Nr. 4625. President, and to assure him that the President entertained full confidence in ,,Case" von the speedy restoration of the harmony and unity of the Government Ver. Staat., 1871-72. Mr. Dallas,1 in complying with his instructions (April 9, 1861), pressed upon Lord Russell the importance of England and France abstaining, "at least for a considerable time, from doing what, by encouraging groundless hopes, would widen a breach still thought capable of being closed." Lord Russell replied that the coming of Mr. Adams (Mr. Dallas's successor) "would doubtless be regarded as the appropriate and natural occasion for finally discussing and determining the question." The United States therefore had reasonable ground to believe, not only in view of the great moral interests of which they were the exponents, and of the long-standing friendship between them and Great Britain, but also in consequence of the voluntary promise of Lord Russell, that an opportunity would be afforded them to explain their views and purposes through their newly selected and specially trusted representative; and least of all had they cause to anticipate that a Government which they supposed to be in sympathy with their policy as to African slavery, would precipitate a decision as to the insurgents, which was so obviously injurious to the United States, as to almost appear to have been designedly so. || The delay upon which the Government of the United States relied to firmly secure the loyalty of the Border States, and their aid in inducing the peaceable return of the Gulf States, was interrupted by the attack upon Fort Sumter, made by order of the Government at Montgomery. This attack ended in the surrender of the garrison on the 13th of April. This was followed on the fifteenth of April by a Proclamation of the President, calling out the militia, and convening an extra session of Congress on the 4th day of the next July. On the 17th of April, Mr. Jefferson Davis gave notice that letters of marque would be granted by the persons who had attempted to establish a Government at Montgomery, by usurping the authority of the United States. On the 19th of April, President Lincoln issued a Proclamation declaring that a blockade of the ports within the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, would be established for the purpose of collecting the revenue in the disturbed part of the country, and for the protection of the public peace, and of the lives and properties of quiet and orderly citizens, until Congress should assemble. That body was summoned to assemble on the 4th day 2 of the following July. In the course of the discussion between the two Governments growing out of the war, it has been repeatedly asserted that Her Majesty's Government was induced to confer upon the insurgents in the South the status of belligerents, in consequence of the receipt of the news of the Presi 1 Dallas to Seward, Vol. I, page 12. 2 Vol. I, page 16. 3 Appleton's Annual Cyclopaedia, 1861, page 137. 4 Diese Proclamation s. im ,,Staatsarchiv", erster Band, 1861, Nr. 44. [Anm. d. Herausg.] Ver. Staat., dent's Proclamation of April 19. The United States are therefore forced to Nr. 4625. invite the patience of the Board of Arbitrators, while they establish, from,,Case" von conclusive proof, that Her Majesty's Government is mistaken in that respect. 1871-72. Before any armed collision had taken place, there existed an understanding between Her Majesty's Government and the Government of the Emperor of the French, with a view to securing a simultaneous and identical course of action of the two Governments on American questions. It is within the power of the British Government to inform the Arbitrators when that understanding was reached. The fact that it had been agreed to by the two Governments was communicated to Mr. Dallas by Lord John Russell, the 1st day of May, 1861.1| There was nothing in the previous relations between Great Britain and the United States which made it necessary for Her Majesty's Government to seek the advice, or to invite the support of the Emperor of the French, in the crisis which was threatened. The United States are at a loss to conjecture what inducement could have prompted such an act, unless it may have been the perception, on the part of Her Majesty's Government, that it was in its nature not only unfriendly, but almost hostile to the United States. When the news of the bloodless attack upon Fort Sumter became known in Europe, Her Majesty's Government apparently assumed that the time had come for the joint action which had been previously agreed upon; and, without waiting to learn the purposes of the United States, it announced its intention to take the first step by recognizing the insurgents ås belligerents. | The President's Proclamation, which has since been made the ostensible reason for this determination, was issued on the 19th of April, and was made public in the Washington newspapers of the morning of the 20th. An imperfect copy of it was also telegraphed to New York, and from thence. to Boston, in each of which cities it appeared in the newspapers of the morning of the 20th. The New York papers of the 20th gave the substance of the Proclamation, without the official commencement and close, and with