The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1893-10-07
BOUNTIES AND PRIZES
reafuree OF MaSitime Warfare Rec
oonixed BY Uncle 6am
Coolitieas Watch We0ld Arise n ~
Exent Of . War Between the CUsSeA
States and Great 0Fitaln-9o0o
Importsat Foeto.

struction of an eneny's ship in war.
Instead of that the United States gov
ernment grants = bounty, which is dis
tributed in exactly the same way.
says the Washington Star. II the YES
sci wiped out was of greater force
than the victor two hundred dollars il
allowed for every officer and sailor on
board Of the vanquished craft If she
was Of less force the allowance is one
hundred dollars per capita. Supposing
that it is impossible to tell how many
persons were ON board OF the ship de-
stroyed, her class is stated and her
complement reckOned on the same
basis as if she had been . United States
vessel of the same class This bounty
is = very different thing from prize
money. The latter is trust, belong
ing absolutely to the captors, for
whose benefit it is administered by the
government. The money is always
ready to be paid when . claim is
proved. But the bounty is . gift from
Uncle Sam, and requires special ap-
preparation by congress. A good many
claims for bounty are still open. In
the capture Of New Orleans large sums,
both in prize money and in bounty,
were involved. There was bounty for
the destruction Of fighting vessels and
prize money for the capture OF mer-
chantmen. Forty-five ships were con-
cerned on the union side, and the
cash gained had to be divided up
among more than fvc thousand uHen.
The figuring on this problem made
a large volume which is still preserved.
In war between this country and
Geat Britain blockade running would
cut an important figure. The British
would try to blockade our ports and
we should do our best to blockade
theirs. For lack of strong battleships
we would find it difficult to keep up
our end, while England could hardly
maintain an effective blockade along
such vast extent OF seaboard as is
possessed by the United States. So de-
pendent is John Bull on imports, even
for food. that he would starve If shut
off from the rest Of the world for nine
ty days.
1t is an open question whether pri-
vateers would be utilized in such .
war. After the Crimean war, at the
congress Of Vienna, all OF the EuroN
pean powers signed N sgreementpto
the effect that they would not rccog-
nize privatcering in future. The
United States refused to come into
this agreement. We have reserved
the right 10 employ privateers. One
reason why this government declined
to abjure this form Of warfare was
that it would be exceptionally advsn-
tagcOus to the United States. For ex-
ample, by issing letters Of marque We
could quickly sweep British commerce.
of the seas. 1t is SAID that pr,vateer-
ing is piratical. That is quite true.
The giving Of prize money is an old
piratical custom. People call it .
remnant of barbarism. But when it
comes to actual war. prize money il
always a powerful offensive agent.
The impulse OF avarice puts nerve into
warriors who sail the seas. This il
not an age Of sentimentalism in war
fare. Even explosive bullets are al
lowablc among agencies of dcstruc-
ton. 1t may be safely said that pri-
watering will make part OF the next
great international conflict on the wa
ters, and no criticism will be uttered
in regard to cases like that OF the Ala
bama, which was denounced in the
north Us private because she was
never in home port, having been
armed and equipped in England
In the old days, when Uncle Sans
ships had orders to keep sharp look
out for slavcrs, a vessel carrying slaves
was doubly q prize. Its value went to
the captors, in addition to twenty dol
lars head paid by the governnca4 for
negroes found on board. The latter
were carried back to Africa and set