Winter v. White, 88 v. Braddick, 80 v. Fenwick, 19 v. Jones, 335 Woodcock v. Houldsworth, 446 Woolff v. Horncastle, 813, 823 Wray v. Milestone, 88 Wrexham v. Huddleston, 92 v. Sheffner, 830 v. Simpson, 409 Wrightson v. Bywater, 1099 Y. Yates v. Nash, 356 v. Raitstone, 758 Yonge, Ex parte, 72 Young v. Cole, 390 Ex parte, 48 - v. Glover, 385 -v. Grote, 489 v. Hunter, 78 v. Simmons, 16 Yzabel, La, 795 Z. Zephyr, The, 747 Zouch v. Parson, 19 Zuick v. Waller, 493 Winter v. Haldimand, 822 d INTRODUCTION. RIGHTS OF COMMERCE IN TIME OF PEACE AND WAR. natural law. It is impossible to contemplate the wise distribution of the Mutual dependence of produce of the earth, and the variety of skill and industry of countries. its multitudinous inhabitants, without being led to the convic- Commerce a tion that it was the gracious design of Providence to constitute of the different communities or states into which mankind. is divided one vast family and one entire commonwealth, supplying each other's wants and administering to each other's comforts. Mutual dependence is the very fulcrum of society. The world is not divided into departments, each possessing all that may be required for the existence and welfare of its own inhabitants. It was never meant that China and Japan should be segregated from the rest of mankind, or that the United States should be so self-sufficient as to be quite independent of Europe. The meteorological peculiarities of different countries cause a wonderful adaptation of climate and soil to numerous and varied productions. The physical and geological properties of the earth render some countries rich in mineral produce, and other countries totally destitute of it. And men widely differ among themselves in capacity for labour, genius, and skill. External circumstances act directly on the industrial and intellectual faculties of man. It is clearly, therefore, the teaching of nature that, instead of trying to force productions under uncongenial climes and physical difficulties, we should, in order to satisfy our wants and procure our comforts, seek those articles which are not obtainable within our borders in those countries where they are produced freely and almost spontaneously. Right of trading a In other words, commerce is a law of nature, and the right of trading is a natural right (a). But it is only an imperfect natural (a) Vattel, b. 1, ch. 8, § 88. right, perfect right. Treaties. Customs legis lation not an of the natural right of trading. right, inasmuch as each nation is the sole judge of what is advantageous or disadvantageous to itself; and whether or not it be convenient for her to cultivate any branch of trade, or to open trading intercourse with any one country. Hence it is, that no nation has a right to compel another nation to enter into trading intercourse with herself, or to pass laws for the benefit of trading and traders. Yet the refusal of this natural right, whether as against one nation only, or as against all nations, would constitute an offence against International Law; and it was this refusal to trade, and the exclusion of British traders from her cities and towns, that led to the war with China. Treaties of commerce and navigation are, however, formed to perfect this imperfect right (a); whilst the municipal laws of most countries secure for foreign traders not only a safe asylum and perfect protection, but also those facilities for trading and other business which the natives themselves enjoy. But though an arbitrary or total prohibition to trade with infringement any country might be deemed a just cause of complaint, each nation is quite at liberty to settle its own financial policy, and to impose any import or export duties without regard to the effects of the same on the industry of other countries. For a considerable time the commercial policy of this and other countries, built as it was upon the most pernicious economical errors, nearly excluded altogether foreign products and manufactures. Happily, a better policy now obtains; and we have learnt at last that all customs duties, except for purposes of revenue, and these at the lowest possible limits, are injurious and vexatious. Truly the strength and advancement of empires in peace and wealth depend materially on their following the dictates of natural law, in permitting commerce to be free and untrammelled with all nations. Consuls and their duties and im munities. It is of the nature of commerce to draw private traders to most distant countries and often among communities where municipal laws are either imperfect or do not possess sufficient sway. To shield such merchants with the protection of the states to which they belong, it has been the practice of nations as far back as during the Italian republics of the (a) Vattel, b. 1, ch. 8, § 93. |