Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1900-01-04

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can government has declared against
the practice. 1t was, indeed, Frank
lin who inserted a provision forbid
ding reciprocally the issue of letters
of marque in the treaty between the
United States and Prussia negotiated
by him in 1885. In fact, the last time
this country INDUCED in privateering
was in the war of 1872 against Eng
land, at time when such was the ac-
cepted practice. AS is well known, the
damage done to English commerce was
tremendous, and volumes, and very in
teresting volumes many of them have
been, too, have been written on the
life and adventures of our different
trough riders of the waves" One has
only to remember such historic names
as the America, the Paul Jones, the
Bunker Hill, the Union, the Eagle and
the Yankee to realize the extensive
part which the privateer took in that
early war of ours. The bravery and
dash and energy of their men and
commanders were proverbial and are
still recounted in many a good sea
yarn.
But in 1856, the parties to the
declaration of Paris brought about
new era in international law by four
new rules relating to warfare at sea,
one of which was that the practice
of privateering is and remains abol-
ished. Other nations were invited to
give their assent to this new principle
on the condition of the acceptance CT
all or none, and most of those ma
tons which are known as Christian
states" did so. 1t was pointed out
that the motive of all such expeditions
being plumber. the captain and officers
were often without professional honor,
and the crews more often than not
were simply a motley aggregation of
reckless adventures. Now that
steam has supplanted the sailing YES
sci and coal has come to be looked
upon as contraband of war, new
complexion is put upon the gentle art
of privateering. While the element of
danger was never absent in the pur-
suit of such work and the shadow of
the hangman's moose always hung
over crew, from captain to cabin
boy, if once overtaken by the more
powerfully armed cruiser of the en-
envy, the present status of the au
thorized pirate, especially in such
cases as that of the Boer- British war,
makes it extremely unlikely that Great
Britain need fear that her tremendous
commerce going and coming in all
parts of the world will be preyed on
and harassed by authorized freeboot-
ers of the high seas. 1t must be re-
membered, too. that the Transvaal,
having accepted the suzerainty Of
Great Britain by the treaty of 1881,
today flies a flag of very dubious ma
tional status. But even though the
flag of the South African republic
should be recognized on the high seas
there are still serious practical diff
culties in the way of the issuance of
letters of marque by government
that has no naval bases and no sea-
ports. Such vessels could not be armed
and equipped in any neutral port with
out making the government possessing
the same liable in heavy damages to
the British government This. in fact,
would fall under the very principles
laid down bv the now famors Ala
bama case. Nor could such privlteers
secure coal in any part Of the word
without a violation Of the PRINCIPLES OF
neutrality. Such action would natural
~ be almost equivalent to a declaf-
alton of war and would be justly re-
garded as such by England.
Notwithstanding this, however.
there are persistent rumors of the
equipment of privateers by friends of
the Transvaal. The British naval Of
ticials themselves seem to scent some
sort OF danger. for today their war
ships are patroling the high seas and
keeping an eye on all suspicious look
ing craft.