Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1863-10-07
MORNING LEADER.
WEDNESDAY, MORVING. OOT. ,, 1s6;
The Law of NntIOhnl Necessity.

The Law of Nntiohnl Necessity.
The fact that the iron-rams, now in Eng
lish barbOrs, are intended for the rebel
service is as clearly established as any
thing can be without actual documents to
prove it. 1t is asserted positively that
their departure has been prohibited by the
English Government. 1t is to be hoped
that this is correct; but if not, the Ameri-
can people would be ready to endorse the
action of our gallant commanders who
nightmare law Of necessity, and enter
the English port, to cut them out and de-
stroy them. The New York Evening Post
calls up historical precedent for such a
course, where exceptions have been recog-
nized to the general rule that neutral ter
ritory must be respected by nations en-
gagged in war. The privileges Of neutral
may be pushed SO far, and so systematic
may be the course of that neutral to favor
one belligerent at the expense of the other,
thst, although she may keep within the
strict letter Of the law, she must be taught
lesson Of caution In such cases the ex-
euss must be the necessity for the act.
The burning Of the steamer Caroline in
1887 is 8 case in point. There was
revolution in Canada, and body Of the
insurgents were encamped on Navy Island,
in the Niagara River. The British alleged
that the steamer Caroline was engaged in
carrying supplies to them. A party Of
British soldiers, under orders from Colonel
McNsb (sfterwards Sir McEab, being
knighted by the British Government for
this very act crossed the river to the
American side, cut out the Caroline, kill
ing one man in the act, and sent the boat
sdrift over the Falls. The British General
defended the act upon the ground of " the
necessity of self-defense and self-preserva-
ton" And when, five years later, one of
those soldiers was caught in New York
and put on trial for the murder of the man
who was killed, Lord Asbburton, speak
ing for the British Ministry, in 8 letter to
Mr.. Webster, dated July 2Sth, 1912, said Of
this case:
II
country, suffer their people to fit out ex-
peditions to take part in distant quarrels,
such conduct may, according to the circum-
stances of each case, be justly subject of
COMPLAINT; and perhaps these transactions
have generally, in late times, been too
much overlooked or counived at.
"But the case we are considering is of
wholly different description, and may be
best determined by answering the follow
ing questions: SuppOsing man standing
on ground where you have no legal right
to follow him, has weapon long enough
to reach you, and is striking you down and
endAngering your life, how long are you
bound to wait for the assistance of the au'
thority having legal power 10 relieve you2
Or, to bring the fact more Immediately
home to ths case, If cannon are moving
and setting up in battery which can reach
you, and are actually destroying life and
property by their Ere, if pou have remon-
streted for some time without effect, and
see no prospect of relief, when begins your
right to defend yourself should you have
no other means Of doing so than by seiZ-
ing your sssailant on the verge Of neu-
tral territory ?!
Another precedent arose in the war of
1872, when General Jackson pursued a
party Of Indians into Florida then prov
inee Of the neutral Governmental Of SPAIN
and seized two Scotchmen who had sup
plisd the hostile Indians with arms, &C.,
and hanged them by court martial. The
set was efectually justified by John Quin-
oy Adams on the ground of necessity. The
Post says;
HBut the rule laid down by the British
ministry will suffice for cases in which the
rebels avail themselves Of the protection
and facilities afforded by British ports to
prosecute their hostile designs against US.
Inasmueh ss the pirates, who now plunder
our merchant vessels and have almost
driven them from the ocean, proceeded
from British ports, manned by british sea-
men, it is but ftring that, if the necessity
Of saving our commerce on the seas from
utter extinction should compel us to violate
the pesce or neutral port, the pirates
should be destroyed in the waters from
which they issued and to which they most
frequently resort for shelter and supplies
HThe case Of the rams built by Messrs
Laird & Co in England, for the purpose o.
breaking through the defences of our sea
ports and driving off our blockading squad
rons, is perhaps 8 still stronger case thar
that of the pirates already at sea. We may
say to England; You say that you can
not pre- Fent the departure of these vessels
from your ports on their hostile errand
If you cannot, we can. 1t is case Of ne
cessity; the safety of our sesports, the Sc
curity Of our coast and the speedy termi
nation Of bloody war all require thai
these new means Of annoyance should bt
wrested from the hands Of the rebels be
fore they can be welded against us, ant
We must take leave, in such a case as this
to proceed on the principles which yol
have laid down in your previous dealings
with our own government"
The Conspiracy Against Western steam
bOatss
A St Louis dispatch to the Chicago Tri
bune has the following regarding the al
legged plot to burn the entire Western