The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1873-12-03
THE CAPTURE OF THE VlRGINIUS

The Hon. Beverly Johnson has
written a letter to the Baltimore
American, in which he takes the po-
sition thatif the steamer. Virginius
had our flag, and was regularly
documented as an American vessel,
and was on the high seas when
captured, that her capture was illc-
gal, and contrary to public law as
generally understood by England,
the United States and other nations,
including Spain. lie says:
From the beginning of our gov
ernment we have insisted that an
American vessel, regularly docu-
mented and carrying our flag, can
not in time of peace be visited or
searched on the high seas. It was
mainly for violation Of this doctrine
that the war Of 1912 with England
was declared, and although at the
termination ofrthat war. the claim
of England was not formally re.
nounced, it was practically aban.
doned and has never since been
acted upon. The immunity of q
vessel carrying the necessary docu.
meutary papers and flag rests upon
the theory,that the ocean is open
to all alike, aud that vessel Of any
nation, while in that element, is, in
contemplation of law, part Of its
national territory and as exempt
from invasion as the soii itself.
The treaty of Washington of the
9th of August, 1842, negotiated
between Mr.. Webster and Lord
Ashburton, contained an article
which the British government sup
posed our government regarded as
a dcnunciation of the right Of visi-
tation and search. There was a
passage in the annual Message of
President Tyler to Congress next
succeeding the date of that treaty
that created this impression, and
under it Lord Aberdeen, then Brit
ish Secretary Of State for Foreign
Affairs, sent a dispatch to Mr..
Webster at Washington, to correct
the supposed error according to the
view entertained upon the point by
Her Majesty's government, and re-
quested him to read it to Mr. Web
ster, Secretary Of State.
To this communication Mr..
Webster, on the 2Sth of March,
1913, replied in letter to Mr.. Ev-
erett, our Minister at London. His
Lordship, the English Secretary, in
the despatch referred to had en-
deavored to draw a distinction be-
tween the right of visitation and
the right of search, and stated that
the latter right was q belligerent1
,ne and could never be exercised in
time Of peace. 1 quote his Ian
yuage: ;;
"The undersigned again re-
nounces, as he has already done in
most explicit terms, any right on
The part of the British government
to search American vessels in time
Of peace" " - .:'@
The righ: to search, except when
specially conceded by treaty, is a
purely belligerent right and can
have no existence on tue high seas
during peace. And, even in advo-
eating asserted rights of visitation,
His Lordship said that the sole
purpose of the claim was to asccr-
tain whether vessels visited were
what their colors announced" and
were really American or not, and
that i'll case Of loss or injury sus-
tanned by any vessel so visited and
ascertaincd to be American his
government would afford prompt
rcparation. -,
Mr.. Webster, in his letter, after
clearly refuting the imaginary dis
tinction between visitation and
search and denying either right.
stated that the government of the
United States fully admits that its
lag can give no immunity to pi-
'ates nor to any other than to regu-
arly docnmented vessels. The
American principle, then, as here
announced, is that a vessel having
egally our flag and documents is
absolutely protected against either
'isitation or search, no matter what
nay be her cargo or object of her
This correspondence
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