The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1901-07-25

| frayal of her expenses. Among the own
ers were James Shepherd, grandfather OF
Judge Henry r. Bryan Isaac Taylor,
James Mckinley, John Harvey and other
leading men Of that day, whose descend
ants are still prominent in business and
social circles.
"Of recent there has been an effort in
high financial circles to discredt privat-
eering. This is because that element
thinks war should be confined TO injury
to the persons or destruction Of the lives,
of the sailors or soldiers (who usually
have the least interest in the war;, but
that their property should be held sacred
! and exempt But privateering which is
simply volunteer navy, dependent upon
it's own enterprise and courage for pay,
has always been the resort of weak
nation against a superior sea-power. 1t
was the right arm of this country upon
the sea in both our wars with Great
Britain and was resorted to by the South
ern Confederacy in our late Civil War.
'The legality of privateering is ex-
| pressly recognized in the Constitution of
the United States, Article l, Section s,
=, Clause IT, which empowers Congress to
issue letters of Marque and Reprisal.'
Under the influence of those largely in
terested in shipping, the merchants of the
great seaports, many European nations
agreed to a provision in the Treaty of
Paris, 1856, prohibiting privateers but the
United States did not assent to it. The
experience of the United States, and OF
the Confederate States as we'll, has, been
that the surest way to inculcate "a de-
sire for peace in that influential element
OF the enemy is for our privateers 10 lay
| rude hands upon their floating wealth.
Shooting at the enemys soldiers and sail
ors had no such salutary effect. During
| the first seven months of the War of 1872
| our privateers captured 500 merchantmen
/ and several thousand prisoners.
1T is proper to add that privateers are
only commissioned upon petition set
| ting forth all the particulars required
by government. If after investigation, let
| tiers are issued the. owners of the pri-
! vateer give bond for the observance OF all
/ the regulations prescribed by law, one OF
| which is that On the return from each
] voyage journal giving each days pro-
! ceedings, with names and values of cap
! lures duly verified by the commanding
t officer shall be filed with the govern
1 ment. No capture is turned over until
/ the ownership of the vessel and the le-
t gality Of the capture is adjudged by
! court Of admiralty.
cit was probably required that applica-
| ton for Letters of Marque and Reprisal
! should be renewed before each voyage,
/ for we have copy of such application
j made by Capt. Burns, July /, 1913. In
that he specifies that the vessel is of 147
! tons burthen, named Snap-Dragon,'
| number of crew rs. armament carriage
| guns, 80 muskets and blunderbusses,
I
James Brown. In one of his subsequent
voyages he had a crew of 127 men with
De Cokely First Lieutenant, and in the
only one of which We have full copy OF
the certified journal. January April, 1914,
he had crew of 90 men.
1.-THE journals of all his cruises giving
his daily doings with lists of all his Off
/ GERS and men were. of course, filed at
Washington rs required by law. AS af-
ter proper application only the one men
toned can now be found, it is probable
they were destroyed with so many other
archives when the British burnt the gov
eminent buildings at Washington in 1914.
To some extent however, we have in
formation OF the contents of the journals
of two other cruises from articles written
in the University Magazine in 1855 and
1856 by some one who had these logs, pre-
sumably the late Governor Swain. Copies
of the original journals have been seen
by parties still living, DR.. J. w Sanders,
of your county, Col. Jno. d. Whitford and
possibly others"
Judge Clark then gave a history of the
''Snap- Dragon and read from Capt.
Burns log the various adventures of this
brave seamen and his brave crew.
In closing his address Judge Clark said:
"a most remarkable mis- statement in
regard to a man whose actions had been
so distinguished and who had lived so
much in the public eye, being also for the
last thirty years of his life in State or
Federal service, was one recently made
by an anonymous correspondent in the
Newbern Journal That Capt Burns was
the pirate who had made the Inflated
Theodosia, daughter of Aaron Burr and
wife of Governor Aston, of South Caro-
lima, walk the plank She was lost at
sea probably in a gale, in January, 1913.
There is no proof that she was taken by
pirates end certainly no vindication of
such a charge is needed by Capt. Burns
or the brave men of this and adjoining
counties who served under him. The out
ra gaous and absurd insult to one of the
most gallant men North Carolina has ever
produced was promptly answered by two
of your distinguished fellow citizens, DR..
j. W. Sanders, formerly Senator from
Carteret, and Major Graham Dawes.
only allude TO the matter, which is UNI
pleasant to mention to impress upon
North Carolinians the necessity of greater
care in preserving our records and the
memory of the great deeds performed by
those who like Captain Burns, have re-
hected honor upon our State and her peo-
pie.
Capt Burns was as humane to his
prisoners as any man who ever walked
a quarter deck. But while he was fight
ing it was fight for a funeral. One
| of the captured commanders asserted that
| Burns having run short of ammunition
had loaded his last gun with sail needles.
| That enemy probably got into port 'sewed
| up. The red flag spoken of in his journal
| was the signal to board the enemy
| ''As long as Carteret and Onslow can
| furnish men who shall guard our ocean
| front with the courage and fidelity dis
! played by Otway Burns and the brave men
| under his command we need fear no
| enemy.
! They did well to bury Otway Burns
| here by the sounding sea, in the hear
/ inc Of bo WI bod I,oA