The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-04-06

templates taking the law into his own hands in defiance of the State and Fed eral Governments; nor does he threaten to act without tpe Presidents permis- sion, which, it is needlsss to say, he will not receive Nor can I believe that he expects any such permission. His ob- ject is doubtless to bring forcibly to the attention of the Government that he con sidersi the proceedings Of the British equivalent to carrying on war upon our territory
 The Attorney-General says that the principal question, and a delicate one, Is whether there has been departure or neutrality on the part of our Govern ment in this matter and, notwithstand- ing the urgency of Pearson and Governor Head, thinks this Government should not take any action without mature con- sideration by the President and his ad- visers."
 He submits some tentative suggestions:
 First, he says, the sale of contraband of war supplies to a belligerent Is held by many eminent authorities to be un- lawful and something which a neutral nation must forbid to it's citizens. but the weight of authority is the other way. A rule now fully agreed upon is that a neutral nation shall not give aid to one of the belligerents in tho carrying on of war. Carrying on commerce with bel ligerent in the manner usual before the was is not giving such aid. The mere in- creased demand for war-like articles and their increased quantity of this commerce does not make the commerce cease to be the same as before the war. It does not seem to be settled that the fact that the belligerent as purchaser makes the neutral Governments permission of the commerce a departure from the obliga- ton to give no aid to the belligents. The fact that neutral merchants give aid to the beIligerents from motives of gain seeking does not relieve their Govern ment from its obligation to prevent. oth- ,erwise 1t would be lawful to supply war ships with coal. cannon and powder. The difficulty lies in drawing the line between the right of carrying on and of Govern- mental permission to carry on the com- merce usual before the war and the ob- ligation upon the Government and citi- gems of the neutral Government to give no aid to the belligerents.
 The Attorney General adverts at some length to the difficulty in disposins of these cases, each different from the other and without exact precedent and he falls back upon the principle recognized in in ternatonal law that the preponderant characteristics must control the determi- nation. He enters into long citations of cases in the nature of precedents and says in conclusions:
 While discussions of such matters have. as in the Alabama claims case, principally concerned war vessels and expeditions by sea, 1t cannot be doubted that aid given to any army engaged in actual warfare stands upon the same footing as aid given to fleet so engaged, since both equally involve taking part by the neutral power in furthering the Af ti,a 1.a1It Nor should the municipal laws of Eng land and the United States or of other countries. by princpally dealing with such vessels and expeditions, obscure the fact that aid can as well be given to military operations of the belligerent the one way as the other. by proceedings carried on the neutral territory.
 From all that has been said I think that 1t may be concluded that in deter mining whether transaction of the kind referred to which in one respect is com fmercial in character, is not yet entitled to enjoy the rights belonging to com merce. but is prohibited to the neutral nation and its people as being an aid to one of the belligerents in carrying on war against the other, the criteria are practically impossible to specify and enumerate in advance. Each case that arises must be considered in all it's cir cumstances and determined accordingly.
 In the case before us there Is no statement of facts by you upon which to give an official opinion as to the law and 1 do not understand that one has been requested. A number of allegations and some testimony have been sent me and they are sufficient to challenge attention. But the first thing to be done is to ascer- tain whether the allegations are true. have endeavored as well as l could ad- vance to indicate the law to be applied to them and shall only add that. among the points by which to be guided. are the systematic character of the transac- tions, their greater or less extensiveness, their persistence in time, or the reverse. that governmental character or the ab- sence of it, their objects and results and principally, of course. their relations, jf any, with the prosecution of the military operations in South Africa"