ations the blockade applied to the
vessels of the United States as well as to the vessels of all other
nations. Had no blockade been declared, or had any of our merchant
vessels entered any of the ports of Mexico not blockaded, they would
have been liable to be seized and condemned as lawful prize by the
Mexican authorities. When the order was issued, it operated as a
privilege to the vessels of the United States as well as to those of
foreign countries to enter the ports held by our arms upon prescribed
terms and conditions. It was altogether optional with citizens of the
United States and foreigners to avail themselves of the privileges
granted upon the terms prescribed.

Citizens of the United States and foreigners have availed themselves of
these privileges.

No principle is better established than that a nation at war has the
right of shifting the burden off itself and imposing it on the enemy by
exacting military contributions. The mode of making such exactions must
be left to the discretion of the conqueror, but it should be exercised
in a manner conformable to the rules of civilized warfare.

The right to levy these contributions is essential to the successful
prosecution of war in an enemy's country, and the practice of nations
has been in accordance with this principle. It is as clearly necessary
as the right to fight battles, and its exercise is often essential to
the subsistence of the army.

Entertaining no doubt that the military right to exclude commerce
altogether from the ports of the enemy in our military occupation
included the minor right of admitting it under prescribed conditions,
it became an important question at the date of the order whether there
should be a discrimination between vessels and cargoes belonging to
citizens of the United States and vessels and cargoes belonging to
neutral nations.

Had the vessels and cargoes belonging to citizens of the United States
been admitted without the payment of any duty, while a duty was levied
on foreign vessels and cargoes, the object of the order would have been
defeated. The whole commerce would have been conducted in American
vessels, no contributions could have been collected, and the enemy would
have been furnished with goods without the exaction from him of any
contribution whatever, and would have been thus benefited by our
military occupation, instead of being made to feel the evils of the war.
In order to levy these contributions and to