that legal
testing OF their cap ures which the usage,
or. in other words, the law OF nations re-
quircs. these four incendiarics are making
war history which. in turn viii ultimately
create Il war. for they are not only firing
tile ships OF one of the worlds mightiest
nations, hut they are. at the same time,
lighting in the heart of that proud anu
powerful nation Il fire of hatred which
assure'iiy will not die out in this generation
nor in the next.
These things are simple facts. American
captains. tronzed with tropical suns and
gray with age--men who have braved fevers
and storms in acquiring property in their
iinc ships--"rc returning tn their homes 10y
dozens. ruined mcn-mcn beggurcd 10y tue
inccndiarism of privateers fitted out Ivy
English Members of Parliament, in open
and impudent cUntravcntion of English law.
And while all this is the case there is on
our statue book an enactment which DEGREES
punishment for all who furnish such, or who
;s concerned in the aiding or assisting of
those who attempt to furnish such. Yet in
spite oi This tightly drawn law. which thus
includes not the chief criminal alone, bat
all, down to three removals of those who
have The rcmorcst completely in his guilt,
more vessels OF similar kind are being
built, and the offender is rccriN cd in P.rlia
mCnt with Cheers
This is serious state of things We
are drifting towards war in which the
right viii not hc with us---a war of pOrten-
tuuS dimensions, in which the working class
will have no sympathy with the governing
claSs-a struggle of giants into which Brl
tain, condemned 10y millions of her own
children, will not he able to throw her un-
divided power. At 81 grave II !iuncturr, we
beg of our Readers to remember the example
OF the United States, for at this time States
manShip docs not consist iE answering with
the qGlbhieS of II country attorney the just
complaints Ot an angry nation, but in deal
ing out to that nation Il measure of justice
at least as complete as thar which We have
IL, civcd u: its hands. Ii considerations of
honor have no power Ia move the nation,
considerations of interest should do 80. 1t
is for the people To consider whether. in the
midst Ot peace and prosperity, they wish to
Ian among their kindred Of the West those
nrcs al Indignation which threaten to be-
come uncomfortable. 1t is for working men
to ponder whether they will IDLY stand hy
and see their industrial interests sacrificed
- the interests ot two or three shipbuild,rs,
and great nation wronged to CRAFTY the
prcjudices of Il class. 1t is for good men of
all ranks to oppose policy which threatens
Ia throw ava! peace and plenty in the pur
cnase OF present privation, prospective dis
a>tcr and perpetual disgrace