858


FOREIGN RELATIONS.


nature, in short, and by its own decorum, stands principally and preeminently
the duty
of closing this period of bloody although barren strife, of profound perturbations,
of
unheard-of calamities, which ever carry in their train intestine discords,
and which
have ingulfed our generous and high-toned Spain in the deep ocean of sorrows
and
misfortunes.
   Two armed rebellions menaced our unhappy country when the government took
 npon itself the rude and, now more than ever, unbearable charge of administering
 and directinp public affairs. In Cartagena floated the banner of demagogy,
and in
 the north waved the standard of numerous hosts which, reviving, thanks to
the hazard
 of circumstances, and unrealizable ideal, have not shrunk from ravaging
those fertile
 provinces, paralyzing their commerce, giving their picturesque homesteads
to the
 flames, and sowing, in a word, death and desolation as indelible foot-prints
of their
 path, if not with the hope of triumph at least with the aim of heaping greater
calam-
 ities upon the shattered soil of their country.
   Of these two insurrections one has succumbed. The organization of the
actual
 government was in itself sufficient to wound it to the death. It is now
tine to re-unite
 and concentrate the active forces of the country to hurl them, unanimous
and compact,
 upon the battle-fields of the north, for we can do no less than that which
our fathers
 did.
   But the indomitable valor of our tried forces by land and sea is not enough
to ac-
 complish this, or rather it is needful that the energy and rapidity of their
irresistible
 onset be vigorously complemented and efficaciously aided by the impossibility
of the
 enemy's receiving assistance from foreign shores by means of those speculators
who,
 setting at naught the vigilance and good faith of their respective governments,
set
 the bait of a miserable profit above the universal duties of humanity and
of public
 law. It is indispensable, in a word, if the action of the government is
to be effective
 and energetic, to close for a time our Cantabrian shores to foreign commerce
and pro-
 hibit access thereto, not only to foreign vessels but also to the natives
themselves
 bound to the ports or navigating in the waters of thet coast, without the
requisites
 and guarantees established for that purpose.
 Nothing better satisfies this pressing necessity than the declaration otra
state of
 blockade of the coast in question, especially when the government possesses
the navat
 force sufficient to make it real and effective, as is demanded by the present
practice of
 the nations of Europe and the precepts of international law; to which may
be further
 added that this measure, founded upon the first of all rights-the right
of self-preserva-
 tion, the synthesis of the sovereignty and the independence of the nation-can
give
 rise to no ulterior reclamation on, the part of those which recognize and
admit these
 primordial principles, adapting themselves, as Spain also will adapt herself
in their
 application, to the generally received international jurisprudence,
 Resting upon these considerations, the undersigned minister has the honor
to present
 to the government the following draft of a decree.
                                                     JUAN BAUTISTA TOPETE.
  MADRJID, Jaicpary 31, 1874.


                                       Decree.

  The government of the republic, in a council of ministers, decrees:
  ARTICLE I. The coast of Cantabria, from Cape de Peflas to Fuenterrabia,
is declared
in a state of blockade, with the sole exception of the ports of Gijon, Santander,
and
San Sebastian.
  ART. II. The government shall prbmulgate the rules to be observed by Spanish
vessels bound to the ports of Gijon, Santander, and San Sebastian from the
ports of
Spain or of foreign countries, with cargoes of lawful commerce, in which
there shall
be no goods contraband of war, in order that they be not molested by the
blockading
forces.
  ART. III. Foreign vessels bound under like conditions of lawful trade to
the ports
enumerated, and observing the same rules as Spanish vessels, shall likewise
not be
molested by the blockading ships if such requisites are borne out by the
search to
which they are subject, (el reconocintieato que practiquen.)
  ART. IV. The vessels which contravene these rules shall be detained, and
shall be
subject to the penalties established by maritime law and universally recognized
in
such cases, and by the blockade regulations prescribed for the Pacific squadron
No-
vember 26, 1864.
  ART. V. In order to maintain the effectiveness of the blockade within the
limits
designated in Article I, the necessary war-vessels are hereby ordered to
that coast.
  ART. VI. The minister of state shall communicate the present decree to
the ambas-
sadors, ministers and consular agents of Spain in foreign countries, in.
order that, the