The times., 1901-03-25
SELLING ARMS ABROAD.
Difficult to Prevent Their shipment
From This Conntry.

| NEW YORK, March 24.-The natural
| market for the sale of arms to south
| American Governments or revolutionary
| juntas is New York City, and to this
port come their agents to obtain them.
| The manufacturers of guns adapted 10
| the use OF armies have representatives
| here. and TO some of them this branch OIL
| their business is so important that they
| will say little about it. because OF the
| possibility OF Interference with their
| business. A reporter tried to get some
| information from one or two or these
| firms regarding this branch of their busi-
ness, and they politely, but steadfastiY'
declined to give any of definite char
acter.
General Tribe Tribe, the leader of the
revolutionary party in the Republic OF
Colombia, who arrived here recently on
the steamer Philadelphia. with the al
legged purpose of buying arms, will have
little difficulty in doing so. The United
States in it's revised code of neutrality
laws has no provision for the prevention
of the purchase of arms for war pur-
poses. The laws provide against the ac-
ceptance of commissions within the juris-
diction of the United States to serve IN
a foreign war against a Power with whlch
the United States is at peace. They also
provide against the fitting out OF expedi-
tions. military or naval. but do not have
anything to say regarding the purchase
of arms for shipment out of the country
To include arms, it is considered, would
interfere with the right of an Individual
to buy arms for his own use. The Gov
ernment would probably make an effort
to prevent the shipment of arms until
their ownership was proved, if com
plant were lodged with the State De
partment by a friendly nation against
which they were to be used Should the
complaining 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 Eranco-Prussian war. 1t was the
subject of a famous debate in the Senate
between Senators Sumner and Carl
SchurZ. A man, supposed to be an agent
of the French Government was arrest
ed 1t WAS believed that the arms which
he had purchased in New England were
intended for the use of his country. 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 pur-
chase them through outside party,
and have them shipped to some West
Indian port, where they are reshipped to
their destination. Sometimes the arms
are delivered by the firm which sells them
at some warehouse where they are taken
care of by the persons for whom they
are intended. OF course, they do not ask
any questions of the persons who come
to buy of them.
The usual course for a foreign Govern
ment to pursue in obtaining the assist
ance of the United States in preventing
the shipment of arms is to inform the
State Department of the expected snip
ment. The State Department in turn in
forms the Treasury Department and the
customs collectors of the ports through
which an attempt to ship the arms may
be made are warned to be on the lookout
for them. Clearance is then refused until
an attempt to connect the arms with the
parties complained of has been made.