Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1864-01-07
The Alexandra Gus.

The case of tie Alexandra sez at Liverpool by The
authorities Of the British government On the ground that
she was built for the Confederate government AID in
tended to DO war service for the South tried be
fore the Chief Baron Of the Court Ct Exche qUor, and
special Jury. The verdict Of the jury, in accordance
with the ruling OF the Chief Baron against the gov
ernmeEt and in favor Of the claimants OF tie ve5se
1t is known that the Crewn lawyers took exception to
the verdict, and that trial to oe had before
the full Court on the 9TH Of November The result Of
the new trial has not reached this country at least it is
not yet known in the Confederacy. Perhaps tee day
for the trial was further postponed. La the meantime
the ground taken by the Chief Baron in the first Trial
may not DO uninteresting We find them given stated
in the supplement to the Liverpool Post OF the 10Th
November
The case" sad the Chief Baron to the jury, you
have to decide tie present occasion Is doubt
not merely OF great Importance, but really is momel
tous question. 1t is "a question the Importance OF
which it is impossible to eXaggerae, and which
approaches with varied sentiments. OLe certainly is
feeling of the deepest regret that such question should
ever have arisen and cannot help Expressing the
deepest, almost anguish that Csc tet that such ques
ton should have arisen by ds5ens;on amongst those
who are connected with Us by the dearest possible ties
that can bind nation to nation: common lineage,
common language, common laws, ard common htera
ture and above ALL say, above al thega-a strong
desire for constitutional freedom" His ordsh4 OBJ
served that should there be cordemnati0u OF the
sell certain parties would be guilty Of nIsi meauJr.
The law of the was TO be found IN the 1th section
of the Foreign Enlistment Act and thai socN0n
follows:
"Apd be- it further enacted, that il any prison with
in any part of the United Kingdom or in any part Of
his Maestys dominons beyond the Seas, shall without
the leave and license OF bis Nj sty Tor the purpose
first had and obtained aforesaid eqap, turnisi fit
out and procure to be equipped furnished fitted
out Or armed, shall knowingly aid, assist, be
cerned in the q1ppirg, urnlshlI ting oat, or arm
ing any ship vessel with intent in odr III II suca
ship or vessel shall De employed il the service OF any
foreign prince and so on that person is guilty q ms
demeanor, is liable to fine and impFls u.Gtn asa tie
vessel is forfeited aud may be sezsd"
| "Now" continued his lOrdshp, "the questiU- that
shall propose you is this whether you nGk that this
vessel me,ey in tie OF building Tor lie pur
pose Of bssug delivered in pursuance OF coaract,
which own | think perfectly lawful; Or wt4eth1r
there was any intention that port CT liverpool
or any other English port (and theirs certainly
dance of any oher) tie vessel should be equipped, tied
OUT and furnished, armed tor the purpose Of aggreg
sion That is the question" His I0rdship continued
1 will state to you why put tie quts ion &c to
the Attorney General. l said, Do you II an To Say
that man cannot make vessel inerdng TO sell il
either Of the beligeren powers that rqairs to have it
to that which will give him the largest price Tor
it2 Is that unlawful The Learned Attorney t4ene-
Irol, OVID, rather to my uprise declined giving
answer to question which thought very plain and
very clear. Yoa saw what passed must leave you
to judge whether there anything improper il tae
manner in which $50 to express ~ command vi. h
6 the Attorney MmReral on the law, that might
really unders Yea other, and toat might have my
mind nsructe led out, equipped and furnished, Il
= you please, by The contents Of lis. Gentem-n, tie
learned General declined 10 that q7ts
tior. But think by this time, having read to you
these matters, you are lawyers e1otsh to aas4er il
yourselves | think that ought to be, " US &
q man may make vessel" Nay, more, according to
the authority haSe just read ne may make,a vessel
IL -, 1
down. But meant gentlemen, said then, ii [ mad
got an affirmative answer to that qu9.tion to put
another. If any man may build vessel lor
the purpose Of edering it to either of he
, peIgerent powers who is minded to have it, nay
he not execute order Tor it Because it seems to me
to follow matter of course, if may make vessel
and then gay to the United States II have got p-
tai vessel it can easily be Turned into ship of war;
course have not made it ship of war at present. VIII
you buy it ?it that is perfectly lawful, surely 1t is
lawful for the United States to say, Make vessel
such and such description and when you have made
it send it to u.s." Now the learned counsel certainly
addressed Themselves very much this view Of the
matter. 1t said-But it you allow this you repeal
the statute. Gentlemen, think nothing of the kind -
q What that statute meant to provide for was
own. think, by no msars The protec-
q their protection entered into the heads of
g those who framed this statue, otherwise they
, would have said-You shall not sell guupo#der you
shall not sell guns. There places that nov and
SneU Ill QiucEtuI partS vi Tue hluSQOn, ana
which would have complained very heartily if they had
said, you shall not sell gunpowder you shall not sell
arms. Why all birmingham would have been in-sx1ns.
The vessel was clearly nothing more than in
course Of building. I do not know what conclusion
you would have come to to what service was
tended for. II it became \ matter of importance to
. decide that, it would be question for you
to decide whether it amounted to than q
, strong suspicion, whether it was SO made
out to your entire satisfaction as to Justify
! a verdict in that direction. Blu, gentle
men, I do not propose to put that to you. The
offence against which this Information directed is the
|" equpping, furnishing, fitting out, armng" Gentle
man, have looked, 30 that might not go wrong las
have the advantage OF having it here at Websters
American Dictionary, work of the greatest learning
research, and ability. No one complain that re-
fer to that. 1t appears there that to "equp is "o rn
ISL with arms" In the case of ship especially is
"tofurnish and complete with with arms Tat is
what is meant BY "equipping'' Furnish" is given in
fit out" "to furnish and supply, to fl os priva
teer. Aud l own. that my opinion is that 'equip''
furnish" ''f out" ''arm, all mean precisely the
same thing do not to say that is is abs outelv
necessary land think that the learned Attorney Gen
eral is right in that it is not perhaps necessary that
the vessel should be armed at all points.
In conclusion his lordship said -
But the question is, was there any intention that in
the port OF Liverpool in any other port she should
be- jim the language of the Act of Parliament either
"equipped furnished fitted out out armd" with the
mention of taking part in any contest II at there was
knowledge that very likely she would be so applied
there be no doubt there is when persons sends
powder take it for granted that there are agent on both
sides. One openly buying every munion Of war land