Measures have recently been adopted by which the internal as well as the
external revenues of Mexico in all places in our military occupation
will be seized and appropriated to the use of our Army and Navy.
The policy of levying upon the enemy contributions in every form
consistently with the laws of nations, which it may be practicable for
our military commanders to adopt, should, in my judgment, be rigidly
enforced, and orders to this effect have accordingly been given. By such
a policy, at the same time that our own Treasury will be relieved from a
heavy drain, the Mexican people will be made to feel the burdens of the
war, and, consulting their own interests, may be induced the more
readily to requite their rulers to accede to a just peace.
In the same message I informed Congress that the amount of the "loan"
which would be required for the further prosecution of the war might be
"reduced by whatever amount of expenditures can be saved by military
contributions collected in Mexico," and that "the most rigorous measures
for the augmentation of these contributions have been directed, and a
very considerable sum is expected from that source." The Secretary of
the Treasury, in his annual report of that year, in making his estimate
of the amount of loan which would probably be required, reduced the sum
in consideration of the amount which would probably be derived from
these contributions, and Congress authorized the loan upon this reduced
estimate.
In the message of the 10th of February, 1848, to the Senate, it was
stated that--
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.
In the message to the House of Representatives of the 24th of July,
1848, it was stated that--
It is from the same source of authority that we derive the unquestioned
right, after the war has been declared by Congress, to blockade the
ports and coasts of the enemy, to capture his towns, cities, and
provinces, and to levy contributions upon him for the support of our
Army. Of the same character with these is the right to subject to our
temporary military government the conquered territories of our enemy.
They are all belligerent rights, and their exercise is as essential to
the successful prosecution of a foreign war as the right to fight
battles.
By the Constitution the power to "declare war" is vested in Congress,
and by the same instrument it is provided that "the President shall be
Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States" and that
"he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed."
When Congress have exerted their power by declaring war against a
foreign nation, it is the duty of the President to prosecute it. The
Constitution has prescribed no particular mode in which he shall perform
this duty. The manner of conducting the war is not defined by the
Constitution. The term _war_ used in that instrument has a
well-understood meaning among nations. That meaning is derived from the
laws of nations, a code which is recognized by all civilized powers as
being obligatory in a state of war. The power is derived from the
Constitution and the manner of exercising it is regulated by the laws of
nations. When Congress have declared war, they in effect make it the
duty of the President in prosecuting it, by land and sea, to resort to
all the modes and to exercise all the powers and rights which other
nations at war possess. He is invested with the same power in this
respect as if he were personally present commanding our fleets by sea or
our armies by land. He may conduct the war by issuing orders for
fighting battles, besieging and capturing cities, conquering and holding
the provinces of the enemy, or by capturing his vessels and other
property on the high seas. But these are not the only modes of
prosecuting war which are recognized by the laws of nations and to which
he is authorized to resort. The levy of contributions on the enemy is a
right of war well established and universally acknowledged among
nations, and one which every belligerent possessing the ability may
properly exercise. The most approved writers on public law admit and
vindicate this right as consonant with reason, justice, and humanity.