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i- - j T i 'i : -. C . i ml: regi'St: AND NORTH-CAROLINA WEEKLY 44 Ours ire ttoe Plant of fair delightful Petce, " Uawarp'd by Party Rage to live like Brother. ! Vol I. Tuesday, December 24, 1799. N 10. ADVERTISER I Mr. Pinckney's Obfervations on Eritijk Captures. Concluded from ur laft Number.; i - - " I jT is faid the law of England docs (not permit aTubjcl to change his aljeg:anccV .There is, I am inform ed, a fimilar regulation in Ruflla. 1 have proved the law of nations al lows it in all cafes, except in times of 'extreme danger and difficulty. It is ncccfTary for every independent people to have laws or regulations (ion of citizens ; in determining, upon thefe, it would be improper for them to be Governed by the laws or opinions of particular nations. ! They vary lo much, that it would ..be; impoflible: to frame any Tyftem that would fuit the whole. The law of nations being the ancient : and eftablifhed' ufage, and para mount to the local laws, was the, fa fed and mod proper criterion. It : knows no diflinftion,:and acis upon general principles; it teaches us that all men have a natural right, except in the cafes alluded to, to change their refidence and leave then-country for another : that, -as . Cicero fays, ' ' the way lies open ' to all, and that the keeping or parr- j ing with this right is the founda-j 1 tion of liberty. It conhders it as i a ; cruel and u.n judicable redraint, ; that men mould be fo much fuppo ! led the property of the fovereign, ; ill whole dominions they happen to be born, as to be obliged, either to live there .condantly, or if they " emigratr, that the duties or obliga I tinns of -f'.ihJr ft S fhould dill follnw . j r 1 ---- - them; that; though they might live in other countries, it would be un der the degradingidifability of ftill, being confidered as fubjecls of the bower thev had left, and that thev ft, j - 7 , j therefore would be incapable of rriixirigtfn. the councils of the voun tty to which they, had removed. Defpifing fueh a date of bondage, the law of nations gives to every one. as it ought, the nVht of living vi'here he thinks proper; jnftead of being iixed to one fpot, cf becom ing, if he pleafes, a citizen of the world. Nor is this a hew doctrine.: it is as old as the Armenian Repub lic. "I would rather," fays So crates, '' bea citizen of the world, than of any particular common wealth." N-ay, fo fixed was this qpinioniamong the ancients on the right of :a citizen to leave his coun try, that on dilcuiTifig it, .Uemara tus exclaimed, 44 he would prefer liberty in banifhment, to fervitude at home," The opinions of all the beft modern writers are, as I have cuoted, that, except in times of extreme danger, a citizen has a right tp change, his fituation and refidence, and 'ti on this opinion the United States havefounded their law. Con fidering their habits and principles, it was impoflible to frame it on any khcr. Every American citizen is born freehand glories in it with reafon. The firft leffon he receives from his father, and the firfl he tranfmits to his fon, is, that inde pendence is his inheritance; he Y proud of being himfclf, of thinking feeling, and aftinff fAr himfelf ; he can have no idea of being confaned to . one coun try, or one allegiance, if he thinks proper to change them. Jn their aa, therefore, it was impofirble for them to make any diflin6lion or toj pay anv attention-to the lor.it Of particular States. They have been obliged from circumflanccs to Vary the thneu neceffarv to entitle n applicant to 'citizen fhip ; the re sidence previoufly necelfarv, in the year 1793, was two, years-; fo that ill the citizens made' in that vear, rmifl: have bwn in the country ' two Vears before. Many of them have p-cn here a, mich ionger time, ae it i. well known that there are at his moment,. a great number of the patiyes of Britain, re ft dent in the United States, who have been fo long before 1703, ; and whoVftill .tontmue .fnbjcfcU- of that power, pill thole who became, citizens in 793 or 701, mud have, from the Uw admitting them io citizenfhip, iicic 10 long as to pre-ve at once, that they left their, country beiore the wr, and in a time cf profound peace; nd yet, by the tccree of. the Judge of New-Provi: fiCnt'er tlcy arc ro; to be coiiilder- cd as citizens, and are liable, if they attempt to trade under the A merican flag, to have their proper ty engaged in fuch commerce, fei zed and condemned. I will afk, under what pretence under what colour of law or reafon, carl thefe condemnations'taka place or be juf tified ? 