Right Hon. Edward Cardwell to Viscount Monck, December 3, 1864

Mr. Cardwell to Viscount Monck

My Lord: The attention of her Majesty’s government has been directed to the violations of British neutrality, of which certain persons have been guilty who profess to hold commissions from, or to act in aid of, the so-called Confederate States, and who make the soil of Canada the scene of their hostile preparations against the United States.

These violations of neutrality are a great offence against the British Crown, and her Majesty’s government are of opinion that the government of the United States have a clear right to expect that the Canadian law shall be found in practice generally sufficient not merely for the punishment, but also for the suppression and prevention of these border raids.

The Secretary of State of the United States has reminded Earl Russell of the act which was passed by Congress in the year 1838 for the suppression and prevention of hostile attempts prepared in the territory of the United States and directed against the government of her Majesty in Canada. The circumstances of the two cases are not the same, and it does not appear to her Majesty’s government to follow that precisely the same enactment which the Congress passed in 1838 is necessarily suited to the present case. They have observed with pleasure the promptitude and vigor with which you have put in force the existing law, but would wish you to consult your advisers and obtain the opinion of your law officers whether that law places in your hands sufficient available powers for the effectual suppression and prevention of these raids, or whether it is necessary for you to apply to your legislature for increased powers. In this latter case, any power for which your lordship should apply might naturally be limited, as the powers of the act of Congress were limited to a definite term with a view to meeting the immediate exigency only.

I have, &.