Sketcher.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 402, 21 January 1904, Page 7

Sketcher.

THE HUMOUKS OF WAB PBIVATJISaiNQ.

SPgKOW did privateering come into JOmfVp existence;? Why, piiyateering is JKjK as old as'the game of war 4tself. In /■the dark days of ancient history, when no nation kept a standing; army; neither wasthere such a thing* as a standing EAvyj£ But when war Broke out the press gangCweat round for ships; as well as men; .gThet impressed ships prete the; * Kruyssers '—cruisers we call them; and the volunteers for the navy were the 'Kapers' and ''Vjybutere'-ri freebooters, in fact. The one. kind were' as good as the other. The king, more- > over, had to pay for cruisers; and so if he could get the work that had to be done 1 done for "nothing, why not P The great ] Louis XIV. was quite content to employ i a naval expedition of freebooters against 1 the Portuguese at Rio Janeiro, although the business on hand wad no less than to demand satisfaction for a his Majesty's ambassador. I hope nobody .supposes that the grand Armada of Spain was amass meeting, of the Boy al Spanish navy, for there was no such thing then. Privateers we should -name them now j but the word was not invented tiJl.the days of Sir Leoline Jenkins, say in 1(566, ora century later than the Armada.

The term 'privateer' has necessarily somewhat changed its meaning during the. last tvo centuries, and has come to mean a vessel belonging to a private owner, who has volunteered hia services in the war, and has received a commission of war, or letters of maiqae—to use a French catch-word—permitting the vessel to take part in hostilities, just as if it was a public warship. And there is money to be made out of it still. There is no waiting about for Government instructions, and sailing under sealed orders to the last place in the world you want to go to, namely; to. meet the enemy's squadron fronj Cape Verde, or to some other hornet's nest of torpedoes and quick-firing guns. But you are free to roam the back-waters of the ocean, where you select an unarmed ship of the enemy's nationality just half your Bize, run her into the nearest harbour, get her con • demned by a prize court of your countrymen's choosing, if possible, and then you pocket her cargo. To is you repeat as many times as you can.' '

• If you are more ambitious, you m*y sail the high seas in search of liners, or anything, else you feel equal to tackling. But when you patrol the high roads of navigation, you must put up with many things. Every neutral: maa-of-war that you come across will stop you, and have a rummage among your papers; and when they have satisfied themselves that (for instance) your American letters of marque and proofs of American nationality are in due form, nothing will content them till they have turned the ship upside down in search of, (sayj Spanish letters of marque and proofs of Spanish nationality. And if they do find a second set of papers, it's a short shrift, my man, and a stout rope for you and your bonny crew. That little game is called piracy. Though, to be sure, in the olden time, there was never a privateer worked on sound business principles but blithely ran that little risk, and procured a double set of papers. For it is pockets, not patriotism, that the privateer fights for, and, as such, it has been a contemptible game from first to last. The border line between pirate and privateer is a difficult line to draw.

Even when, in the beginning of this century, privateering had become a settled and recognised practice, properly controlled by law, privateering gentlemen claiming prizes in the courts were never treated with over much consideration, and any loophole of escape was allowed to the captured vessel. Eor instance, the master of a revenue cutter, the ' Duke of York,' obtained letters of marque, and began to cruise about in company with H.M.S. «Euridice.' However, one day, there being no sign of sport, the master of the «Duke of York' took a day off on shore. Of course, no Booner had he gone, than a lieutenant on board the' Euridice' sighted the good ship ' Charlotte,' and he suggested to the revenue cutter to go in pursuit, which she did, and the « Charlotte ' was triumphantly captured. The owners of the «Charlotte' naturally disapproved of the capture, and they brought the case before Lord Stowell. The lieutenant of the 'Euridice' came too, and contended that he had . got a claim, because he first saw the prize and ordered the ohase. But Lord Stowell would have none of them. ? 'The 'Charlotte'was lawful prize '—that disposed of the owner's claim. 'As for thu revenue cutter, the letters of marque were not granted to her, but to the master, who was away on,shore at the time of the capture, which was therefore irregular. Tho lieutenant"s claim was frivolous, and not worth serious consideration.' And the prize was handed over to the Admiralty. It was one of the ralesof the game that you must carry, your commission with yon, and produce it when you cl limed -your prize, and this rule wai iageniously pressed in a case tried iatbe United States. Thft' Constitution,' a duly commissioned Venezuelan privateer, attacked the ' Estrella,' a Spanish Bhip; but it was stormy at: the time, the Spaniard showed fight, and altogether the ,' Constitution' got much the worst of it. So the privateer closed, and * Oat cutlasses on board V was the order of the fight. The privateersmen were jnst in time, for the 'Constitution sank five minutes later, carrying the precioUß commission with it . Then, to make matters worse, the United States ketch ' Surprise' came upon tie scene, boarded the '.Estrella,' and, in the absence of the commission, declined to believe the prizjmasterjs •Btoiry.' '£ They can produce no commission,' ; said the U.S. captain when he brought these into New Orleans, and the Spanish! Government claimed restitution on the same ground in court Livingston tried the case, and decided that the prizamaster's statement on oath as to the! commission was sufficient, bus. he was not allowed to keep the ' Eatrella.'. after all. Why not P Because it turned cuttherawere American;citizens, among; the prize crew, and they had no business to be engaged in fighting against'a. friendly power, (.*&■*%,£ Of course, privateering is quite too barbarous and out of date for modern" Europe; and, according to a certain, Declaration of Paris, privateering Biaads abolished, and all the great powers, with he exception of the United States, Spain, and Mexico, have pledged their adherence thereto. Bat I fear it behoves me to add, by way o£ comment, that, when, for instance, Mr Gladstone was thinking of declaring war against Russia not sovery long ago. Russia exhibited quite an indecent haste about putting t hat declaration into the rubbish basket and preparing for the iS3ue of letters of marque. And when, in 1870, Germany discovered that French commerce on the seas was a promising vulnerable point, Germany also discovered \ that it was quite a simple matter to evade that' declaration. •Priva oering, not a bit of it,' she said, in answer. > a] remonstrance from England, 'you art miking quite a mistake, We - axe thinking of • fitting out -a volunteer navy., that ia all.'