PRIVATEERING.
TO THE EDITOR OP THE SPECTATOR.
SIB—Many of your observations on privateering are excellent; but you do not go to the root of the evil, which is the acknowledged practice of Govern- ments—not privateers only—seizing the property of individuals when found on the high seas. Privateers are not the • Thugs " of naval warfare, but the sutlers and marauders of the camp, who complete the devastation and carry further the plunder which the regulars have begun. According to this view, the remedy for the evil—the one suggested by you having in it something repul- sive to humanity—is, that Governments should cease from plundering the pro- perty of individuals belonging to a nation at war with them when found on the high seas, and should refuse by their Courts of Admiralty to confiscate it for the benefit of the captors, whether vessels of war or privateers. Were the Governments of Europe, or were the Government of England, regardless of the demand of its patriotic naval officers, to lay down the principle that private property shall be respected at sea as on shore, there would be no temptation for any men to fit out privateers; and I doubt whether a single letter of marque would ever be applied for. The remedy, then, for the scandalous evil which you have brought under notice, is at once simple honest, just, and humane. Let Governments be honest and just—let men-of-war's officers have no prize- money but ior the capture of the hostile Government's forts, ships, and stores— let our rulers respect the private property of unoffending individuals—and pri- vateerism will at once die a natural death. That the Governments of Europe will adopt this principle, I have no immediate hope; but you may do some- thing by your writings to recommend it to their notice. You will be aided by the honest and the peace-loving, and may in time compel the Governments to do their duty.
[We have not altogether neglected "the root of the evil"; for at the outset we attributed the crimes of privateering to Government sanction of the plunder of private property in time of war. Our intelligent correspondent, however, is right in reminding us, that in order to put an end to privateering, the privilege to plunder must also be withheld from the regular Navy. The development of his admirable suggestion will oblige us to enter more fully into the principle of /letters of marque than our present opportunities permit : but, encouraged by the expressions of interest which our remarks on this subject have elicited both from private correspondents and the public press, we will embrace the earliest Opportunity of returning to the subject.—ED.)
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