slavery, all Americans, north as well as south of the Mason and Dixon line, may now give thanks. Ch. XXXI.

Dred Scott Decision.-This celebrated decision was delivered by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1857 in the case of Scott, a negro slave living in the State of Missouri. His master took him to Illinois, and, after residing there for two years, removed to Minnesota-then a part of Upper Louisiana-one of the Territories. Two years later (1838), Scott's owner took him back to Missouri and sold him. Scott brought suit in the courts, and endeavored to obtain his liberty on the ground that his residence in free State and Territory had destroyed his master's rights over him. In course of appeal, the case reached the Supreme Court of the United States. The question at issue was mainly one of jurisdiction. "Was Dred Scott a citizen within the meaning of the Constitution; had he any rightful standing in the courts?" To this question the Court returned a decided negative. Chief Justice Taney declared that according to the public opinion which prevailed at the time of the Declaration and when the Constitution was adopted, negroes "had no rights which the white man was bound to respect." "It is absolutely certain," said he, "that the African race were not included under the name of citizens of a State by the framers of the Constitution." "Dred Scott was not a citizen of Missouri within the meaning of the Constitution, and was not as such entitled to sue in its courts." The legislation known as the Missouri Compromise, whereby citizens were prohibited from holding and owning slaves in the Territory of the United States north of the line 36° 30′, was declared unconstitutional and void. "Therefore neither Dred Scott nor any of his family-his wife nor his daughters-were made free by being carried into this Territory; even if they had been carried there with the idea of becoming permanent residents." But the abolition of slavery by the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, ratified and adopted December 18, 1865, has put an end forever to such discussions. Ch. XXXII.

Contraband of War.-When two nations are at

war,

their war

ships may seize the private ships of friendly nations when caught
carrying such goods to the ports of the enemy as would help to
continue the war. Such articles are called "contraband of war,”
and include arms and ammunition. In May, 1861, three negroes
escaped from work on the Confederate lines, and made their way
over to the Federal lines at Fortress Monroe. General Butler, be-
fore whom they were brought, said, "These men are contraband of
war: set them at work." Hence arose the name contrabands often
applied to negroes received within the Union lines throughout
the great civil conflict.
Ch. XXXII.

Principles of Maritime War.-The declaration of principles regarding the law of maritime war, agreed upon by the Conference of ten of the principal maritime nations of the world held in London during 1909, and known as the International Naval Conference, was made public at the State Department February 26. On the question of contraband, the Conference adopted three classifications, viz.: absolute, conditional, and not contraband. Probably the most interesting features, from the American standpoint, are the declarations regarding what constitutes conditional contraband and what is free of contraband. Conditional contraband includes food supplies, clothing, gold, silver, fuel and other merchandise ordinarily exempt from seizure, but which would subject the ship to seizure if destined for military or naval use by garrisons or fleets. Articles free of contraband are raw cotton and wool for textile industries, india-rubber, hides, ores, earths, clays, and fertilizers. Absolute contraband includes powder, arms, and military equipment of all kinds.

The principles enunciated in the declaration are to act as a guide for the government of the International Prize Court to be established at The Hague. They are regarded as of great importance, and mark a decided step forward in the establishment of a code for naval warfare. The American delegates were satisfied with the code, which contains much that will prove of great advantage to American commerce in time of war.

One of the articles provides that any person belonging to the

1

armed forces of the enemy and found on board a neutral war vessel, may be made a prisoner of war even if there be no ground for seizing the vessel. This principle conforms to the attitude. taken at first by the United States in the famous Mason and Slidell case during the Civil War, when these men were taken from the British steamer Trent by Captain Wilkes of the San Jacinto. To meet the situation arising during the Russian-Japanese war, when neutral vessels were seized by the Russians and sunk on the high seas because the latter had no near-by ports to which to take them, the Conference declared that a neutral vessel which has been seized cannot be destroyed by the captor, but must be conducted into the proper port in order that the validity of the capture may be decided.

The transfer of a hostile vessel to a neutral flag, when it takes place before the beginning of hostilities, shall be valid unless it be proven that the transfer was made for the purpose of escaping the consequences which would have followed because the vessel belonged to the enemy.

