The Scranton chronicle. (Scranton, Miss.) 1897-19??, 1901-06-08
ILLEGAL TRADE IN ARMS.
There Is DImcuity In Preventing the
Sale of Weapons to Foreign
Revoiutionists.


arms TO South American governments
or revolutionary juntas is New York
city, and to this port come their
agents to obtain them. The manufac-
tnrers of guns adapted to the use of
armies have representatives here,
and to some of them this branch of
their business is so important that
they will say little about il, because
of the possibility of interference with
their business. A reporter of the
New York Tribune tried 10 get some
information from one or two of these
firms regarding this branch of their
business, and they politely, but stead
fastly. declined to give any of a defin-
ite character.
Gen. Uribe-Uribe. the leader of the
revolutionary party in the republic of
Colombia, who arrived here recently
on the steamer Philadelphia with the
alleged purpose of buying arms, will
have little difficulty in doing so. The
United States in its revised code of
neutrality laws has no provision for
the prevention of the purchase of
arms for war purposes. The laws
provide against the acceptance of
commissions within the Jurisdiction
of the United States to serve in a
foreign war against power with
which the United States is at peace.
They also provide against the fitting
out of expeditions, military or naval,
but do not have anything TO say re-
garding the purchase of arms for
shipment out Of the country To in
clude arms, IL is considered, would
interfere with the right of an individ
ual to buy arms for his own use. The
government would probably make an
effort to prevent the shipment of
arms until their ownership was
proved, If complaint were lodged
with the state department by
friendly nation against which they
we're TO be used. Should the com
planning country fail to prove that
they were to be used as claimed they
would be released, however.
This view was established at the
time of the Franco-Prussian war. II
was the subject of famous debate
in the senate between Senator's Sum
ner and Carl Schurz. A man, sup
posed to be an agent of the French
was arrested. 1t was be-
lieved that the arms which he had
in New England were in
tended for the use of his own coun-
try. He was afterward released, as
il could not be proved that the arms
were intended for France, and he
was allowed to ship his arms.
One of the methods often used by
agents of South American countries
to get guns out of this country is to
purchase them through an outside
party, and have them shipped TO some
West Indian port, whence they are
reshipped TO their destination. Some
times the arms are delivered by the
firm which sells them at some ware
house, where they are taken care of
by the persons for whom they are in
tended. OF course, they do not ask
any questions of the persons who
come to buy them.
The usual course for foreign gov
ernment TO pursue in obtaining the
assistance of the United States in
preventing the shipment of arms is
TO inform the state department of
the expected shipment. The state de-
partment in turn informs the treas
ury department and the customs col
lectors of the ports through which an
attempt to ship the arms may be
made are warned to be on the look
ont for them. Clearance is then re-.
fused until an attempt tok connect
The arms with the parties complained
~ has h1en made