Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-04-23
No PriVatecrihg.

There seems to be considerable inter- st
among the more adventurous scaiaring
men in the Eastern cities IN the subject Of
pri 1teerin@. There has been some tslll
to the eject that, in the event of war be-
tween England and Russia, letters OF
marqpe would he issued as in eye oden
tyne" and that there would be rare sport
and profit in playing havoc with England's
commerce on the high seas.
There are two kinds Of priyateerinr-
the first, in which tie ciiizcrs are SUD
iects of a belligerent, are authorized and
commissioned bv their Owl government
to arm and equip vessel and make war
on the enemy. and capture or destroy his
commerce. This is somewhat ANALOGOUS
to the volunteer system in armies, hy
which the regulars are supplemented 10y
citizen soldiers. The other kind o. priva-
teering is that in which citizens or sub.
iects Of n neutral power, obtain let
ters Of marque from bellige, emit.
The latter has long been regarded as
little short Of piracy, while the former
was once very commonly, if not uniycr-
sally, practiced among European nations.
Repeated attempts have feen made TO
abolish privateering, and it was abolished
by the treaty of Paris of 1870 so far as all
European powers, except Spain, were con-
cerned. The United States has favored
the abohshing of this practice ever since
the revolutionary war, but declined to he
bound by the action of the Paris conven-
ton unless it should be agreed to
exempt from seizure by war
vessels the private property of
citizens or subjects Of a belligerent on the
high seas, except such property be con-
traband of war. When the war between
the States began, however, and the newly
formed Confederate Government decided
to issue letters of marque and reprisal,
the United States, through Secretary Sew
ard. promptly offered to sign the Paris
agreement without the amendment. Eng
land and France objected to this unless
the Confederate States should be exempt
ed from the operation Of the treaty, it
having already determined TO issue priva-
teering commissions.
Neither England nor Russia, then, can
authorize privateering without violating
the treaty. If they could do 50, Ameri-
cans could not take hand in the bust
ness without violating our own laws,
which prohibit any citizen Of the United
States from ''acceptng and exercising
naval or military commission" from any
foreign power at war with a people with
whom the United States are at peace. The
maximum penalty for violating this law
is $1,000 and Imprisonment for three
years. In like manner any citizen 81 the
United States who attempts to fit out and
arm any vessel to be employed against
the commerce of any nation at peace with
the United States is to be deemed guilty
of high misdemeanor, and is made sub
ject not only to fine of $4,000 and i'm
prisonment for three years, but also to
the forfeiture of the vessel and her equip
ments. Besides this the party who should
engage in privateering would stand a
pretty good chance of being strung up to
the yardarm as pirate in the event he
should be captured, whether he could be
regarded as technically pirate or not.
The indications are that if war is de-
clared both belligerents will purchase
and arm quite q number Of steamers
now engaged in commerce and com
mission them as commerce destroyers,
thus evading a direct violation of the
treaty. Russia having comparatively few
ships engaged in the ocean carrying trade
would have a great advantage of England
in this business, and the dread of ravages
on her commerce is hardly one OF the
least inducements to the latter power to
pursue as much as possible a pacific
DolicV