YANKEEISM GOING TOO FAR NORTH.
Mn. MARCY to accept the avowal—" Privateering is, and remains, abolished," but with the condition that the following words should be added to the declaration,—" And that the pri- vate property of the subjects or citizens of a belligerent on the high seas shall be exempted from seizure by public armed vessels of the other belligerent, except it be contraband." And the Times seriously proposes to agree with the offer of the American Government. The Yankees would appear not to be so sharp as they are supposed to be. What would be the effect of the decla- ration with this addition to it ? • The declaration already affirms the principle that a blockade, to be legal must be effective. It therefore recognizes and au- thorizes 'blockades. Let us suppose that an European fleet block- aded Boston, New York, Charleston, and New Orleans: the whole of the American marine would be blocked up, and, if privateering were abolished, the blockading force would be unassailable by the only force which the United States possesses to draw it off— the volunteer militia of the seas, -
sir. Marcy, indeed, might say that he intended to exempt pri- vate property absolutely, and therefore to let private vessels run in and out of ports, the blockade notwithstanding. Are the European Powers prepared to accept that interpretation of the American addendum ? If not, will Mr. Marcy find, in their re- fusal, means to back out from his specious offer ?
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