several errors of more or less importance. The Boston papers of the same date, in addition to the errors in the New York copy, omitted the very important statement in regard to the collection of the revenue, which appears in the Proclamation as the main cause of its issue. During the morning of the 19th of April a riot took place in Baltimore, which ended in severing direct communication, by rail or telegraph, between Washington and New York. Telegraphic communication was not restored until the 30th of the month. The regular passage of the mails and trains was resumed about the same time. It appears by a despatch from Lord Lyons to Lord John Russell that the mails had not been resumed on the 27th. It is absolutely certain that no full copy of the text of the Proclamation could have left Washington by the mails of the 19th, and equally certain that no copy could 1 Mr. Dallas to Mr. Seward, May 2, 1861, Vol. I, pp. 33-34. Blue Book, North America, No. 1, 1862, page 26. Ver. Staat., Nr. 4625. have reached New York from Washington after the 19th for several days. ,,Case" von On the 20th the steamer Canadian sailed from Portland, taking the Boston 1871-72. papers of that day, with the imperfect copy of the Proclamation, in which the clause in regard to the collection of the revenue was suppressed. This steamer arrived at Londonderry on the 1st of May, and the "Daily News" of London, of the 2nd of May, published the following telegraphic items of news: "President Lincoln has issued a Proclamation, declaring a blockade of all the ports in the seceded States. The Federal Government will condemn as pirates all privateer vessels which may be seized by Federal ships." The Canadian arrived at Liverpool on the 2nd of May, and the "Daily News" of the 3rd, and the "Times" of the 4th of May, published the imperfect Boston copy of the Proclamation in the language as shown in the note below. No other than the Boston copy of the Proclamation appears to have been published in the London newspapers. It is not likely that a copy was received in London before the 10th by the Fulton from New York. It was on this meagre and incorrect information that the advice of the British Law Officers was based, upon which that Government acted. On the evening of the 2nd of May, Lord John Russell stated in the House of Commons that "Her Majesty's Government heard the other day ports: The following is the President's Proclamation of the blockade of the Southern "An insurrection against the Government of the United States has broken out in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, and the laws of the United States cannot be executed effectually therein comformably to that provision of the constitution which requires duties to be uniform throughout the United States; and further, a combination of persons, engaged in such insurrection, have threatened to grant pretended letters of marque to authorize the bearers thereof to commit assaults on the lives, vessels, and property of good citizens of the country lawfully engaged in commerce on the high seas and in the waters of the United States; and whereas an Executive Proclamation has already been issued, requiring the persons engaged in these disorderly proceedings to desist, and therefor calling out the militia force for the purpose of repressing the same, and convening Congress in extraordinary Session to deliberate and determine thereon, the President, with a view to the same purposes before mentioned, and to the protection of the public peace and the lives and property of its orderly citizens pursuing their lawful occupations until Congress shall. have assembled and deliberated on said unlawful proceedings, or until the same shall have ceased, has further deemed it advisable to set on foot a blockade of the ports within the States aforesaid, in pursuance of the laws of the United States and the laws of nations in such cases provided. For this purpose a competent force will be posted so as to prevent the entrance and exit of vessels from the ports aforesaid. If, therefore, with a view to violate such blockade, any vessel shall attempt to leave any of the said ports, she will be duly warned by the commander of one of said blockading vessels, who will indorse on her register the fact and date of such warning, and if the same vessel shall again attempt to enter or leave a blockaded port, she will be captured and sent to the nearest convenient port for such proceedings against her and her cargo as may be deemed advisable." 