178 THE TREATY OF WASHINGTON. 
of, the subjects of any friendly State are injured,—if 
in a word, we should be so foolish as to insist on 
the privilege of possessing laws designedly imperfect, 
and which thus favor the violation of law, and which 
are insufficient to enable the President to discharge 
the international obligations of the United States — 
then it is proper that we should pay for the enjoy- 
ment of such a privilege by answering to any friendly 
Power for the injurious consequences of our self-im- 
posed impotency to perform the necessary duties of 
an independent sovereign State. 
There is no difficulty whatever in the question. If, 
on the one hand, in the case of war between two 
other Powers, the United States desire and intend to 
be neutral, it is to be hoped they will not suffer 
themselves to be misled by the interests of some ship- 
builders, or the wild schemes of some band of advent- 
urers, foreign or doméstic, or even by the sentiment 
of sympathy for this or that foreign cause, into per- 
mitting violations of the law of the land and of the 
rights of other States. If, on the other hand, the 
United States at any time desire or intend to go to 
war with some foreign Power, whether for induce- 
ments of sentiment or for objects of ambition, it is to 
be hoped they will manfully say so, in the face of the 
world, and will not sneak into national hostilities by 
means of the expeditions or equipments of private 
persons, citizens or foreigners, conducting war in dis- 
guise while the Government falsely pretends to be at. 
peace. All such “national activities,”—that is, acts 
of filibusterism,—whether fraudulently encouraged or 
