THE 01*rY or MEXIGO. 41 .
“The law of nations exposes such persons to have their ships seized and
their goods taken and subjected to coniiscation; and it further deprives them
of the right to look to the government of their own country for any protection.
And this principle of non-interference in things which the law does not en-
able the government to deal with, so far from being a violation of the duty of '
neutrality, is in accordance with all the principles which have been laid down
by jurists, and more especially by the great jurists of the United States of
America? _
Mr. Marcy, in his dispatch to Mr. Bucliahan of April 13, 1854,
(Cong. Doc. 33d Gong. 1st Sess. H. R. Doc. ,103, p. 21,) says: _
"As the law has been declared by the decisions of the courts of admiralty
and elementary writers, it allows belligerents to search neutral vessels for
articles contraband of war and for enemies’ goods. If the doctrine is so medi-_
fied as to except from seizure and confiscation enemies’ property under a neu-
tral iiag, still the right to seize articles contraband of war, on board of neu-
tral vessels, implies the right to ascertain the character of the cargo. A per-
sistent resistance by a neutral vessel to submit to a search renders it confisca-
ble, according to the settled determination of the English admiralty. " _
V President Pierce, also, in his message to the first session of the
thirty—fourth congress, speaking of articles contraband of war, says :
" The laws of the United States do not forbid their citizens to sell to either
of the belligerent powers articles contraband of war, or take munitions of
war or soldiers on board their private ships for transportation; and although
in so doing the individual citizen exposes his property or person to some of
the hazards of war, his acts do not involve any breach of national neutrality,
nor of themselves implicate the government. "
Kent, in his Commentaries, vol. 1, p. 142, sets it down as the es-V
tablished law that "neutrals may lawfully sell at home to a belliger-
ent purchaser, or carry themselves to the belligerent powers, contra-
band articles subject to the right of seizure in tmnsitu." And that
"the right of neutrals to transport, and of the hostile power to seize,
are conflicting rights, and neither party can charge the other with a
criminal act." The Santissinza Trinidad, 7 Wheat. 283, 340; Rich-
ardson v. Jllaine Ins. Oo. 6 Mass. 113.
The provisions of section 5283, and of the neutrality act of 1818,
are not directed against commercial adventures, nor against peace-
able aid, however important, rendered by our citizens to either bel-
ligerent, so long as such aid arises indirectly only through c0mme1·- l
cial dealings, and in the ordinary channels of trade. The statute is
directed solely against warlike enterprises. It does not forbid giving
aid and comfort to either belligerent. Had that been its design it
would have been expressed. Its language is: “To cruise or com-
mit lzostilrit-ies against .the subjects, citizens, or property, " etc. This
plainly means acts of force, injury, or destruction, that are of a war-
like character, as distinguished from the peaccable interchanges of
commerce, which, however much they may indirectly aid a belliger-
ent, involve no hostilities committed or participated in by the ship
herself. If a vessel should engage to take part as a transport in a
hostile expedition, she might be held to be involved in the general