, 1865-06-29

President JohnS0n'S Piracy Pro
Clamatl0n.
Debate In the EnEllsh Honse Of Lords
on Bellfgerent Rights as Applied to
AmtticAs

In tic House Of Lords on tho 18th inst. the
Earl ot Derby said: Il wish to ask the no. |
BE Earl, the Secretary Of State for Foreign
AtIa'rs, q question with respect t. two docu-
nerts which have lately appeared in the pub
lie papers-one containing q circular from
the noble Earl himself, addressed to the IN t
rious departments Of the Government. and
the other purportipg to be proclamation Of
The President oi the United States. First,
as to the document addrs ssed By the noble
Earl to his coil agueE-to the effect that P ACT
having bceu restored throughout the terrl- |
tory of the United States, tho status OF /
be.lIgc,cn.s was bent . orth abandoned. Since |
the Issuing Of that document tntoIma tlon |
of 3 more accurate kind aad been
prevailed throughout the Whole tezrit0fy Of |
Tie United statea, alshough It bad previously
been supposed that beyond the Mississippi |
there was an organized Confederate force |
ready to continue the contest. But that ex-
pectation had now been swept away. The |
chief Of the Confederate Sta 'es, who for four
YEAH had maintained struggle against the |
whole power Of the United statos, represent
ipg during TINT struggle sa7ah or eight ml-
lions OF mtn. Is now prisoner and awaiting
his doom. It may not ba out Of the way that
should express an earnest hope, which
am sure Is sntersa!ned By the whole Of the
mouse, as We'll Us W LIE "uatS - AAAo eo4e-
try, and indeed By all the civilized world;
that this party which has achieved 50 signal
Victory will not follow course dictated by
revenge or violence [checrBl: that they Will
not seek to exasIerate the feelings, already
too much embitteied, OF their former ansagu-
to cement, ifit be possible, ths Cnion 90 near.
ly ditsol3ld [cheeIs1, and to treat those who
arc placed ia their power, not US rcyolted
subjects, but as persons van4uishrd though
not dtshonored. lcheers.1 Gp1n the course
which they followed Will mainly depend the
only in This country but throughout the civil
lied world. But would wish to call the at
tent1on of the noble lord to the answer
which he gave on q former evening TO a noble
baron who asked whether It was the inten'
tIon, Of her Ma|estJ's Government TO con-
Of the ContedeEates. The. noble earl gaye
IN answer satisfactory to the House when be
! eald that this must depend upon the United
| States themselves; that from the time they
| should give up enforcing the blockade,
| fiom that time this country would nb.
rent rights OF the Confedtrates. wish
to call attention to that answer, and 10
the way In which 1t is to be regarded
In connection with the Proclamation late.
ly Issued by the President Of the United
States. It; WAS stated that certain ports
| NEfE u UG GpEup uAL kk14t 4lAcIt3 1Dt fat1OuS
| aud psi ticnlar reasons, were considered to be
! clostdl for tue present, and that any persons
i attempting for mercantile purposes to enter
these interdtcted ports, sh hould be trca'cd as
pirates. The President Of the United States
exercises vast powers; but he has not the
power Of changing the international law Of
The world. He may claim to exercise bcllige-
rent rights to establish blockade, Or he
may make municipal regulations but the
penalty fer the violation Of the blockade is
| we'll defined, and such IN offlnse cannot be
construed into the crime of piracy. The
forcing an entrance into these ports eau
simply be regarded as Smuggling, aud moth
| Isrtses ale to be treated aapisatee, Ia thing
! which 1t IL impossible to pass unuottced. I
| wish to ask the noble lord, first, whether he
has reason TO believe that the psocla-
nation Il genuine, whether 1t has been COM
municatcd to him, and II 60, whether he has
against that dect1inc which It Is impossible
for us to acknowledge? I would also ask
the noble earl how he can reconcile the letter
with drawing bclliserent rights from the Con
federates before the war had ceased with the
reply be gaye to the noble baron e 1ord
Houghton) the other day, that these belllse.
rent rights would not be withheld 30 long
as the United States put forward claim to
interfere with neutral commerce? won'd
further ask the noble elrl whether he Is pre-
pared to lay upon the tablc the circular lie
has add lcssed to his colleagues, the ptocla-
nation, II be has received it, and any answer
be may have written on the subjects
Earl Russell {Who Was fTely indistinctly
heard in the galle1J) was understood to say
that with respect to the letter to which tho
noble Earl had alluded, he would statc the
circumstances under which it was written
It appeared that the noble Lord had heard
from time to time what "led him to believe
Fr-n nf,.1- /. ~ L.
the contest: bnt he was now Induced to be.
1leye that they were un1ble to cope With the
armies Of the United States, and that in q
few days d surrender must be expected. It
was under these circumstances that this coun-
try had to consider what policy should be
gard to the matter, because we had received
10 regular communication from the United
States that bel1igerent rights had been aban-
doned. There was also another dif-
lenlty In going on with the con-
that though tie war had eHtire!y eeas:d
Oh The continent Of America, there had been
two ytss.ls, the Shenandoah and the Stone
wall, which were supposed to be craiser6 OF
the Confederate party, one Of which was at
Havana, and was understood TO hare been
diearmed and given up to the Fedcrals, and
| the other, The Shenandoah. had put into
stYernl potts IN the Australian colonies. It
would be m obvious anamoly, when the war
had virtually ceased on the continent Of
America ana the Whole frontier vas In pos
session Of the United States Government,
TINT vessels should 60 about from port to
her NaIesty's order Of 1861. Before this state
Of things was brought about be had an Inter
view With Mr. Adams, aud had asked him
whether the United States Government were
ready to nbaudcn the search OF neutral YES
sels, Mr. Adams aesnrea hlm tana.1aa tnas 5aon5n
convinced that that would be the case.
| Under these circumstances he had writ
| len the letter to which the noble
ca1I referred, and he should have no objection
to iay i: on the table Of the House. A simi.
lar Communication, but IN ge9e:M a Terms, % nc ns
Europc, mud had reached Paris, Madrid and
Coue9hagcn. With regard to the proelama-
| t.on TO which the noble earl referred, L was
rerta}nly a yery curious document Hear,
| hfar.l It was, no doubt, hight enouGh IN the
statement that from the t1sst oi Jnly taese
a;nn ~ commerce, and the reason why TINT date
wsa mentioned was that the Custom House
sr-nncsments would By that time be COM
nleted. Tie etatement with regard to piracy
was certainly somewhat startling. tdeas,
hear1 Sir Fred. Bruce had eIpressed
.nrncIamatlon could clearly not be considered
iirary and that no court in the unitea
s1aies si Ton,d hold it to b. such. He was
bound to say that her sajsstys Government, 1,9 n,
spE s ssas M hops gas ssa sst taa
e,nms It would set With clemency to these
< 9bn.hsd taken up arms. He took occasion
when Speaking to their 1otdsh1ps @ np,n pa1ass tas
! s:nilar hope; aud he Ind tl. taken . the 13p o3p-
p1nlt5 Of oeseryi tha5 asd hsa 80 ps1ed
hIn,seM sIa to O. a course Of mercy, that 1t was
s most nnfo1 o. tnnate he should hare been tai
En- T f:om T The world at the moment Ehsn he
mislt it, tave. sa applied those principles 70
witch lie bsd expESssed hts nahsrence. :h.i aas He
.of Sor tbe sake Of the rest OF the world,
Wonld act in accordance with these seati.