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 make them available for the
support of the Army, it became, therefore, absolutely necessary that
they should be collected upon imports into Mexican ports, whether in
vessels belonging to citizens of the United States or to foreigners.
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