82 THE TREATY OF WASHINGTON. 



eign enlistment : they are expressly forbidden by the 

 Federal Constitution. Her laws punish as a crime 

 all violation by individuals of the international rights 

 of foreign Powers. Her neutrality is active, not pas 

 sive, preventive, as well as punitive. She has no 

 maritime relations, it is true ; but, in dealing with un 

 lawful equipments or expeditions by land, she ob 

 serves rules of neutrality which are applicable, in the 

 ory and practice, equally to equipments or expedi 

 tions for naval warfare. Our own temporary act of 

 1838, which comprehends vehicles [on land] and ves 

 sels [on water] in the same clause of criminality, af 

 fords complete answer to those Englishmen who have 

 superficially assumed that because Switzerland is not 

 a maritime Power, she [or a statesman of hers] could 

 not competently judge the case of the Alabama or 

 the Florida. Diligence to execute the law, vigilance 

 to prevent its violation, is the same in Switzerland 

 as in ItHy or Brazil, in Great Britain or the United 

 States. And the position of Switzerland, which re 

 quires of her the spontaneous execution of her neu 

 trality laws, had evident effect on the mind of Mr. 

 Stsempfli to produce those conclusions of his against 

 Great Britain, which, as we shall see in the sequel, 

 were so grossly misapprehended and so angrily re 

 sented by Sir Alexander Cockburn. 



At the time w r hen the Swiss Government invited 

 Mr. Stsempfli to act as Arbitrator for Switzerland 

 under the Treaty of Washington, he had full occupa 

 tion in public or private affairs as a member of the 

 National Council and as -President of the Federal 



