The Washington times., 1915-03-18

abroad and pay for them In cotton;
Germany wants to buy supplies abroad
and pay for them in manufacturers. or
N ,tat Sasn; ,,, The cases % are parallel
dsy is compared to the Unions block
ade Of half a century ago, 1t appears
tnat the odds arc all on the side of the
british situation Of today. In 1853 and
1854 the Union had the South blockaded;
put 1t was not very effective block
ade. Today the British navy has Ger
many much more effectIafly blockaded.
In 1863 and 1864 the Confederacy had a
seas to destroy Federal commerce; to-
day the Germans have a number of sub
marines sailing the seas. to destroy al
lies commerce. The parallel Is particu-
klarly impressive, in view OF the fact
Mat when Confederate cruiser cap
tured a prize it was unable to take the
vessel into home port. and was forced
to sink her. So the German submarine,
unable to put crew aboard her prize
and send 1t to a home port, must send
1t to the bottom.
During the, civil war British sym
pathies were with the South, because
law and diplomacy kept it's reasoning
on straight. British diplomacy support
ed the business Of sending Confederate
cruisers out to capture and burn Yankee
ships; but British diplomacy also per-
mitted the admiralty courts of the
North to establish the law of the CON
tinuous voyage" and that Is precisely
the law under which the London gov
ernment now proposes to seal up Ger
In the civil war, British ships sailed
from Liverpool to the British port Oh
Nassau, Bahama. Today American
ships sail from American ports TO Dutch
ports. The ports of origin and destina-
tom In both cases are neutral. Shall
an American vessel, sailing to Rotter-
dam. be taken as prize by British
cruiser?
The answer seems to be that a British
prize during the civil war. The Ameri-
Cun prize courts held that the ultimate
destination of the cargo decided. II a
cargo left a British port for another
Confederate port. ther the North In
| sisted on the right to seize and confis-
cate 1t: and the British government
acquiesced. That is exactly what will
happen II an American ship sails for a
Dutch port and Britain insists on the
right to seize 1t.
AS a matter of fact the British orders
are more moderate than were the de-
Examinations of our prize courts during
7 the civil war. For the British promise
| to pay for non-contraband which they
may seize in these circumstances.
There Is one incident of almost for
gotten history that deserves to be re-
| called here. because It illustrates how
| carry the right OF blockade 1t was
certainly farther than the British gov
ernment has suggested going in the
present war.
The Emily st. Pierre. a British ship,
was captured in 1s62 Off Charleston. s.
| G. She had been sent from Calcutta to
| Charleston with orders to enter the har-
Dor IT, when she arrived, it should not
| be under blockade. She had no contra
| band on board. Ten miles off Charles
| ton. on the high seas, she was taken by
| the Northern cruisers. Her crew, ex-
cept three men. were taken off apd n
prize crew put aboard and ordered to
take her to Philadelphia.
Here comes romance OF the SEQ
that deserves to be better known. The
| three men of her crew who had beer
! left aboard, practically as prisoners
| rose. got arms. took possession of the
| ship. cowed the fifteen men who were
! in charge Of her, and forced them to
| navigate her into the harbor of Liver
pool! 1t WAS a voyage of fearful hard,
| ships and dangers; but II was accom-.
plished and the Emily st. Pierre
| fioated safely into the Mersey.
| There was huge indignation in the
United States. and the Washington
| Government insisted that the vessel be
promptly turned over by the Britist
| government to the United States II
was argued that. having been captured
in regular way on the high seas. that
vessel belonged to the custody of ar
American prize court. and to nobody