RAISES JKBIUPM QUESTIONS rtocuinen Think = LatayttoWill be BId loon Washington May 8Th seizure of the French liner Lafayette by the gunboat gun-boat Annapolis caused a distinct Ben saitlon In official and diplomatic clr ole here 09 It was believed to Involve olve the possibility ot more serious foreign tompllratlons than had arisen thus fr The officlat of the state department and of the French embassy received the news of the capture from the Associated As-sociated Press dispatches and In both quarters It was given grave attention In the state department It was taken u a forerunner of a number of caaca of like character to follow < for this was tho experience of the United Stats blockading forces during the Civil War Many times during the g rtltJ progress at that war the country was on the verge of breach of diplomatic relations with some of the European nations because of the seizure of the blockade runners Taking the facts na reported the Oftr dpit dceii gir officials of the department declare positively posi-tively and In this Nvar are supported by the unanimous voice of the naval officials that there can be 1 no question ques-tion that the Lafayette was a blockade runner and aluch Is I a lawful prize The state department has been oils loosed to treat with Ute greatest lib Tallty the shipping of neutral powelll and as already stated has taken an advanced position In this matter In the proclamation of the 26th ult he President said the right of search Is I to beobserved with strict regard for the righu of neutrals and didsto he voyages ot mail steamer are not 10 be Interfered Vitht exctjit on the learest ground 9f suspicion of A Viola Ion of the tan In respect of Contraband contra-band or blockade It will be noticed that In this the I President expressly warns foreign ves sets even mall vessel against breakIng break-Ing the blockade which seems to have been exactly what the Lafayette attempted at-tempted It Is I Mid that whether Oh not the ship carried contraband Off of-f l 14 war Is flblutly Immaterial In the dlpoUon I of her < c In bl be proclnmnlIon I of the 22nd ull the President sold A neutral cssel approaching any ill said posts kna attempting to leavo I = same without nowledfce or notice of the establlshm of such Wockadi will be duly w armed by the commander r > f the blockod g forces who will Indorse In-dorse or have rglntercd the date ot such wTirnlng I 8 nd where such warn Ing j mad nnd If I the some vessel hall again tempt to enter tiny liockadlng port she will be captured and sent to the narl convenient part for such Proceedings Ito lost her and her cargo aa my be deemed all vi able In t6 opinion of officials the Lafayette La-fayette has clearly violated the provisions pro-visions of this Section of the proclama Uon which was cor < fully drawn In accord once with the mOt advanced theories oi tha rght I of neJflI Th seriousness otthe question however ever arises from the fact that the foregoing view of the oinclals here la I not likely to be accepted by the Trench gornment I nd II 3 repreentths In Washington At the French embassy the ambassador ht Intendul 10 to to Nw York today but on hearing of the taking of the Lafayette he determined to i remain here to look 1 after such ciues tie no as were likely to arlne In the ab encc of official Information be asked to i be excused from discussing what course he French government would lake II Is aid however that Fran will lodge a protest with the state do pnrtmenl immediately upon the receipt of Cornel Informal of tits seizure The view Is I entertained In Trench quarter that that slnt department mIR promptly dlrecl the release of hte La fasate owing to certain circumstanced In her case The embuissy was advised ad-vised eight das ago that the Lafayette wa on tier way to this alkle and AccordIngly accord-Ingly a notice was sent to the state department de-partment that this French merchant = night be ef Iectd to reach lana la-na bout this time No answer ws received from the Millie department but after clvlng this notice the Trench au thorl ties took It for granted that the Lafayette would be allowed to proceed on br voyage without I molestation The understanding here was that she bad sailed from St Nualr Franc nol from Corunna Spain as St Nanlr Is I the usual sailing Part of steamers of this line One of the ofn ers ot the legation made the trip on one of these vessels a shun time ago and mays no top In I made at Cdrunnn except uclonlly on arlurn voyage II v a a the understanding also that the Lafayette was stopping at Havana merely to recast prior to going to Yen Cruz Mexico the final destination of the line I The Trench think that the Lafayette has been delayed through a mlsappre henslon and that her release will follow fol-low speedily The grounds for this view are that she sailed prior to the declaration of war and therefore her captain could not know of this declaration declara-tion III Is pointed out that the decls nUon of war ws on April 25 the Presl dents proclamation concerning the right of neulral was Issued on the Nth and the t official notice thereon signet by Acting Secretary of State Ades and addressed to the ambassadors and minIsters min-Isters here Including the French am bassador bears date of April 27 This however Is I complicated by the fact that the President proclamation of a blockade was on April 22 and the official notice to the French and other embassies signed by SeCrelarv Slier man bears date of April S3 The point relied upon however Is that the declar atlon of war was not Wide until un-til April 25th and the om clal notice given to the foreign governments the 27th In addition to this the fact that the French embassy em-bassy notified the tate department that the Lafayette was coming this way Is I looked upon as doing away with ny suspicion that the steamer was making secret move UPw noon the embassy bad not been officially notified noti-fied of the seizure In other diplomatic quarters II In J felt that on Insistence by the French government that the Lafayette be released re-leased might Involve serious one qunce While Fhe Is I a merchant and not a government ship the French government govern-ment always has been very Insistent upon the protection of Its merchant Mxreels It Is I not thought this would extend In the present cue to any cop tlous demand that Trench merchant men should nol recognize the blockade the same as ships of all other coun trlee At the same time the popular Sentiment In France Is I such In the present war that the government might be Impelled to a Btrlct upholding of what Is believed to be thee rights of Ito merchant ships THE COMPANY STATEMENT New York May eAt the office of the French Transatlantic line today Gen Trafllc Manager Trevoux said We have received no word from the captain I of our vevril In all probability proba-bility the steamer limed In the Key West dispatch Is I ours as she left St Nazalro on April 21 bound for Vera CruTo the b1 of my knowledge I she had no cargo for Havana If she baa been taken by The American fleet for trying to enter Havana she probably went there In order 10 obtain a upplY of coal She had been 14 days out and her coal supply must have been low > lowAllhougb Although Mr Trevoux states that the veeel was not bound for Havana though cable reports published here thaw that Lafayette sailed from Co runna Spain for that port