Lord Derby asked Lord Russell on Monday night how he
recon- ciled the cessation of war in the United States with the pro- clamation of President Johnson, threatening to regard as pirates any vessels that might attempt to enter certain ports formally closed to commerce by the municipal authority of the United States. Lord Russell replied that it was in fact absolutely im- possible to justify the threat of putting in force the penalty due to pirates instead of the penalty due to smuggling in such a case. If the United States like, they can of course declare smuggling punishable with death, but to assert that, all war having ceased, or for that matter whether it had ceased or not, a vessel entering a port closed by the Government subjects its captain and crew to the penalty of piracy, is simply absurd. We might pass a law to declare petty larceny—or dancing—piracy if we chose, but it would .change.et best only the domestic, and not the international use of the word. Foreigners entering closed ports in the United States are clearly smugglers only, not pirates.
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