and the Captain General has agreed to let you depart, and you are on
board of an American vessel, the Spanish soldiers' control over you and
your movements should cease, for they relinquish all their rights when
they give you back your passport.

At least the case of Barrundia justifies such a supposition. It was
then shown that, while a passenger or a member of a crew is amenable to
the "common laws" of the country in the port in which the vessel lies,
he is not to be disturbed for political offenses against her
government.

When the officers of Guatemala went on board a vessel of the Pacific
Mail line and arrested Barrundia, who was a revolutionist, and then
shot him between decks, the American Minister, who had permitted this
outrage, was immediately recalled, and the letter recalling him, which
was written by James G. Blaine, clearly and emphatically sets forth
the principle that a political offender is not to be molested on board
of an American vessel, whether she is in the passenger trade or a ship
of war.

Prof. Joseph H. Beale, Jr., the professor of international law at
Harvard, said in reference to the case of these women when I first
wrote of it:

"So long as a state of war has not been recognized by this country, the
Spanish government has not the right to stop or search our vessels on
the high seas for contraband of war or for any other purpose, nor would
it have the right to subject American citizens or an American vessel in
Cuban waters to treatment which would not be legal in the case of
Spanish citizens or vessels.