The age-herald., 1898-04-24
PRIVATEERS AND
 REMEMBERING
From the chicago Times-Herald.

From the Chicago Times Herald
 What part, if any would be played by privateers in naval war between the
 United States and Spain is largely matter of conjecture. As is well known, the United States and Spain are not bound by the treaty of 1856, which abolished the prac-
 tice of issuing letters of marque and re- prisal. Mexico and Uruguay are the only other civilized nations which have not ap- proved the treaty. And in this connec- tion it is well to correct the popular im- pression that the United States declined to sign the treaty in order to preserve the right This is a mistake Secretary Marcy declined because the treaty did not go far enough and pointed out the weak
 ness of it's enforcement in the absence Of a
 proper deination of contraband. With
 more stringent clauses he was willing to
 approve it.
 Should privatering exist the United States
 would be the gerater loser The tons regis
 ter of American shipping Is some seven or
 eight times great as that of Spain. It
 is reported that Spanish privateers are
 ready to prey upon our commerce as soon
 as the Madrid government shall grant them
 the necessary permission. But whether
 privateering will be allowed is a question:
 Neutrals always suffer in such a conflict.
 and it is quite likely that by the right of
 might the other nations may forbid it.
 Such action by Great Britain would restrain
 Spain, and not only is England our friend
 but Spanish privateers might easily damage
 her commerce.
 The truth is that privateering is obsolete.
 It belongs to the old days of sun Il, sailing
 ships and of pirates. And the distinc- tion between pirates and privateers is not
 easily drawn, the only difference being that the privateers are legalzed by the home government. They belong to an era when
 navies were small and were the weapon of
 weak nation against greater maritime power. Effective use of them was made
 by the United States in our wars with Eng land. Congress has power to issue let ters of marque and reprisal, but congress
 has not made use of the power for years, although it delegated the power to Lincoln
 during the war, when it was not used. Con- federate privateers were numerous. The word marque by the way, is from the German mark" meaning frontier, and means the right to cross the frontier and make reprisals. It was given to private owners, who were authorized to arm vessels
 to prey upon the commerce of the ene- mics. Sink, burn and destroy" were the old words. To encourage privateering
 Great Britain ordered that all the property captured should go to the captors. In one form or another prfvateering goes back to ancient times, but 1t flourished chiefly from about the middle of the six teenth century to the close of the Napo- leonc wars. It was then the custom, when nations of Europe were at war with each other for most of the time, for the crew of an armed private vessel to hail another and climb over the sides of the vessel with naked cutlasses and demand to know their nationality. If the prize were especially rich neutrals were not respected. It was so easy for the commander of the attack | ing vessel to believe that the captain of his | prize was liar
 | These privateers of the old days were not
 much better than pirates. They made men walk the plank just as did the black 1 faggers, and, in fact, the buccaneers were | sometimes privateers and sometimes pir- | ates. The practice of Sir Francis Drake a man honored in English history, may be | taken as typical. In 1577 he made an ex- | petition to the South sea, and during that voyage plundered ports and robbed right and left everywhere Cities were burned and eothers were forced to pay large ran- soms. Another Englshman of the same period always tortured his prisoners when they did not yield him enough money. His | name was Cavendish. The rich commerce of Spain, in what was then called the Span- | ish Main, yielded large fortunes. In fact, it was said that while all Spain went in search of gold all Great Britain fitted out l ships to steal it.
 
 These abuses, growing year by year greater led to a reform in the methods. The practice was revived again by the United States during the war with England, but without any useless slaughter of pris- oners. During the revolution, it is rather surprising to hear, not less than 1867 priv | ate vessels were sent out by the Americans against the British. These were of all kinds and ranged in class from rowboats | to ships. This number does not include x1xx ,s<lx | the United States navy. The first overt act in the revolution, by the way, was the equipment of eight boats by the colony of
 Rhode Island for -privateering purposes. Their sizes may be imagined when it Is remembered that their crews aggregated
 but sixty men. Armed with paving stones they attacked and captured the English schooner Caspe, tender to the British squadron which had sought the harbor. The privateering expedition boarded her June IS, 1772 and then destroyed the vessel. The part played by privateers in the war of 1872 is well known and the exploits of the
 confederate Alabama, whose achievements cost the British government a good many pounds, are also familiar During the war of 1872 it is estimated that more than 1900 British vessels were captured by our privateers, and it Is reckoned that we had 250 vessels in commission to prey on Eng fish commerce.
 But times have changed. In the old days
 war was mere butchery. Now hostile fleet must give notice before bombardiag a city in order that the inhabitants may get out of the way, and not be hurt Such a change is there in civilized methods of
 warfare that it is doubtful whether or not privateering will be tolerated, At any
 rate no one should be deterred from Il transatlantic journey through fear of cap ture by a Spanish privateer and being eith- CT held for ransom or made to walk the plank. FRANK LEE. The Thorn n n Side