In harmony with Washington and Wheaton, I cite General Halleck, in his excellent work:—
“Wars of intervention are to be justified or condemned accordingly as they are or are not undertaken strictly as the means of self-defence, and self-protection against the aggrandizements of others, and without reference to treaty obligations; for, if wrong in themselves, the stipulations of a treaty cannot make them right.”[76]
Then again Halleck says, in words applicable to the present case:—
“The invitation of one party to a civil war can afford no right of foreign interference, as against the other party. The same reasoning holds good with respect to armed intervention, whether between belligerent states or between belligerent parties in the same state.”[77]
Armed Intervention, or, as I would say, Belligerent Intervention, is thus defined by Halleck:—
“Armed intervention consists in threatened or actual force, employed or to be employed by one state in regulating or determining the conduct or affairs of another. Such an employment of force is virtually a war, and must be justified or condemned upon the same general principles as other wars.”[78]
Applying these principles to existing facts already set forth, it is easy to see that the belligerent intervention of the United States in the internal affairs of Dominica, maintaining the usurper Baez in power, especially against Cabral, was contrary to acknowledged principles of International Law, and that the belligerent intervention between Dominica and Hayti was of the same character. Imagine our Navy playing the fantastic tricks on the coast of France which it played on the coasts of San Domingo, and then, still further, imagine it entering the ports of France as it entered the ports of Hayti, and you will see how utterly indefensible was its conduct. In the capital of Hayti it committed an act of war hardly less flagrant than that of England at the bombardment of Copenhagen. Happily blood was not shed, but there was an act of war. Here I refer to the authorities already cited, and challenge contradiction.
To vindicate these things, whether in Dominica or in Hayti, you must discard all acknowledged principles of International Law, and join those who, regardless of rights, rely upon arms. Grotius reminds us of Achilles, as described by Horace:—
“Rights he spurns