1 It is univerfally admitted by all the writers, ancient and modern, that in' time of prpfound peace, a man has a right to leave his coun try ; I have (hewn, from the refi dence previoully neceiTary to qua lify for citfzenfhip, all thole who were admitted in 1793, and 1794. mull haveleft Great-Britain when at peace, and therefore, with ref pcl to thofe, there can be no doubt, among well-informed. Jud ges, that the Providence Judge has violated our rights, and that it is the duty of our government to feek redrefs. I am not without hopes, that the policy of amicably grant-' ing it, will be feen and purfued. J It might alfo lead to explanations on the fubjefi in general ; for un der the law of nations, I hold it to be a clear and undoubted right, the fubjeft or citizen of every power poiTcfiTcs, to change his relidence and allegiance, except' when his country is aclually invaded by a foreign force, or is in imminent danger of being fo, or has a eonteft amounting to war raging wr hin it ; that it is a privilege founded in the law of nations and the reafon of things, and that the laws of Great Britain, Ruffia, and the other countries which differ, are unnatu ral infringements of a right their creator mufl have intended every human being to pofiefs ; that the U- nitcd States, having acted upon this right, it is their dutv to pro-' tcft the lawful commerce of thofc they have created citizens; that other wife their grhnt of cilizenfnip is a public deception, ruinous to the mterelts of thole their laws up on this fubjecf. have entrapped, and unworthy the juftice .and honour of the American nation. I come now fecondly to confider the defe'rmination given by the Judge refpetng the condemnation of all the goods on board any veffel belonging to the fame owner, who may have fhipped any contraband goods, even of the fmallefl; value : and that contraband goods, (hipped by the owner of the veffel, renders fuch velfel liable to condemnation. The property of American citi zens depending upon th conflruc tion, being to a very great amount, and as it may hereafter materially affe6l them, I have confidered the fubject. with all the care and atten tion I could. I have fearched into every authority within my reach ; and, fter the moll deliberate and impartial examination, do not hefi tate to pronounce it a mod unjuft and illegal decifion one as unwar ranted by the law of nations, as it is byr the laws of England, or the decifions and opinions of their ablcfi: Judges. As the queftion is of infinite im portance, I truhV my countrymen .will. not. confider. me as unreafona bly trefpaffing on their patience'in making the following obfervations. It is agreed by all writers, that fhips of war, or privateers, are riot to attempt any thing againft the law of nations; they are not, by affaulting within the port of a friend, to diflurb the peace of a place, for it mud be inviolatbly preferved; they arc carefully "To attend to the leagues of their allies, neuters Jand friends, according to their various and feveral treaties: and therefore by a marine treaty between Charles II.. and the State of Holland, the Comma hdeis- of privateers are to give fecurity for their behaviour, exactly in the mariner of the treaty with Great Britain with the United States : in deed, it appears to me, that the whole of the 19th article of the treaty . is, copied nearly verbatim from thai of 1674. -;fBy other articles in the faid trea tyiif torture cruelty, or any bar bitous ufage after. pa pture, pe done tp; the perlons. taken in the prize, the fame fliall difcharge fuch prize, ' although fhe-Avas lawful, andT the! captains hall: lofe: their commiffi. ons, arid Iheyj and. the offenders,, be iubjcEl to' punilhment. This 1 agreement between the Englifh and the Dutch," ought to be a flan da rd to all nations: and by the treaty pf Utrecht, there is an article with France to the fame purpdfe. Ships carrying -powder, fhot, gruns, fwords, or other yai like in Uruments for fea or land, bound for an enemy, from a neuter nation or State, in amity with both the belli gerent powers, fhall be taken ,as a prize, provided they are wholly laden with them. Money " provi sions," &c. canonly be interrupted in time of extreme neceffity, when the war is fo fevere, that a prince cannot poiribly defend himfelf, or damage the enemy, without inter cepting fuch things : audit is now agreed and fettled by numerous treaties, " that thofe things which may be ufed out of war, or in war, fexcept fhips) hall not be called! prohibited nor bable to condem nation : unlels carried to places be fieged" and univerfally confidered as a rule not to be queftioned "that goods made ufe of for pleafure and luxury only, . are free in neutral fhips. , But the part of the law of nations cflablifhed on this fubjel, which claims peculiarly the. atten tion of every American citizen, is, il that in cafe part of the lading of a fhjp is prohibited or contraband, and the other part merely for plea fure, the goods prohibited only Jhatlbe deemed .prize and the (hip, and the remainder of the cargo be difcharg ed, which may proceed in the voy age,on delivering up theother goods, witnout being even prouglit into porf . But if a fhip be vvhfslly laden with contraband goods!, then, and only then, poth the - fhip and the goods may be made prize." . Thefe are thejetiledandedablifh cd rules, which govern all well informed and impartial tribunals, in deciding upon prze?, and I fhall exaniine how far they arc confident with the treaty made by Great Britain with the United States, and whether that treaty has not, with velpecf. to contraband, exprefsly dipulated that a conduft fhall be obferred by the Britifh tribunals exaclly the reverfe of the decrees of the Naffau Judge.. The i7fh5 article dipulatcs, ,that il if any vefTels are