RIGHT TO PROTECT INTERESTS AND INDUSTRY. 153 



Monroe called his Cabinet together in October, 1S17, und directed that 

 a vessel of war should proceed to the island and expel the marauders, 

 destroying their works and vessels. 



In the case of the Caroline, in the year 1S3S, during the Canadian 

 rebellion, a British armed force pursued that vessel into an American 

 port on Lake Erie, cut her out and destroyed her by fire, killing one or 

 more of her crew. This otherwise gross violation of the territory of a 

 friendly nation was justified by the British Government as a necessary 

 measure of self defense, since the Caroline had been engaged in carry- 

 ing supplies to the insurgents. In the correspondence that ensued 

 between the two governments, the British right to intrude as they did 

 upon American territory was conceded by Mr. Webster, the American 

 ►Secretary of State, provided the necessities of self-defense required it, 

 and the only question made was whether the necessity for its exercise 

 actually existed. In the end, that point seems to have been given up, 

 and no reparation or apology was ever made. Though it is certainly 

 difficult to see how any greater necessity was to be found in that case 

 than may always be said to exist for attacking an enemy's ship, the 

 case presents a very strong illustration of the application of an un- 

 doubted principle. A very interesting discussion of the question wil 

 be found in the correspondence. 1 



Phillimore says of the Caroline case (vol. I, p. 255, sec. ccxvi): 



The act was made the subject of complaint on the ground of viola- 

 tion of territory by tine American Government, and vindicated by Great 

 Britain on the ground of self -preservation; which, if her version of the 

 facts were correct, was a sufficient answer and a complete vindication. 



Hall (Int. Law, p. 2G7, par. 31) expresses similar views. 



In 1815, under orders of Mr. Monroe, measures were taken for the 

 destruction of a fort held by outlaws of all kinds on the Appalachicola 

 River, then within Spanish territory, from which parties had gone 

 forth to pillage within the United States. The governor of Pensacola 

 had been called upon to repress the evil and punish the marauders, but 

 he refused; and on his refusal the Spanish territory was entered, and 

 the fort attacked and destroyed, on the ground of necessity. 



A similar case was that of Grey town. It was a port on the Mosquito 

 coast, in which some United States citizens resided. These citizens, 

 and others interested with them in business, were subjected to gross 

 indignities and injuries by the local authorities, who were British, but 



1 For correspondence between Mr. Webster and Lord Asbbnrton, and remarks of 

 Mr. Calboun and Lord Campbell, see Appendix, infra, p. 186. 



