st 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.

No principle is better established than that--

We have a right to deprive our enemy of his possessions, of everything
which may augment his strength and enable him to make war. This everyone
endeavors to accomplish in the manner most suitable to him. Whenever we
have an opportunity we seize on the enemy's property and convert it to
our own use, and thus, besides diminishing the enemy's power, we augment
our own and obtain at least a partial indemnification or equivalent,
either for what constitutes the subject of the war or for the expenses
and losses incurred in its prosecution. In a word, we do ourselves
justice.

"Instead of the custom of pillaging the open country and defenseless
places," the levy of contributions has been "substituted."

Whoever carries on a just war has a right to make the enemy's country
contribute to the supp