Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1863-09-01

The Rights of Corsairs

The Rights of COrsairs.
The name Of pirates that we have given to
the armed vessels carrying the confederate
flag has touched the susceptibility of their
friends. We have been reproached for not
taking into account the difficult circumstances
in which the southern contcderacy finds itself
in carrying on this war. They have no ports,
we are told, and neutral nations refuse to al
low their prizes to be brought into their ports
for sale, hence the necessity which cOmpels
them them to burn or sink the vessels they
capture. The communications that we have
received on this subject amount to nothing.
We know perfectly well that the slave conted-
eracy has no power to fit out vessels under
the law Of nations, and ii is for this reason that
we denounce these vessels by the terms they
merit pirates. The pretended law of ncccs-
sity which they claim to excuse their violation
of international law is not valid, as they can
not in any way change the established rules
among nations, whether at war or III peace
By all civilized nations il has been established
and agreed To that certain course must be
pursued and certain tornaliues observed he
fore an armament can be recognized as IL.
gitimate enemy. These fornaIlties are three
in number: /. The navy must be commisSiQn-
ed by government. 2. I he parties fitting
out the vessel must have given bonds sufficient
to answer any demands that amy illegal cap
ture may subject them to. g. Before diSp0S-
ing of any prize it is indispensable that they
shall prove before proper tribunal that the
prize is valid.
Masse, IN his Commercial Law, says ''when
person assumes right Of war which does
not pertain to an individual, he puts himself
in rebellion against society. He becomes in
a manner denationalizcd and should be pro-
ceeded against as a pirate and an enemy Of all
nations, even his own, the authority of which
he fails to recognize. This is the law of
France Claw passed 10th April, 1925, Art. |;
Ordinance OF 1861, title TX, on Prizes, article
l and 81, and such are the laws and usages OF
the civilized world" Now what can be more
exhorbitant than this right which the conted-
crate vessels arrogate to themselves of con-
demning without appeal, putting out of exist
ence the prizes they take, burning and sinking
property the nationality of which they cannot
prove-this is not their proper mission. we
are willing to admit, as 1t Is affirmed, that the
confederate vessels are commissioned by their
government; but where Is the evidence that
they have given proper security to respond
for damages they may commit against neu-
trails? What guarantee can this spurious
government, instituted by hIessrs. Davis, Ma
son, Slidcll, Beauregard and Stevens, offer!
In what manner, for example, are the owners
of the Bremonter, of Bordeaux, OF which we
gave an account the other day, to be recon-
pensed for being compelled by one OF these
vessels to go out of her way to land prs'
oners? Under the system that these south
ern men assume to establish, neutral nayl-
CATION is exposed to damage for which 1t
will be impossible to obtain any redress.
''The third condition" says the learned au'
thor of the "Rights and Duties vi Neutral
Nations in Time of Maritime War;" ''gener-
ally required by the laws Of their countries
and by treaties, and which has consequently
become condition of international law, is
that the captor cannot dispose of his prize,
nor any part, however small, of the cargo of
the vessel taken, nor Of any papers. In short
he cannot claim the right Of property to a SIN
gle thing of any kind until a competent tribu-
nal has decided his right to the prizes by de-
claring Improperly and validity made, and CIV
ing it the right to dispose" To claim, as is
done, that the confederaes have no ports into
which they can carry their prizes, the neces-
sity of the case gives them the right to sink or
burn them, is simply to admit that a corsair
with his prize being pursued by an enemy has
the right to destroy the prize, or If he endeav-
orS to get into friendly port and finds it
blockaded or i'll possession of the enemy, has
the right to burn the captured vessel because
HS CduIlOI DllIlS IL DtIUIS pIlLG COuIl' JHS
law of nations has never sanctioned such an
enormity, and it falls to II government as little
regardful OF of the eternal rights of humanity
as the government of Richmond to venture
openly on such an open violation of the prin-
ciples by which the liberty and security Of the
ocean is guaranteed. When the natural laws
upon which are based liberty, property, and
the rights of man, when a community claims
to be the Regeneration of society on the toun-
dation of slavery, such community sets at
defiance the rules that by the univer-
sal consent of nations have been es
tablished to secure honor and honesty be-
tween belgerents, and they arrogate to them
selves the right to pilage and burn without
measure or mercy. Then they even go fur
ther: they claim to exercise sovereignty on
neutral territory, and take possession OF isl
ands and bays, where they act precisely as if
they were at home This is what they write
from Rio Janeiro ave have before alluded
to the armed confederate vessels taking pos
session of the Roca islands. There the Ala
bama carried her prizes, leaving them, to run
out after others. They were kept few days
at anchor, and after being pillaged were set
on fire. These acts called out an order from
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