detained on fuf picion of having enemy's property, or contraband goods on board, they fhall be carried to the neared port ; and that whichbelong to an enemy fliall be made prize of onlv, and the vefferfhall be immediately at liber ty to proceed with theremainder." The 18th article declares what (hall be contraband, adding I to the ufual lid,! " timber fr fhibtiiding, tar, rofin, copper in fheGtlAails, hemp and cordage, and generally what ever may ferve for equipping vef fels, except unwrought iron and fir planks." The fame article ex prefsly declares, that i " whenever provifions pr other articles, not generally contraband, jmay by the exiding law of nations, be confi dered fo and be feized, the fame fhall not be confifcated, but the owners inall De ipeedUV and com- pletely indemnified, and the cap- tors, or, in tneir nerauit, tne go- .1 i r t . .1 vernnent under whofe authority tney act, man naaKe tuli compen fat ion, adding a reafonable mercan- tile profit, and freight ar.d demur- rage, incident to luch detention. ' Al though I have, ever d ifapproved of thefe articlcs .of the Britifh trea ty, and clearly forefaw the evils wnicn nave arisen trom our givingj a colour to the Bntiih cruuers to take and detain our vefTels on any pretence, the extending the lid of articles declared contraband of war, and yielding to the fei zing our pro vifioh fhips; yet upon comparing tfiefe regulations with the decrees arid condemnations of their Judge at NafTau, we are adoriifiied beydnd :x predion, that fo open a violation of judice, of the law of nations, and of -exiding treaties, fhould! be attempted by any Judge afting un der the authority of a nation which boads fo much of the purity and impartiality; of her tribunals. , No one: can now for a moment doubt, t.hatj not only by the law of nations, . the laws and adjudications of England and her tourts, but by the expreis provifions of trieir trea ty with the ; 'United States, the Bri- . See Groti&s, lJjfik:;hoek, Moilaj, and Confolait del Mte, ( v , , . ; J- , -'T, . , I. . - tifli crbifers are bound not to touch , any part , of any American cargo, except! fuch as is enemy's property, or undoubtedly contraband, ac cording to the laws of nations, that itis dipulated in the mod pofitive manner, in the cafe of provifions and articles not generally contra band, but which may by the exid ing laws of nations be confidered fo, and be for that reafon carried into port, that they fliall not be con fifc?ted or condemned ; but that the owners thereof fhall be completely indemnified, and with a reafonable mercantile profit. The Judge there fore at NafTau, or any Englifh Judge, was bound by the mod pow erful reafons to refpeft all American property, except ammunition or -implements of war. The treaty exprefsly forbids their condemning any other part of' it ; and it was his duty in all the cafes mentioned, on ly to have confifcated the military dores, or what was clearly proved to be enemy's property. As a Judge, indead of tarnifhing, he fiiouldhave confidered himfelf the guardian of the public honour of his govern ment, the preserver of her treaties, and the protect-or of thofe rights he had fo'folemnly promifed to main tain inviolate towards a neutral and friendly power. I had proceeded thus far in the prcfent number, when I received information that the fpoiiations up on our trade, and the number of the. veffels carried into Kingdon, Jamaica, exceeded' thofe carried in to New -Providence, and that the lid expe&ed from Martinico, Mountferrat, St. Kitt's and Tor tola, were comparatively large. In this didreffing d.ilemma, it becomes every friend to his country to unite in endeavouring to obtain the fulled information. The merchants who 'rti mud be the molt interested, are earnefllv cl!ed upon, and fequeded to furnifh particular and authentic documents of their refpeclive lodes; it would perhaps be bed to fend du plicates, tranfmitting one copy to the Secretary of State's office, and the other to one of their Reprefen tatives in Congrefsi This fhould be done throughout all the ports of the United States. No timeisto be loft;, the meeting ,of Congrefs approaches: and they fhould have the fulled information. The mer chants, fnould recollect, that the reafons given by the Judge, and which' we are to prefume are the Veafons which govern all the Britifh courts of Admiralty in the Wed Indies, go almod to the annihilation of our commerce, particularly in the Wed-Indies. That which ref- pefts Britifh fubjecls made citizens fince February, inW JS highly 1m portant ; but the doctrine refpefting contraband, is abfolutely thk mod ruinous and illegal that they could have devifed. " We know that the lid of contra band articles as cdabiifhed by the law of nations, is frequently alter ed by agreement between different powers. I have examined a variety of treaties in which thefe articles have been'altered, fome treaties lef feninsr, and others increafing them. Th. trratv.hetween G. Britain and the U. States, enlarges them very much: there is fcarcely. one between rnmmercial nations in Which it is not an important article. To know the extent, therefore, of contraband articlec, as they da nd between iffe-' rent