New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1864-01-12

duties 1naslucn hs ne thereby
Of the benefit Of Lis neutrality aud subjects him to the
ncony enienccs Of war such begcrent justly exposes
himself to the risk Of the injured neutral openly taking
part with The enemy.
AZ the code which regulates the duties Ct neutrals
nnd begcreuts is not precisely written code. but
code which, while based natural justice is modified
by treaties and judicial decisionsn word. by prece
dentSit is Of immense Importance for neutral powers
that no unjust precedent which mi ht row or hereafter
be quoted authority be admitted into the Law Of na'
tons.
IT is these grounds that propose TO examine the
legal and moral weight Of certain Judgments recently
pronounced by the American Courts, in Uf the
seizure Of neutral vessels by the cruisers Of the United
States.
According 10 the official documents before us. il
appears that the NowYork District Prize Court, pre-
sided over by Judge Belts sunmaiy. and at the single
sitting OF the LIST Of August last condemned seven Eng
s merchant vessels aud their cafgoes prizes OF war;
We have thoroughly and attentively examined all the
documents and evidence In the cases OF two OF these
vessels namely the Sprngbok and the stephen Hart.
and have satisfied ourselves that did any tri
bunal pronounce judgments more repusnant to justice
than these two COMBINATIONS
The Sprngbok. M English sailing vessel was char
tered by English merchant fora voyage from London
t. Nassau New Providence. English colony. Loaded
with merchandise which belonged exclusively To En-
glishmcn and having al her ships papers in perfect
proceeded direct for Nassau. Being slow saler, she
took two months 10 cross tire Atlantic On the "a oi
February. 1863 che in lat % - NJ and long 7J 10
W. OF Greenwich. and consequently about ~ leagues
distant from Nassau. There she was oyerhauled and
searched by the United States shipoiw war aonoa, who
seized hcr a prize Of war and carried her for adndiea
tion 20 Ncwl York the prctoxt dat " she was loaded
with cOnirahnud Of for tie 81 The Southern Ecb
els" In the official net - Of sczrie (FTocls rcrbdD II
is express stated that when the 5onoma fol in with the
SVfilcbuf tie latter vessel WIS steering straight Tor
Hrb0r Island tie most dircc, slc could follow
10 reach her destination. Nassau.
We can undcrst nd tis Of violence the part Of
The commander Of the SOnona bound, probably. 10 eI
cou,e the pcrcmptory orders Of his Governments hut
how shall We explain and how ought We to qualify, the
judgmcI Of The pri1c count Of Ncw-lofk which pro
nouncrd both vessel and cargo prize " war; ON what
legal grounds did Judge ets bise that double condein
nationi On thc following proposition OF law among
others. which ne propounaod ~ an inconiesabe prnc
PIE I'm international mariimclaw;
"Th- neutral vessel sailing between neutral ports Is not
less subject csie md cond nnsion abe he laden WIN
Win sic destined but 70 DO thence 'rsn.hpped TO the en-
enl c. uniry" III
which No give tcHtuall. IS in fragrant contradiction
with those which have been laid down by the most emf
Dent juIists IL syciy easy o. prove this.
IL ticrc be any principle In international mara
time law upon which all the authorities iroin Lord
Sloweli and Judge St0ry down 10 Elstorcus' IN In
gland. and 10 NJ lie Hauiecule in France, are mani.
nous it is, that there Is no such thing as conirabanG
trade between neutral ports or with n neutral port
Goods belonging 10 u neural no matter o. what
these goods consist and whore they munitions Of
war eaaed On nesTa ''S o, war pro-
vIdsd he goods are b0uade the property Of neutral
- 81 rsi de.lnation OF the vessel BE- a neutral port
determine tie il gaty Of the voyage; AID an the ease
IN poinI she prize court had 10 right whatever To take
into either the nature ~ the cargo is
Interior destination Any suspicion or even rr-itire
evidence that icse goods. after arrival and dseubark
alton TIE neutral poi, were intended to be afierward
forwarded thence 10 The enemy, was altogether V7e3sn
10 the cis~ and inedIissatlc BY prize court
These are he terms which 81. de Iautofcuil. sK
presses himself ou tbs point:
oont and 81 th. Of two conditions 10 4 d.
