Synthesized answer
Based solely on the provided passages, a British law officer receiving the U.S. consul's evidence would have specific legal grounds to consider detaining the "Alabama." The passages state that the law officers advised that "if these particulars were correct, the vessel ought to be detained" [1]. This advice was given after the British government had issued a proclamation of neutrality, recognizing the Confederates as belligerents [1].
The key legal argument would center on the duty of a neutral government to use "due diligence" to prevent the fitting out or equipping of a vessel intended to carry on war against a power with which it is at peace [5]. The passages note that the "Alabama" was "obviously intended for a man-of-war" [1]. Therefore, the officer would apply the principle that a neutral must prevent the departure of any vessel "specially adapted... to warlike use" from its jurisdiction [5].
However, the passages do not provide the specific legal arguments or interpretations of international law that the law officers themselves used in their initial advice. The detailed rules of "due diligence" were only agreed upon later for the arbitration [2][5], and the tribunal later…
Synthesized from the book passages below. Chat with the book on Feynman for follow-up.
From the book
tes on the 13th of April 1861. On the 19th of April President Abraham Lincoln declared a blockade of the southern ports. On the 14th of May the British government issued a proclamation of neutrality, by which the Confederates were recognized as belligerents. This example was followed shortly afterwards by France and other nations. The blockade of the southern ports was not at first effective, and blockade-running soon became an active industry. The Confederates established agencies in England for the purchase of arms, which they despatched in ordinary merchant vessels to the Bahamas, whence…
. With respect to the “Alabama” claims the British commissioners suggested that they should be submitted to arbitration. The American commissioners refused “unless the principles which should govern the arbitrators in the consideration of the facts could be first agreed upon.” After some discussion the British commissioners consented that the three following rules should apply.
rpool in two British ships. Captain Semmes there took command of her under a commission from the Confederate government. After a most destructive career she was sunk off Cherbourg by the “Kearsarge” on the 19th of June 1864. On these facts the United States government alleged against Great Britain two grievances, or sets of grievances. The first was the recognition of the Southern States as belligerents and a general manifestation of unfriendliness in other ways. The second was in respect of breaches of neutrality in allowing the “Alabama,” the “Florida” (originally the “Oreto”, the…
ontended that it must be a diligence commensurate with the emergency or with the magnitude of the results of negligence. The British government maintained that while the measure of care which a government is bound to use in such cases must be dependent more or less upon circumstances, it would be unreasonable to require that it should exceed that which the governments of civilized states were accustomed to employ in matters concerning their own security or that of their citizens. The tribunal adopted the view suggested by the United States. It found that Great Britain was legally responsible…
rst agreed upon.” After some discussion the British commissioners consented that the three following rules should apply. A neutral government is bound—(1) to use due diligence to prevent the fitting out, arming or equipping within its jurisdiction of any vessel, which it has reasonable ground to believe is intended to cruise or to carry on war against a power with which it is at peace, and also to use like diligence to prevent the departure from its jurisdiction of any vessel intended to cruise or carry on war as above, such vessel having been specially adapted, in whole or in part, within…
More questions about this book
- Explain, as if to a peer, the complete narrative of how the "Alabama" came to be built and why its construction became a significant international dispute, distinguishing between its historical and juridical importance.
- What were the immediate and potential long-term consequences of the British government's proclamation of neutrality and recognition of the Confederates as belligerents, particularly concerning the international legality of vessels like the "Alabama"?
- Given the British government's declared neutrality, analyze the complexities and potential conflicts of interest that might have allowed a warship intended for the Confederacy to be built in a British shipyard.
- How does the "Alabama" Arbitration, as described, exemplify the role of international arbitration in averting war, and what specific elements contributed to this outcome?