The sun., 1898-01-23
A WAR TIME PIRACY CASE.
GREAT LAHTERs THo WET HERE
At 4 EOTABLE TRIAL.

Conrcdcrnto scnoener savannah, Sailing
Under Lettcra or Mnruur in isst-TrinI In
New Work. or the S1cmbers or Her Crew.
On Sunday last Mr.. Ies,ie J. porrv d,.
scr;bcd tho dinIon,otic onihblinva and ,L.
s,rotcpiooI b,nfrs of botb Tho tTniiod States onI
tho Conrodernie Ststcs ovcr Tho ones,ion ~,
nrivotcoro and rr,sonc~s dnri,o tho oorlr ao,,s
Of tho rebellion. A noyspnper people saw bo
covered tho washington end +" Of tho storv
but only toucbod on tho Nav York end Va,
tho New York end WINS v,stlv interostipo IN tho
Now yorkors NJ tbosc DAYS nnd this story 4.
written io pivo to peonlo Of to-day somo idcn ot
how dcep that interost wns
About tho timo whom Major Anderson sur>
ronao-od For. spmtcr IN C,,n Roger A prvn.
t,oyy n ncoccfu, an,iobIo mud cstccmed Ju,ii,.
NJ tho suprcmc Court in this city, Jcfrcrsnn
Davis as President of tho Confederatc C,ovcrn.
mont was issuin0 lottors of ,narouc for ro.
prisals on tho commerce OF tho North by armed
yessols flyipp tho now Confederate flag. Ons
of these lcttcrs of mnrouc foil TO tho lot of Con,
Werner Of the Charleston schooner savnnnnh
Tho Contain potbercd n CROW. armcd II VIII
ono how cannon md smiled ont In search ~
prizos On Juno Q. 1861. bo capturod tho br;g
Josepb. Cnpt. Bnker. hound with n cargo ~
sugar from HAVANA for BOSTON. bpt n short
time ofter he ,yos bimscIf cantured bv tho
United States naval brig Perry. commanded Inv
Cant Parrott OF uunnery fame. The Savannah
and hcr prIze were tokon IN Hamoton Road
and the crew of tho Savannah were sent thence
to New York. and charpod with piracv.
No time was lost in indictinp them Tb.
drawing Of the indictment was committed n
the late Judge John sedpwick. Tho documen,
used the phrase "allered issuo of letters ~
maroue nv n nerso, known M Jefferson Dor,." /"
nj, -. ,,.. - s.,
This excited indignation among Southern sym.
nat hiyera md in London
Southern sympathizers in this CITY olubbcd
tonotnar - rniao ,,anau -, tho a",oa u.u''Iu =.
was perceived that tho Indictment raised for
discussion and legal decision the very question
which had begun to interest the British Minis.
try and the Emperor Napoleon H.: us the
Conteasrato s GoSernment internationally exist,
ent and deserving of recognition and entitled
to issue letters Of marquef' For the alleged pi.
,aS n was npross, as st S|unsei Se1o.
s an out magnetic
tess,ono, ,sarninr For tba mato I~,o ,ra. p,o p
ployod Daniel Lord who by the amount Of gray
matter in his brain compensated for his almost
comic brevity of stature as he stood among
physical Titans of tho bar like Edward San.
ford and Lewis b. woodruff. For others of the
crew were retained James T. Brady, of infinite
resources in the perpexities Of criminal juris.
nrn Ion, atn
~, pu ~ ~. ..S ssu,,a.H s,ss AZ Ens youns
lawyer on the criminal side OF the Federal bar,
anu ha trn oune' os, SUI van new 70
,,a,,,'Ia. ~ .,oa,,u. ~. W.. ..s,ss @ oeoone
popular on account OF his magnetic presence
handsome face and figure winning manners
i and poetic @ eoq9ence Upon pom, the bench were the
appearing Judge shipman, who not long after.
ward resigned from the bench to become head Of
artHe sE % ana a M
eign antecedents, Maurice Meyer and Isaac
sG for s9s
pathizers with the Confederacy and believers
In Cen Scott 8 carly creed Of "erring sisters do.
flvan, and Ridgway were enthusiasts beiiev.
ers in the necessity of preserving the integrity
b. brought I moral moral weight. '' " 'D' u'i'H'' 'H''
The case was tried in the Federal court. held
hoss fs IN tho tS. Cd gs then new brown
After f. Delafeld Smith. United States Dis.
trict Attorney. had concluded his opening
called as the first witness The defending law.
o Thay thas
oasF uSSs 81 Ss 1
ginia Federal District Court Their claim was
that the trial must now stop and tho defendants
Virginia was in rebellion against the Federal
diction of Federal prosecutions.
& On the face Of the testimony there was mani.
past grand master in the art Of cross-examina.
tion, brought out the fact of the alleged letters
OF marquc. This brought into the case the docu.
ment issued by Jefferson Davis and 1t was curl.
ously scanned by counsel, court and jury.
Brady now moved that the Judges arrest the
trial because the prosecution had destroyed tho
uninius fur0ndi or criminal motive and ille-
galty absolutely necessary in proving piracy.
The accused might bo prisoners of war taken
fromsa war vessel hyipR the Confederate flag and
armed under Confederate auspices. but by no
means were they now to be considered as pirates.
Justice Nelson ruled that he should charg tho
jury that no legal war existed between the
United States Government and tho alleged Con.
federate nation. BY international law no war
existed, but only rebellion and, the letters OF
marquc were unavailable as justification OF
the alleged act OF piracy.
The defence surprised spectators and the pub
lie by declaring when called upon for testimony
that they would not deny the fitting out of tho
Savannah, nor the capture, but would rely for
acauittal upon the lettors of marque as full
defence against piratical intent, Now ensped
u contest OF legal acuInen and skill the equal Of
which has rarely been scen First cane Daniel