New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-04-03


nor less than that. 1t consisted in private lndl-
viduals hitting UP vessels at their own cxpcEse
as warshps, manning them and offering them
with a crew OF their own choosing. and then
obtaining from the Government so-callcd let
/ ter OF narque. or sort OF state comhliSSIon'
which entitled the owners OF the ship to the
major portion of any loot that their vessel might
secure by plundcrinp merchant shipping belong
ing to the enemy A small percentage OF the
so-called prizes Of the venture were supposed
TO go to the Government % Il Quid pro quo Tor
granting the letter Of inarVue. Il VIII readily
be seen that this form OF rrlvatccrtng was little
else than piracy, the sole motive OF the ht'Ins
crIt Of the priyatccr being plumber. Neither
officers nor men were bound by any Of the rules
Of the regular service or Of professional honor
and In nine cases out Of ten the Tag lying III
the masthead should not have been that OF the
country which gave the letter OF marque. Out
the black flag adorned with skull and cross
bones.
1t may safely bc taken for granted that were
Spain taking advantage Of the fact that she ~
not bound 10y the terms OF the Convention OF
Paris II 1856 to abstain from priya'ccrlng 10 re-
vert TO the old practice OF granting letters OF
marduc England in pursuance OF her seh-im-
posed task OF policing the high seas as the primer
pal maritime Power on the face OF the gIopo'
would consider 1t to be her duty to subject
Spanish privatccrs to the same treatment that
she has on several memorable occasions accorded
to vessels engaged In savctradng or piraucal
enterprises.
No one was moro vehement in denouncing the
who'll, system OF privatecrng than President
Lincoln, who issued a proclamation at the very
outset OF the Civil War declaring that any
Tyft fat
cruisers would receive quick justice and as
short shrin az II they had been ful-nedgcd pi
rates
II this proclamation was never put into exc
cution 1t was because the Confederacy never Is
sued any letters OF marque. her cruisers, al
though stigmatizcd az prvatccrs by the North
being In reality commissioned men war
though Of course the commissions were Illegal
as they were those OF rebel government
In fact there hts been real Ixtya
tccrlng since the beginning OF the GENTRY
fact which may be- ascribed partly to
the development OF the principles OF civil
ks.,on and humanity. and partly. too, Dc
cause the immunity from capture now uni
versally enjoyed by neutral ships fying ncu-
tral na9a bu. carrying freight not contraband
OF belonging to the enemy. renders prfva-
tecring a too Improbable enterprise for any
private individuals to undertake.
AUXILIARY CRUISERS
when however. the Spanish Ambassador At
Berlin talks Of utilizing seventy OF eighty mer-
chant steamers In the ports Of barcelona. Va
iencia Cartharcna and Cadiz as prIva'ocrs. and
when the London correspondent OF q leading
Ecw-York paper cables about the United states
purchasing nearly hundred private vessels for
USE rs privatcers something entirely different
is meant. and different expression should have
been used What they manfcstly mean In de-
scribnr these vessels as privat"cra is that they
may b used not vessels bearing letters 81
marquc but what are known rs auxiliary
cruisers" That Is to gay. they are placed at
the disposal Of the Government. which assumes
entire control ard responsibility for the officer
Ing the manning and the equipment OF the YES
sells. They slil under the official Navy naG and
arc enrolled for the time being MS part and par
Gel Of the regular Navy.
Germany inauguratcd the practice IN 1870
when she converted many OF the ocean liners
belonging to the transatlantic companies at
Bremen, Hamburg and Stettin Into what she
described as "vOluntcer cruisers the crews be
ing enrolled temporarily into the imperial navy.
while regular navy officers were appointed to
the chief commands.
In 1871 during the war with Turkey. Russia
created a volunteer feet much the same
commercial purposes all the vessels belonging
to IT, however. being enrolled temporarily In /
the imperial navy from the very moment war
breaks out England has since followed suit |
and nearly all the liners belonging to the Gu |
he nd 9th RIFT cb