The essence of the declaration on blockade is that it must be confined to the ports and coasts belonging to or occupied by the enemy and that the blockade to be binding must be effective. The Anglo-American doctrine of notice of blockade was adopted as against the continental. This is, that notice through diplomatic channels of the establishment of such blockade is sufficient.

Ch. XXXII.

Wilmot Proviso.-In the village graveyard near the town of his old home in Towanda, Pa., a modest marble headstone marks the final resting place of one of Pennsylvania's most able and heroic sons. On the inner face of the stone may be seen the date of his birth and death; and on the outer face, that may be seen from the road as one passes by, we find the simple text of the Wilmot Proviso:

"Provided, that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said territory, except for crime, whereof the party shall first be duly convicted."

When in August, 1846, Congress had under consideration the appropriation of two millions "for the settlement of the boundary question with Mexico," this amendment passed the House, but failed in the Senate with the money vote itself. But the question raised could not be put out of sight, and at last was settled only in the throes of the Civil War. Ch. XXXII.

The Civil War and Its Issues.-The two main issues of the Civil War were the doctrine of Slavery and that of State Rights. Opposition to the supremacy of the National Government led to the secession of South Carolina and other States in 1860–61. The famous Ordinance of 1787 came in time to place bounds upon slavery in this country, and was one of the agencies which finally led to its abolition. It was passed when the western boundary of the United States was the Mississippi river, when Florida was Spanish territory, and the lands west of the Mississippi had been sold by France to Spain. The act virtually divided freedom and slavery by a geographical line-the Ohio river and the Mason and Dixon Line. In 1787, slavery had almost disappeared north of that line. The efforts to keep the two sections of the country balancing on the parallel 36° 30′ date from the passage of the Ordinance, and were continued until 1850. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 gave temporary harmony; but slavery was becoming a National question in which proslavery men wished to extend slavery over the United States, while antislavery men wished to abolish it. Soon after the Mexican War, the question of the right of Congress to prohibit slavery in the Territories became a National issue. Until 1857, eighteen new States had been admitted into the Union-nine with constitutions permitting, and nine forbidding slavery. When the Territory of Kansas was ready for admission as a State, its people could not agree upon the question of slavery. The Supreme Court decided, in the famous Dred Scott case, that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional, and that Congress had no power to exclude slavery from the Territories. But this decision could not settle the slavery question. The struggle in Kansas forced on the inevitable contest which

determined "whether this Nation could exist half slave and half free." Secession followed, and the formation of the Southern Confederacy was accomplished. President Lincoln, recognizing that the struggle was essentially between freedom and slavery, issued the Emancipation Proclamation to be effective January 1, 1863. Slavery was afterward abolished in all the States and Territories by the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment.

No formal declaration of war was made by President Lincoln; but the call for troops to get repossession of the property and fortresses seized by the Confederates, was an effectual declaration of war against Jefferson Davis and his sympathizers. When public opinion rises sure and firm and strong, no material force on this earth can stop it. It may be held in check for a week, a year, a decade, a century. It may even be turned from its channel. Yet money cannot hold it; cunning cannot baffle it; the roar of battle and the strife of armies cannot restrain it. For it is God moving among men.

Famous Dispatch. In executive matters, when prompt action is needed, there is a great difference between being in a position where one can act and where one can only advise. Yet General John A. Dix came to the front when he sent to a Treasury official at New Orleans that dispatch which thrilled each Northern heart: “If any man attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the spot." Chs. XVIII and XXXII.

Slavery Abolished in the District of Columbia.-Slavery was abolished in the District of Columbia when President Lincoln approved, April 16, 1862, the Act of Congress passed by the Senate by 26 to 6, and by the House 92 to 38. A bill prohibiting slavery in the Territories was passed June 19; and a bill giving freedom to escaped slaves of rebellious masters was passed July 17, 1862. Ch. XXXII.

Lincoln's Views on Reconstruction.-On April 11, 1865, before a great multitude gathered about the White House, congratulating him upon the sure prospect of peace, he said these words, his last public utterance:

Am. Cit.-28