The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1863-10-23
THE WEEKLY PIONEER AND DEMOCRAT
against the Federal States. And, gentle

against the Federal States. And, gentle
men, | am not speaking the sentiments
which are peculiar to myself, or to those
who have no immediate interest in the
question, but these are, aM convinced,
the sentiments OF that n0ble-hearted peo-
pie OF Lancashire, who have lived and
hourisl'ed by that industry, but who would
not, am sure, allow a single spot on The
escutcl,eOn of their nation in order to
maintain that industry. CLEAR, hear, and
clieers.)
| PHIvATEERS BUILDING AND FITTING,
Well, there came new complaints "a
complaint on the part of the fetlcrals that
we allowed ship to leave the port of
Liverpool, which afterwards committed
depre'iat!ons on their commerce Gentle
men, it would lead far if were to 20 over
all the particulars of the question; but you
must know that in order to prove an
offence you require such evidence us can
be sfted in a court Of ju ,tice, end it was
not till the very day the Alabama LETT
Liverpool, that in the opinion Of lawyers
we had evidence sufficient to keep the
vessel and crew; then doubt whether, if
we had brought the evidence before a
court of law, it would have been found
that we had sufficient evidence to condemn
her, because, by an evasion of the law, the
ship was fitted up without the arms neces-
sa-y for her equ pment, ard these arms
were conveyed to her in the waters of
foreign county, very far from the juri
ton Of England. (Hear) Gentlemen,
these questions must be weighed, as they
frequently have been weighed by the
Government Of the United States of
America, in the balance of equity. We
know that the foreign enlistment ac., and
tie whole law respecting the subject, is
very difficult Of application. The princi-
pie is clear enough. If you are asked to
sell musk its to one party or to the other,
and SD with regard to gunpowder, shells
or cannon; and you may sell ship in the
same manner
! But if you, on the one hand, train and
drill regiment with arms in tieir hands,
or allow regiment to go out with arms
il their hands to take part with one of two
belligerents, you violate your neutrality
and commit an offence against the other
belligerents. So in the same way in re-
gard to ships, it you allow shi :, to be
armed and go at once to make an attack
on fareign belligerent, you are yourself,
according to your own law, taking Part IN
the war, and it is an offence which is pun
ished by the law. But these questions
lead, as you will see, to the most difficult
prOblems-ss to whether, for instance, a
thousand persons here may go out as
labOrers to the Federal States, and in the
next place a thousand muskets may go out
in another ship, and when they arrive in
| America these thousand laborers, having
had an understanding before, may make
formal engagement and be armed with
these Thousand muskets; though if that
had been done in the territory of the
Queen, and on the soil of this country, it
would have been an offence.
THE STEAM RAM QUESTION.
| There are other questions with regard
to slips that have lately been prepared in
this country, becau,e these ships are not
| like ships which receive the Usual equip
ment known in wars in times past, but
they are themselves, without any further
armament, formed for acts of offence and
war. They are steam rams, which might
be used for the purpose of war without
ever touching the shores of the Confed-
crate ports. Well, gentlemen, to permit
ships of this kind knowingly to depart
from this country, not to cutter into any
Confederate port, not to enter into the
port of belligerent, would, you see, ex-
pose our good faith to great suspicion; I
| feel certain that if, during our war with
France, the Americans had sent lire-of-
battle ships to break our blockade at
Brest, whatever reasons they might have
urged in support OF that, we should have
considered it violation of neutrality
Such is the spirit in which l am prepared
to act. Everything that the law of ra
tions requires, everything that our law,
that the Foreign enlistment act requires,
I am prepared to do, and even if it should
be proved to be necessary for the preser-
walton of our neutrality, that the sanction
of Parliament should be asked to further
measures. In short, to sum up, her Maj
esty's government are prepared to do
everything that the duty of neutrality re-
quires-e, erything that is just to a
friendly nation, taking as principle that
we should do to others as we should wish
to be Gone to ourselves. cloud cheers.)
But this We will not dove will not adopt
| ANY measures ludI We tullk 10 D0 wrong.
We will not yield a jot of British law or
British right in consequences of the men,
aces of any foreign power. cloud and
prolonged cheers.)
| NEUTRAL RIGHTS AT SEA.
And now, reverting again to the COM
plants that have been made, it is singular
to observe how jaundiced the minds of
some of those who speak in the New Eng
land States are Oh this subject of our con-
duct. There were some persons, men,
bers of the House of Lords, who thought
fit to complain on an apparent case of
grievance not one case, but many
cases-of Ships of ours that have been
siezed; ships in some cases passing from
neutral ports, in other cases on the sea,
but apparently on legitimate voyage /;
and it was urged that We ought not to
submit to have our vessels thus seized and
our commerce thus interrupted. / had
to deal with that case, and mysanswer
was that, according to the law of nations,
if ship had an ostensible voyage to a
destination which was not her real destin-
ation-if she was bound, ia fact, to an
enemys port with munitions of war, the
| ho1l;roran had vioht tO cton tbot vo,col