countries, requires rcfearches and examinations, to which none hut men in the habits of public bu finpls are much accultomed. It - is not to be ex peeled, that every mer chant, or fupercargo, or mader of a veTl, is a man of letters ; that he is to be acquainted with the law of na tions, or to underdand in what par ticular fituation parts of their car goes miy become contraband. Nine tenths of the articles fhipped bya merchant may be proper, and.tie re maindrr may, thro' ignorance,' " be contraband; nay, a fingle article may inadvertently have been, hip ped, and, for. this tnfiing miftake, is he to forfeit, perhaps, his all ? Can this be juft, or is it confonant to thofe principles on which the laws that govern States in their in ter courfe w i t K ea c h other, a re fpu n d ed? The cafes which fometimes oc cur on thai lubieft: of .what is or wfat is not,. under exiding circum dances. v contraband, reauire the niced didinclions. The mod able and experienced judges have often "differed" upon them. How much more reafonable, then, is that law, which does not expeel from every one concerned in trade, an accurate knowledge upon this fubjeel, and only forfeits the article that is con traband ? I will dill indulge the ' hope, that upon a fcrious and atten- i tive confederation of the (ubjeel, i Great-Britain will find it her true policy to remove andcorrecV the injuries which determinations like thefe produce. It mud always bo her intered to proteel the judrights . of commerce, to fupport thofe prin ciples which promote the labours' of mankind, fince he hcrfelf, like the United States, can only be great from ihe virtuous induftry of her inhabitants. The projeel of having alone the empire of the fea,and not only mb- nopchzmg, but treating all kinds of commerce as Ihe pleafes, is not lefs chimerical, nor lefs dedruclfve, than that of univerial dominion on the continent. It is to be wifhed, for the happinefs of mankind, the H.nghih were convinced or this truth, before they learn it by their own experience, irance has alrea dy repeated many times, that it was neccuary to eftaohm a balance of power at lea, and has yet pei funded nobody, becaufe they fuppoled fhe wifhed to be the ruling power, and by lefTehing the force of the Eng- liih, more lurely to give laws to the continent : but if England con tinues to abufe its drength, and ex ercife a tyranny on commerce, all theother States, that have fhipsand fcamen. will be compelled to unit againft her, and affert their rights. The United States are -probably" foon to take a new dation. They are?about to enter into a negociation with France ; and the prefent. un certain date of their commerce with Great -Britain, the difficulties which have arifen, refpecling-the immenfa claims, amounting to millions that are made by Britifh fubjecls under Mr. Jay's treaty, and the feccfiion of the American cornimi doners, mud open a negociation with that power; one in which every inter fering claim, whether of commerce or otherwife, can be amicably ad- juded. Thus will all ;the impor tant relations which this country has with the mod powerful maritime States, and thofe with whom, ho has the greated intercourfe, be again fubmitted to negociation. It will be opened, too, at a time when, being more experiencd, and better underdanding her true intereds, fhe will probably have, it in her power to form treaties upon prin ciples which may remove the objec tions to the prefent, and pofiibly ; reconcile and conciliate all parties. Thatall thefe difnculttes may thus end in producing the bledings of a free commerce, and dornedic har mony, mud be the wifli of every friend to his country. I will here conclude, . with in dulging the hope, that thofe iwho may clirccl cur affairs, r rcprefent our citizens In the Councils of the Union, will, upon every occafion differ themfelvesto bealone govern ed by -he principles df impartial juf tice to all Nations, by an upright ' and deady attention to the true in tereds of their own country ; that thev will countenance no improper partialities for fome Nations, and dif likc to others ; that they will by no means permit their public opinions to be influenced by the hope or ex peclation of what might happen in Europe ; that this was of all things the mod changeable and uncertain ; that fo much depends upon fuccefs, or misfortune in war. nay, frequently upon the event, of a finglc battle, upon the ability ana naeiity ot a General, the zeal of his troops, or the enthufiafm of a people, that.it was almoft impoffible in one yearto fay, what may be ihe date of things ( theJnext. The termination of the wari is no doubt of the highed importance tp f the civilized vorld ; it is difficult to fay how or when it will end, m prefent it is -our duty to ;guaWj. rhts, and'be jud. and lmpaifitt-C bur public conducl. Tfib -vctii ). uf mil t eive to mm. in woie t- hands is .the fate of natiois. arrd un-'. der whofe protection -iarfS;-have hi therto been a free an fortunate v -I people. 08, z .1 -v.- ...X--.- ' J - Sift - - .
The Weekly Raleigh Register (Raleigh, N.C.)
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Dec. 24, 1799, edition 1
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