POLITICAL AND COMMERCIAL 19 



repaired the vessel, reloaded the same 

 cargo, and cleared for Havana. The ves- 

 sel was seized by the English, and, while it 

 was the case of the "Polly" over again, the 

 judge decided differently. He held that the 

 intention was to be considered, and that 

 as the cargo was never meant for the United 

 States, the mere landing did not break the 

 voyage. This was a severe blow to neutral 

 trade, and at this time there was no neutral 

 trade save with American vessels. 1 



The United States argued that what was 

 right in 1800 could not be wrong in 1805 

 and that Great Britain had no means of 

 knowing what their intentions were, when 

 they entered a cargo. Whether they sold 

 in the United States or reexported was a 

 question of price and market, and at any 



1 "Schooner 'Rachel,' Woodbury, arrived in Beverly 

 to-day. Capt. Woodbury remarked that not in his whole 

 voyage, either at sea or in port, had he seen any flag, ex- 

 cept the United States." Salem Gazette, April 1, 1801. 



"Not a single merchant vessel under a flag inimical to 

 Great Britain now crosses the equator or traverses the At- 

 lantic ocean." JAMES STEPHENS, War in Disguise, p. 68. 



