Page:Readings in European History Vol 2.djvu/544

 5o6 Readings in European History 437. The Milan Decree (De- cember 17, 1807). At our Royal Palace at Milan, December 17, 1807. Napoleon, emperor of the French, king of Italy, protector of the Confederation of the Rhine. In view of the measures adopted by the British government on the 1 ith of November last, by which vessels belonging to powers which are neutral, or are friendly to, and even allied with, England, are ren- dered liable to be searched by British cruisers, detained at certain stations in England, and subject to an arbitrary tax of a certain per cent upon their cargo, to be regulated by English legislation 1 : Considering that by these acts the English government has denationalized the vessels of all the nations of Europe, and that no government may compromise in any degree its independence or its rights by submitting to such demands, — all the rulers of Europe being jointly responsible for the sovereignty and independence of their flags, — and that, if through unpardonable weakness, which would be regarded by posterity as an indelible stain, such tyranny should be admitted and become consecrated by custom, the English would take steps to give it the force of law, as they have already taken advantage of the toleration of the governments to establish the infamous principle that the flag does not cover the goods, and to give the right of blockade an arbi- trary extension which threatens the sovereignty of every state : 1 The tax imposed by England upon the cargoes of neutral ships, which is referred to in the Milan Decree, is not found in the orders of November n, as Napoleon implies. The tax was, however, a stern reality, whatever may have been its formal origin. Professor McMaster gives an account of the practical workings of the system, so far as American ships were concerned, which he takes from the Baltimore Evening Post of September 2 and 27, 1808. The newspaper estimates that on her outward voyage, let us say to Holland, with four hundred hogsheads of tobacco, an American ship would pay England one and one-half pence per pound on the tobacco and twelve shillings for each ton of the ship. With $100 for the license and sundry other dues, the total amounted to toward $13,000. On the home voyage, with a cargo, let us say, of Holland gin, the American trader paid perhaps $16,500, making the total charges paid to Great Britain for a single voyage $31,000 {History of the Peopte of the United States, Vol. Ill, pp. 308-309)-