Register of Debates in Congress, Comprising the Leading Debates and Incidents of the Second Session of the Eighteenth Congress Page: 719
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719
GALES &. BEATON'S REGISTER
720
H. of R.]
Suppression of Piracy.
[March 1, 1825.
vessels on services to which sloops would have been
equally competent. So disproportionate is the expense
of building1, equipping, and keeping in commission, ships
of the line and frigates, that I hazard nothing in assert-
ing that the expense of building the number of sloops
provided by this bill might have been saved to the na-
tion, during the last ten years, by a seasonable attention
to this important circumstance. It has unfortunately
happened, however, that while the ships of the line and
frigates are nearly all constructed, or in a state of rapid
progression, sloops of war have been neglected; and
even a bill, which passed the Senate at the last session,
for building the exact number provided in the present
bill, was never acted upon or taken up in this House.—
The protection of our commerce in the Indian Ocean—
the suppression of the slave trade—and the conveyance
of our "Ministers to foreign courts, have generally em-
ployed our largest frigates or ships of the line, though
sloops would, in most instances, have been equally suit-
able and efficient, at an expense comparatively trifling.
By existing laws, our merchant vessels are permitted,
when bound on foreign voyages, to take on board a suit-
able armament; yet this bill, though professing to encou-
rage the merchants to arm against pirates, requires of
them the burdensome and vexations condition of a heavy
bond to restrain them from aggression upon the subjects
of foreign nations. Instead of throwing embarrassments
in their way, I am persuaded that it is the policy of our
Government to afford them such aid, of a pecuniary cha-
racter, or otherwise, as will indemnify them against tile
additional expense which such an armament will occa-
sion. Without such encouragement, probably not a sin-
gle vessel will be armed. The commerce of the West
Indies affords very slender profits to the merchant and
ship Oivner, and, with this expense superadded, would
generally be attended with loss, and would soon be
abandoned. I intend, therefore, to propose a section
which shall afford such encouragement as will defray
the expense of this armament, being strongly impressed
with the conviction, that resistance by the crews of the
assaulted vessels is more likely to effect the purposes of
the bill, than the employment of any other species of
force whatever. Pirates are mere robbers and murder-
ers; they have neither inclination nor courage to en-
counter danger; it is only the unarmed or unresisting
whom they attack. From our public vessels they keep
far aloof; and, without doubt, a resolute and well armed
crew of half a dozen seamen, under an intrepid com-
mander, would repel a boat's crew of thirty or forty of
those murderous wretches. A few instances of success-
ful resistance would strike an effectual blow, while those
marauding expeditions, which are now attended with
very little danger, would be fraught with destruction to
the assailants in almost every instance. Even though not
one vessel in ten should actually be armed, the pirates,
from being olten repelled, would become shy and dis-
trustful, and would be easily intimidated by the appear-
ance ot resistance.
Several sections of the bill are devoted to the regula-
tion oi captures by the armed merchant ships, the distri-
bution of prize money, and the allowance of pensions to
the wounded, and even to the widows and orphans of
such as may be killed in L:.llle. Nothing can be more
idle and useless than all these provisions, which, as the
bill has come to this House, affords not the least encou-
ragement; but, on the contrary, creates new obstacles
to'the arming of the merchants. Kven should they, by
any different provisions of Jaw, be induced to be armed,
their operations would generally be limited to mere de-
fence ; the interest of the merchant, and the safety of
the crew, would seldom authorize pursuit or capture;
and should captures ever occur, the boats and small
craft of the marauders, so far from being laden with jew- j
els, bullion, or property of any sort, would be utterly j
worthless. Yet the bill labors on through several sec- ■
tions in bestowing innumerable pensions, to be paid from
the proceeds of prizes to be captured from pirates by
armed merchant vessels. To avoid the imputation of a
glaring deficiency in practical knowledge, to which I
hope we are not justly liable, I trust the sections of the
bill in relation to this .ubject will be stricken out.
The gentleman from Georgia expresses fears, that the
authority given to pursue pirates upon the shores of Cu-
ba or Porto ltico, may compromit our friendly relations
with Spain, and lead to suspicions of intended conquest.
Such a fear seems entirely groundless; the authority
given in the bill is in strict accordance with the laws of
nations, and even stops much short of what might be
justified. [Mr. Fousitii here explained. 4^ did not
impute any intention of conquest to the government;
but merely alluded to the probable consequences of au-
thorizing pursuit on the territories of Spain.]
Mr. Fitlleh then read the provisions in the bill. Is
any tiling clearer than the right of a belligerant, when a
vanquished enemy retreats and is sheltered in a neutral
territory, to pursue and capture him? In the present
ease, the authority is to capture pirates, enemies alike
to the pursuers and the people among whom they re-
treat—to deliver them, when captured, under circum-
stances which may render it proper, to the tribunals of
the country ; or, when remote from the actual jurisdic-
tion of the country, to send them for trial to the United
States. A guarded respect for the jurisdiction of Spain
in her Islands, cannot fail to be noticed in this cautious
regulation, which delivers over, in many instances, these
lawless freebooters, who may have fled from the ocean,
the highway of nations, before their pursuers, and, when
overtaken within the actual exercise of a Spanish juris-
diction, to the judgment of her laws. Mr. F. conclud-
ed by saying that the short-period which remained of
the session, induced him to limit his remarks to the most
prominent objects of the bill,as passed by the Senate;
instead of which, at an earlier period, he would have
preferred the bill which was reported by the Committee
on Naval Affairs for the House, which contained some
provisions of a more efficient character than the present
act, which, however, he earnestly hoped, in its essential
parts, would be adopted,
Mr. BAKTLKTT, of New Hampshire, said, he hoped
for the indulgence of the committee a few moments. It
was a request that, even at this hour, could not be grant-
ed with more reluctance than it was made. If an apo-
logy were necessary, it is in the nature of the subject
before us—in a feeling, almost personal, which he could
not easily control, excited as it was by the peculiarly ag-
gravated sufferings of his immediate constituents. The
object of our present legislation is the suppression of
piracy. A purpose, for which, said Mr. B. I know tile
opinion of many is, that the times demand of us action,
rather than deliberation. But, sir, to act may be worse
than in vain, unless we act efficiently. We betray our
merchants and seamen into peril, by reliance upon pre-
tended protection, and give confidence to the enemy, by
our imbecile efforts Could 1 believe the measure pro-
posed calculated to effect the object desired, t would
not, for an instant, stand between the proposition and
the final decision upon it by this House.
Is piracy of a character, and has it existence to an ex-
tent, to demand of us effectual measures for its suppres-
sion ? A question the whole country has answered;
and yet, sir, our apparent indifference, on this subject,
and the negative character of the measures proposed,
seem to reverse that decision. A general assent is, per-
haps, yielded to the prevalence of piracy, without that
deep feeling of the character and extent of the enor-
mity, necessary to prompt us to efficient legislation. The
scenes of blood which, for years, have been exhibited,
not in Europe, not in South America only, but within
our own borders, have rendered us too insensible to tiieir
repetition ; and the cries of our suffering citizens, which
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Gales, Joseph, 1761-1841. Register of Debates in Congress, Comprising the Leading Debates and Incidents of the Second Session of the Eighteenth Congress, book, 1825; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc30752/m1/364/: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.