2 Vol. IV, page 482. Ver. Staat., 1871-72. that the Confederated States have issued letters of marque, and to-day we Nr. 4625. have heard that it is intended there shall be a blockade of all the ports of,,Case" von the Southern States. As to the general provisions of the law of nations on these questions, some of the points are so new, as well as so important, that they have been referred to the Law Officers of the Crown for their opinions." It is with deep regret that the United States find themselves obliged to lay before the Tribunal of Arbitration the evidence that, when this announcement was made in the House of Commons, Her Majesty's Government had already decided to recognize the right of the Southern insurgents to attack and destroy the commerce of the United States on the high seas. On the 1st day of May, 1861 (two days before they could have heard of the issue of the President's Proclamation), Lord John Russell wrote as follows to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty: 1 "The intelligence which reached this country by the last mail to the United States gives reason to suppose that a civil war between the Northern and Southern States of that Confederacy was imminent, if indeed it might not be considered to have already begun. "Simultaneously with the arrival of this news, a telegram, purporting to have been conveyed to Halifax from the United States, was received, which announced that the President of the Southern Confederacy had taken steps for issuing letters of marque against the vessels of the Northern States." "I need scarcely observe to your Lordships that it may be right to apprise the Admiral that, much as Her Majesty regrets the prospect of civil war breaking out in a country in the happiness and peace of which Her Majesty takes the deepest interest, it is Her Majesty's pleasure that nothing should be done by her naval forces which should indicate any partiality or preference for either party in the contest that may ensue." || On the 4th of May 2 Lord John Russell held an interview with some individuals, whom he described as "the three gentlemen deputed by the Southern Confederacy to obtain their recognition as an independent State." Although he informed them that he could hold no official communication with them, he did discuss with them the question of recognition, and he indicated to them the points to which they must direct their attention in the discussion of the subject. He also listened to their views in response thereto; and when, on the termination of the interview, they informed him "that they should remain in London for the present, in the hope that the recognition of the Southern Confederacy would not be long delayed," he interposed no objections to such a course, and suggested no improbability of such a recognition. On the 5th of May the steamship Persia arrived at Liverpool with advices from New York to the 25th of April. Lord John Russell stated on Monday, 1 Vol. I, page 33. 2 Vol. I, page 37. ,,Case" von Nr. 4625. the 6th of May, in a communication to Lord Cowley, 1 "that Her Majesty's GovernVer. Staat., ment received no despatches from Lord Lyons by the mail which has just arrived 1871-72. [the Persia], the communication between Washington and New York being interrupted." In the same despatch Lord Cowley is informed "that Her Majesty's Government cannot hesitate to admit that such Confederacy is entitled to be considered as a belligerent, and as such invested with all the rights and prerogatives of a belligerent," and he is instructed to invite the French Government to a joint action, and a line of joint policy with the British Government, toward the United States. Lord Cowley, under these instructions, had an interview on the 9th of May with the French Minister for Foreign Affairs. The Tribunal may infer from the published correspondence that it was assumed at this interview that the two Governments should act together, and that the letters of marque which might be issued by the insurgents should be respected. Lord Cowley reported that "His Excellency said further that, in looking for precedents, it had been discovered that Great Britain, although treating at the commencement of the American war letters of marque as piracy, had, after a time, recognized the belligerent rights of the States in rebellion against her." The answer to these instructions was received at the Foreign Office on the 11th of May. The United States are firmly convinced that no correct or complete copy of the President's Proclamation could have been received there in advance of it. It is known that the official copy forwarded by Lord Lyons to his Government reached London on the 14th of May. The official copy sent by Mr. Seward to Mr. Dallas reached Southampton on the evening of the 9th of May, and London on the 10th. It is stated in the British notes on Mr. Fish's instruction of September 25, 1869, to Mr. Motley, that the Proclamation was communicated officially by Mr. Dallas to Lord John Russell on the 11th. There is no evidence of this fact in the archives of the Legation of the United States at London, or at the Department of State at Washington. But even if the statement in the notes be correct, still the British Government received, in the afternoon of the 11th of May, 1861, its first complete and official copy of the President's Proclamation, ten days after Lord John Russell had decided to award the rights of belligerency on the ocean to the insurgents, eight days after the subject had been referred to the Law Officers for their opinion, and five days after the decision of Her Majesty's Government upon that opinion had been announced in the House of Commons, as hereinafter set forth. On the same day on which Lord John Russell wrote Lord Cowley (May 6) he wrote to Lord Lyons, calling the United States "the northern portion of the late Union," and reiterating that Her Majesty's Government "cannot question 1 Vol. I, page 36; see also same volume, page 48. 2 Vol. I, page 49. 3 British Blue Book on the Blockade, 1861, page 1. |