Ten.abo II j. necessary hft a iAsie 10 actually eon'ta
icr the q tie ycssss aud Ter Ard secondy that
tie se,s be bound for pen o: Tia bsgrcni power q var
coalition l. to oouiuies voatlon of the cb
cation. o neu,Tay, ninEsn~n en- ;Ae sh. of 5cli(r
tons Ssuifes." tome 3D., p AL
Tie equity OF ih.s doctrine IL No. only selfeyldent
but i. made ,il by tho absursy 81 that which
Judge Icits Opposes IT, IL II admitted In fact
tina, the ultrior destination ~ certain articles Of
ohandise their way RON ont neutral or, TO another
Jusi6cs their conascat.on BY one a The bcIseTcnts,
tie North Americans would. FOR example Dc entitled
~ overhaul aud search French vessel their voyage
between bordeaux and hasre. as wei 40 Enghsh YES
sells bound from London 90 Liverpool to ascertain
whether they had not among tier caTgOcs any contra
band articles aud. In they had 90 capture them
They would have. sOTeOs or al quail night D. coHircac
ell the European steamers runns on 'he us"tantIo
lines tie prctcIt that these steamers carry 10 New.
York Boston to Havana conirsnsnd ofw war destined
ullerioT.y for TIC Coni'deIAies 49,
The c1e II the stephen Hart does not difcr essen-
tnlv from that Of tie Springhok Here again We hA'o
an English sailing vessel laden with Al entirely In.
Tor the neutral spanish tort oi cafdena m TIE sand
OF Cuba Nevertheless ilr St hrn Hart va seized on
The 9th Of January. ls62 In Cuban waters. ~ a.
American ship Of war; conveyed 10 New ors and oon
demn,d along vlth her cafg, as prize OF Wal. The
ground ~ Judgment IN this even surpesses In cr
ifnyagancc that Of the sprngbok. We give II tent
ually;
ITO subject e.rre to the renaly q eonhseailon
tfrbspd l. an erroneous np0n that ~ iensi must
be dreots anedasy 10 he enenys county or eneiDy'
at Is cult. sufficient Il, u'ums. dcs,inaon be esab
ish,d for the u tie army navy Of the enemy iisuch
he Tie u,eoi er.'In" the psaay Of so aao y ~,
,rs por one Of trsi.shirmsni d the cargo"
These two decisions 81 Judge Belts involve unforu
naey not ole Dui several Violations o The law Of ma
tom.
let n asume FOR moment that the fac. OF rs heng
ulteri0rY stined for Of The belgcrcnts rcndcs
the neutral cargo If neutral vessel sailing beteccn
neutral ports Liable ~ seizure ~ Tie other begorent
u still remains 10 be proved That THIS cargo IL composed
Of conrnband articles for we're II not 5" II could nos
be seized except in the ease alone VI the vessel caI!
II attempting 70 enter one oI ise she"l e.-E p'Nn
aided pOrs. But neither tie sprngbok nor the stephen
Hart has been accused Of running the pi"e bvth
ln,ing been condemned for having lad ON board COZ
A~ofdinr 20 the libel Of the American authorities
the cargo Of the Sprngbok was composed almost entire
liz OF dry goods There were however. one dozen rie
bsyOncts AID dozen swords, few hundIed weight
OF nitrate OF potash besides some bales Of coarse brown
cloth saic b the United Saies authorities 10 be Suita
bic for the Of the Rebel uOops and lastly ease OF
puft,is ON which stamped neither arms nor any
national device but which tbs Federal authorities fur
tier declared o. be- adapted to tho uniforms OF the
Rebels Solely ncoountof these patry articles the
SpIingbok a me bark with all her valuable cargo las
been seized and condemned by the tribunal Of New
York.
Let us see II tho aboUwentioned articles can be
legally considered within the category Of cOntrnband
of war and Jet Us again turn TO H. de auieieuile, the
most recent auhOiy and Of all French writoTs the one
who possesses the greatest weigh IN such matters lie
rl, restriction ihat which imposes on the liberty Of
peutrs commerce. Affects tho. articles only destined innedi
atey beeoms IN iAe hads oite po-sesaC drcet neana