A Treaty Against the Slave Trade (May 1862)

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London, May 18

The Treaty on the suppression of the slave trade concluded between the United States and Britain on April 7 of this year in Washington is now communicated in extenso by the American newspapers. The main points of this important document are the following: The right of search is reciprocal, but can be exercised only by such warships on either side as have received special authority for this purpose from one of the contracting powers. From time to time, the contracting powers supply one another with complete statistics concerning the sections of their navies that have been appointed to keep watch on the traffic in Negroes. The right of search can be exercised only against merchantmen within a distance of 200 miles from the African coast and south of 32° north latitude, and within 30 nautical miles of the coast of Cuba. Search, whether of British ships by American cruisers or of American ships by British cruisers, does not take place in that part of the sea which is British or American territory (therefore within three nautical miles of the coast); no more does it take place just outside the ports or settlements of foreign powers.

Mixed courts, composed half of Englishmen, half of Americans, and resident in Sierra Leone, Capetown and New York will pass judgment on the prize vessels. In the event of a ship’s conviction, her crew will be handed over to the jurisdiction of the nation under whose flag the ship sailed, so far as this can be done without great cost. Not only the crew (including the captain, mate, etc.), but also the owners of the vessel will then incur the penalties customary in the country. Compensation to owners of merchantmen that have been acquitted by the mixed courts is to be paid within a year by the power under whose flag the capturing warship sailed. Not only the presence of captive Negroes is regarded as affording legal grounds for the seizure of ships, but also special equipment in the ship for the traffic in Negroes, manacles, chains and other instruments for guarding the Negroes and, lastly, stores of provisions that greatly exceed the requirements of the ship’s company. A ship on which such suspicious articles are found has to furnish proof of her innocence and even in the event of acquittal can claim no compensation.

The commander of a cruiser who oversteps the authority conferred on him by the Treaty, is liable to punishment by his respective government. Should the commander of a cruiser of one of the contracting powers harbour a suspicion that a merchant vessel under escort by one or more warships of the other contracting power is carrying Negroes on board, or was engaged in the African slave trade, or is equipped for this trade, he has then to communicate his suspicion to the commander of the escort and search the suspected ship in his presence; the latter is to be conducted to the place of residence of one of the mixed courts if, according to the Treaty, it comes under the category of suspicious ships. The Negroes found on board convicted ships are placed at the disposal of the government under whose flag the capture was made. They are to be set at liberty at once and remain free under guarantee of the government in whose territory they find themselves. The Treaty can only be terminated after ten years It remains in force for a full year from the date of the notice given by one of the contracting parties.

A mortal blow has been dealt the Negro trade by this Anglo-American Treaty — the result of the American Civil War. The effect of the Treaty will be completed by the Bill recently introduced by Senator Sumner, which repeals the law of 1808 dealing with the traffic in Negroes on the coasts of the United States and punishes the transport of slaves from one port of the United States to another as a crime. This Bill does, to a large extent, paralyse the trade that the states raising Negroes (border slave states') are carrying on with the states consuming Negroes (the slave states proper).