Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1898-05-07

of her case. In his preceding procla-
nation Of the 22d ultimo the Presi-
dent says:
ANY neutral vessel approaching
any of said ports, or attempting to
leave the same without notice or
knowledge of the establishment of
such blockade will be duly warned by
the commander of the b,ockading
forces, who Will indorse or have reg
istered the dates OF such warning and
where such warning was made: and if
the same vessel shall again attempt
to enter any blockadng point, she will
be captured and sent to the nearest
convenient port for such proceedings
against her and her cargo as prize, as
may be deemed advisable"
In the opinion of the officials, the
Lafayette has clearly violated the pro-
hibitions of this section of the procla-
nation which was carefully drawn in
accordance with the most advanced
theories of the rights Of neutrals.
The seriousness of the question,
however, arises from the fact that
the foregoing view of the officials
here is not likely TO be accepted by
the French government and its rep
resentati"es in Washington.
At the French embassy the ambas-
sador had intended to 90 10 new York
to-day but on hearing Of the taking OF
the Lafayette, he determined to re-
main here to look after such ques-
lions as were likely to arise. In the
absence Of official information, he
aCly h.a a;
what course the French government
would take. It is said TO be unques-
tionable, however, that France will
lodge protest with the State Depart
ment Immediately upon the receipt of
official information of the seizure.
This is expected to come almost mo-
mentarily, probably from the captain
of the Lafayette, owing to certain cur
cumstances in her case. The embassy
was advised eight days ago that the
Lafayette was on her way TO this side.
and accordingly a notice was sent to
the State Department that this French
merchantmen might be expected to
reach Havana about this time No
answer was received from the State
Department, but after giving this no
granted that the Lafayette would be
allowed to proceed on her voyage
without molestation. The understands
ing here was that she sailed from st.
Nazaire, France, not from Corunna,
Spain as st. Nazaire is the usual sail
ing point for the steamers of this line
One of the officers of the legation
made the trip on one of these vessels
a short time ago, and says no stop is
made at Corunna except occasionally
on return voyage. 1T was the under
standing, also, that the Lafayette was
stopping at Havana merely to re-coal,
prior to going to Vera Cruz, Mexico,
the final destination of the line.
The French think that the Lafayette
has been detained through misap-
prehension. and that her release will
follow speedily. The grounds for this
view are that she sailed prior to the
declaration of war. and therefore her
captain could not know of this decla-
ration. 1t is pointed out that this
declaration of war was on April 18th,
the Presidents proclamation concern
ing the rights Of neutrals was issued
on the 18th, and the official notice
thereon signed by Acting Secretary Of
State Adee and addressed TO the am
bassadors and ministers here includ-
ing the French ambassador. bears
date of April q. This. however is
complicated by the fact that the Pres
ident's proclamation Of q blockade on
April ed, and the official notice to the
French and other embassies. signed by
Secretary Sherman bears date Of April
2Sd. The point relied on, however, is
that the declaration Of war was not
made until the 25th and the official
notice TO the foreign governments not
until the 9th. In addition to this the
fact that the French embassy notified
the State Department that the Lafay-
cite was coming this way was looked
upon as doing away with any suspic-
ion that the steamer was making a
secret move. Up to noon the embas
sy- had not been officially notified of
the seizure
In other diplomatic quarters II is
felt that an insistence by the French
government that the Lafayette be re-
leased might involve serious conse-
ouences. While she is a merchant,
and not a government ship. the gov
eminent has always been very insist
ent upon the protection of its mer-
chant vessels. 1t is not thought this
would extend in the present case to
any captious demand that French
merchantmen should not recognize the
blockade the same as ships of an other
countries. At the same time the popu-
lar sentiment in France is such in
the present war that the government
might be impelled to a strict uphold
ing Of what 1t believed to be the rights
of its merchant ships.
NEW YORK. MAY Sat the office
of the French Transatlantic line to-
day. General Traffic Manager Trey
voix said: I'VE have received no
word from the captain of our vessel.
In all probability the steamer named
in the Key West dispatches is ours.
as she left St. Nazaire on April p,
bound for Vera Cruz.
ITO the best Of my knowledge she
NHETHn EYN