New-York tribune., 1870-10-10
NEUTRALITY.

The irritation which Germany manifests
over the French purchases of arms III
England if not altogether reasonable, is at
all events perfectly natural. There can be no
more effective mode of making war than
deriving your enemy of his weapons; and if
France can send across the channel for fresh
muskets and fresh ammunition faster than
King William can force her soldiers in the
field and the fortresses to give up their arms,
the Prussians may be pardoned for feeling
that their labors are unfairly aggravated, and
that England makes herself really the armOry
of France. We must remember also that the
right of a neutral to sell cOntraband of war to
belligerents has never been clearly defined by
the European powers, and that England her
self has in former times entered a complaint
against Prussia almost identical with the COM
plaint which Prussia now enters against her.
Count BernstOrff, however, is not justified III
demanding that the British Government, in
the absence of any recognized rule OF lnterna-
tonal law, should all at once adopt an over-strct
policy of neutrality which would inf1ict great
damage not only upon the French but upon
her own citizens A revision of the Obliga-
tions of neutrals respecting cOntraband of
war, may perhaps be the subject of an inter
national agreement hereafter; but until some
such agreement is arrived at we do not see
how the action of the British Government can
fairly be condemned.
AS we have done and are still doing the
same thing of which Count BernstoTff so Bit
terly complains to Lord Granville, remon-
STRANGE against our shipments of arms to France
,,of,,ro1lxy ha 1oolyaH hut RIGHT IL
clearer than England's because our principles
and our practice have always been consistent
with each other. We have uniformly held the
doctrine that hostile expeditions and ships of
war may not lawfully be sent out from neu-
tral State to operate against another power,
because they become capable of offensive Ope-
ratiOns as soon as they leave the shelter of the
neutral flag, and the neutral territory becomes
in that case base of hostile opera
tiOns. But arms and other articles contra
band of war may be sold to anybody
who wants them, because they are harmless
until after they have reached the territory
of one of the belligerents, and it is the bust
ness of his enemy to prevent their getting
there if he can. The laws allow us to sell
guns, ammunition, army stores, anything we
please, W udJlOHS dJ wall DuO puICIdbe
must be made at the risk of the parties to the
bargain. If goods cOntraband of war are
stopped in transitu by the enemy's cruisers,
the shipper has no claim for redress, and
the Government will do nothing for him.
This distinction between hostile expeditions
and contraband goods has always been observed
In the policy of our successive administrations,
and is laid down in our statutes IL the Prus-
SLAMS want to buy arms of us, they can have
them on the same terms as the French. They
may say that they don't need them, and that
if they did, they could not export them for
fear of the French gunboats; but we surely
are not to be asked to change our neutrality
law either because Prussia has been more for
tunate than France in the field, or because
France is more powerful than Prussia on the
ocean.
The Proclamation of President Grant touch
ing the vessels of war of the two contendnc
nations, though it will practically operate as