The sun., 1896-02-28
CAN THE BERMUDABE HELD
WHETHER or NO, THE DELAY
SERVES SPAIN WELL.
Opiniou OF W. w. Goodrich. who Was
Counsel for the Itsta, on the Right 60
Ftt Oat Vessels Here for tho Cubsns-
O,,v th, ExpIosives Seized I.,belled.

Osiy the Explosives seized Libeiied
Whatever becomes Of the steamship Ber-
muds, Of tho arms and ammunition seized as
they were about to be put aboard her and OF
the prisoners held for violating the neutrality
laws. the ends OF the Spanish Government are
attained. which wero to prevent or delay at this
crisis the reinforcement Of tho meagre sup
plies of arms and ammunition tho Cuban In
| surgents possess. or the laws governing such
seizures Mr.. w. w. Goodrich. lecturer on In
| ternatonal law at tho New York Law School,
| and one of the counsel in the Itata case, said
! yesterday:
There are two sections Of the Revised
Statutes which have to do with this matter. In
the first place. section 5.2S0 makes IL a high
msdemeanOr when person begins or sets on
| foot or provides or prepares the means for any
! military expedition enterprise to be carried
| on from the United States against tho territory
or dominion Of any foreign prince or State.
or any colony. district, or people with whom tho
| United States are at peace II tho Bermuda
was engaged in an enterprise OF this character
| that is. u military expedition against Spain. or
| against Cuba, she would he within the inhibi-
| tion Of that section. suppose tho Bermuda
will deny that she was engaged in any military
expedition or enterprise.
" But there is very great distinction between
this section and tho other section. 5,"s3. ana
ly OF the opinion that there is 10 law in this
country which makes IT crimc to ft out or
arm any vessel to be employed in the service of
the Cuban rebels against the parent Govern
mont Of Spain. l raised this point several years
ago In tho case Of the Chiinn steamship Itata
which went out to California to defend. The
Itata wa. in the service OF what was then known
as tho rebel party in Chill, and they sent her
North to procure a cargo OF arms. She got her
m a atm "a f<r T,ti s,i.i
possession of the rebels. The United States
war sh hip Charleston followed her down. took her
from the harbor. and brought her back to San
states Marshal under process from the United
states Court by he Gn, ernnent Tor forfeiture.
as follows: '''> ''''-' N''''' 'eN'''' u 900 10
,nI III, i a. familiar principle in construns statutes
eacssn @ ot word. Mn'rr .ra n m m S
nrst branch and the second branch, tie meaning
section sSs % is az follows S''e's ''e same Reading
States ts out and arms on nep s H to me n o und nn
arm. or procurts to be ntiei out and armed '1r or
out and aiEpnns n Of any vessel Is e. with intent
ssG"s s
colony d'slr!ct. or peop,c with whom tho Tnitci
states are at peace. shall be guilty Of msdenl.at-
WIN be seen that tho word. .,oresn prince, or
Ioth branches OF ihe Sentences These Inscriptions u
an Nsn % sns h ~ 9 ty ss9
win @ whom ii, ne S United Satss are at peace
of Ms. any SoSs
q" se Win won 5S @ et nsF an a
trent ieace and these words last quoted rerer to
at PARTY int" Ihosc service the vsss Ing
5 mus. oe ora Z to com
with both Of whom the United States are at peace.
When the ltata case was tried before the
District Court Judge Ross in his decision d r.
cussed tho question. and referred to the auth hor-
ties which counsel had cited. more especially to
ters. 48I). in which the supreme Court Of the
United States held that the word pee ple' is one
of the denominations applied by the act OF Con-
eress to foreign power, Reference was also
made 10 other cases bearing out the same doc
to- ssy the sa extremely 1pD1n @
section 5.2s1 of the Revised Statutes applies
to The present sent case ,, But he made no decision
,his section @f ,he statues: TN The case Sc
lnent to the Circuit Court OF Appeals, and there
the Court referred again to the case Of United
cred case OF the Carondeiet, decided By judge
Brown. where Judge Brown held substantially
failed to decide tho question, although citing
these authorities with approval. 1t would seem,
to .o9w that IA b The opinion Of the
an unQuestioned authority for saying that the
vessel must be employed in the service of .
foreign nation against another foreign nation in
order to have the neutrality statutes apply to
the case.
81 want 1t to be clearly understood that l
draw the distinction between the misdemeanor
mentioned in the first quoted section and that il
tho persons who lifted out the Bermuda either
began or set OH foot or provid ded or prepared the
means Tor military expedition or enterprise
tion of that section: and this is the more clear
because that section does not use the words
=, are .ed IN sassgn 5s3 and in
to be In the employment OF one foreign nation
against another foreign nation Section 5 2s6 has
u a | lv
foot military enterprise against such foreign
power.
perfectly lawful to sell arms and munii ions Of
war to either one OF two bellgerents either rec
oGnized by tho United States as beliigerents; or
to sell arms to an insurGent for use against his
ernment against the insnrrent. OF + course 9 s the
dealer takes the risk of having his goods seized
in transi, and copisca,ed .na But the dealer Is
torney- Generals of the Cniteu States from At
torney. General Lee in 1890 down to the present
time Indeed. the right is not questioned in this
orany other nation.
was 1t that the Alabama cases were decided
differently from this propositionT The English
cited. which include insurgents. and reads as
follows: In the service Of any fore ign prince.
province or any provnce peope eGGmy aGd
the English courts have held that this IL much
broader in Its terms ns than the nmuncpa statute
enlistments in favor of insurgents against the
parent Government; and this is a very different
Does the fact that the Cubans have no port
make any differencsP"
1T makes absolutely no difference whether
they have a port or q seat of Government. A
port certainly Is not essential, and neither In
my Judgment, Is a seat of Government essential
under he American statute"
wntsd nt state, m DsTGt dAtorne
for the condemnation and seizure OF the expio-
sives that the lighter j. S. I. Stranahan was
about 70 put on tho Bermuda on Tuesday morn
ing. The Custom House officers found a guam
tity Of cartridges and six boxes OF dynamite all
In unmarked cases. SecLion 4.475 OF tho Re-
yieed Statutes requires that all explosives
handled on ships within the Jurisdiction of tho
United States shall he plainly marked SO that
their character may bo known.
Bernardo J. Bucno, tho Cuban who was ar
rested In the Federal building on Wednesday
afternoon, and who was unable to secure bali,
was arraianed before Commissioner Shields
yesterday morning. after having slept In Ludlow
for him.
The Cubans who wore arrested down tho bay
complain that they were treated roughly and
L. Il