364 



DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE AND FOREIGN RELATIONS. 



The Georgia is an iron vessel of about 600 

 tons register, with engines of 300 horse- 

 power. She left Greenock in April, 1863, 

 under the name of the Japan. Proceeding to 

 the coast of France, the Georgia received her 

 armament and stores from a British steamer, 

 and then hoisting the rebel flag commenced 

 her cruise against American commerce. On 

 the 25th of April the Georgia captured and 

 burned the ship Dictator, and between that 

 date and the 10th of July she captured and 

 bonded or destroyed the ships George Gris- 

 wold, Amazonia, Good Hope, Constitution, 

 City of Bath, and Prince of Wales. On the 

 80th of October, 1863, she arrived at Cher- 

 bourg, France. On the 9th of April, 1864, 

 ?he was at Bordeaux, and was next heard from 

 in England, where she is said to have been 

 sold for 15,000, her crew paid off, aud her 

 Etores sold at auction. It is claimed that the 

 Georgia was subsequently taken up by the 

 Portuguese Government for the conveyance of 

 mails from Liverpool and Lisbon to the Azores 

 and back, and it appears she was in transit to 

 those ports when her capture was made with 

 her cargo. She was insured at Lloyd's on a 

 policy of not free from capture. 



The Dover correspondent of the London 

 " Times," writing August 24th, gives the par- 

 ticulars of the seizure: 



The Federal steam frigate Niagara brought up in 

 Dover Roads this morning, having on board Capt. 

 Withycombe and thirty-three men belonging to the 

 screw steamer Georgia, which is the property of a 

 British merchant resident in Liverpool, and was 

 captured by the Niagara while sailing under the Brit- 

 ish flag, on Monday, the 15th of August, about twenty 

 miles off Lisbon. 



The capture was made by the commodore in com- 

 mand of the Niagara on the ground that the Georgia 

 was formerly a belligerent ship, and in the service of 

 the Confederate States as the celebrated cruiser of 

 the same name. It seems, however, that the Georgia 

 was purchased some few months ago by Mr. E. Bates, 

 a ship-owner of Liverpool, and some nice questions 

 of an international character will therefore probably 

 arise out of this proceeding on the part of the Ni- 

 agara. 



The Georgia, it appears, was under orders for Lis- 

 bon, having been chartered by the Portuguese Gov- 

 ernment for the purpose of conveying passengers be- 

 tween that place and the African coast or the West 

 Indies. This was her first voyage under her new 

 ownership, and her crew had all received a month's 

 pay in advance. 



Nothing unusual occurred till she arrived about 

 twenty miles off Lisbon, when the Niagara was seen 

 apparently waiting for her. Capt. Withycombe did 

 not deviate from his course until brought to by a 

 couple of shots fired across his bows. He was shortly 

 afterward boarded by an armed boat's crew in com- 

 mand of on officer of the Niagara, who requested his 

 attendance before the commodore. Upon getting on 

 board the Niagara the commodore explained that it 

 was his duty to seize the Georgia, but that he desired 

 to cause Capt. Withycombe and his crew as little 

 discomfort as possible. The ship's papers were then 

 taken possession of and the crew detained as prison- 

 ers till the Niagara reached Dover, when they were 

 landed and conveyed to the Dover Sailors' Home, 

 Trhere they were kindly received. Thence they will 

 bo forwarded to Liverpool. 



The London "News" editorially quoted a 



decision by Lord Stowell in a case exactly 

 similar to that of the Georgia, as conclusive 

 evidence that the seizure by the Niagara wild 

 perfectly legal. It said : 



Some excitement seems to have been caused in 

 Liverpool by the announcement that the notorious 

 Confederate cruiser Georgia had been seized on the 

 high seas, about twenty miles from Lisbon, by the 

 Federal man-of-war Niagara. The history of the 

 Georgia is well known. 



The question is whether, according to the recog- 

 nized doctrine of international law, the captain of the 

 Niagara was justified in seizing the Georgia a ves- 

 sel which at the time of the seizure was sailing under 

 British colors, but which only a few weeks before 

 had been a vessel of war commissioned by the Con- 

 federate Government. It is said that the custom- 

 house officers at Liverpool had warned the owners of 

 the Georgia that they could not legally transfer the 

 property in her. But whether the Confederate offi- 

 cers or agents did or did not receive any such warn- 

 ing is immaterial, for the law on the subject is clear 

 beyond discussion. Fortunately the question has 

 been decided in this country more than half a cen- 

 tury ago by that eminent judge, Lord Stowell, in the 

 case of the Minerva, which is reported in the sixth 

 volume of Sir Christopher Robinson's Reports, and 

 therefore any legal speculation on the subject would 

 be superfluous. 



It is impossible to draw any distinction between 

 the case decided by Lord Stowell and that of the 

 Georgia, and therefore the commander of the Ni- 

 agara was clearly justified by the judgment of that 

 eminent lawyer. It is true, as Lord Stowell points 

 out, that if the vessel sold is a merchant vessel the 

 sale is valid ; and in this the law of England agrees 

 with that of America, though it differs from that of 

 France and other continental powers. The practice, 

 says Dr. Twiss, of the French tribunals, is to refuse^ 

 to recognize as neutral property any vessel of enemy- 

 built, or which has even been enemy-owned, unless 

 the sale of it to a neutral merchant has taken place 

 before the commencement of hostilities. But the 

 courts of England and America hold the opposite 

 doctrine, although even they restrict the right of 

 purchase by neutrals to merchant vessels ; for, as 

 the Queen's Advocate says : " The purchase of a ship 

 of war belonging to enemies is held to be invalid. 

 And the distinction between merchant ships and 

 ships of war is founded on common sense. The 

 thing objected to is not the purchase of belligerent 

 property j but it is the purchase of an enemy's vessel 

 of war lying imprisoned in a neutral port, whence she 

 is unable to escape. A vessel under such circum- 

 stances is not an object fairly within the range of com- 

 mercial speculation. If it were, consider the con- 

 sequences. Within a few days the Georgia might 

 be rearmed might again be transferred to some 

 Confederate might again hoist the Confederate 

 colors and resume her career of devastation. And 

 the same shift of escaping from a neutral port into 

 which she had been driven might be practised as 

 often as she found it either necessary or convenient. 



The London "Post" also argued that, ad- 

 mitting the Georgia to have been a Confeder- 

 ate war vessel, the sale which took place at 

 Liverpool was inoperative, and the British 

 Government had no ground for interference. 

 Those whc deny the validity of the capture 

 must make good their title in the prize court 

 where the case will be adjudicated. The seiz- 

 ure occasioned no difficulty between the Gov- 

 ernments of the two countries. 



The Confederate war steamer Florida arrived 

 at Bahia Bay, off San Salvador, Brazil, Oct. 5th, 

 having captured and burned the bark Monda- 



