Why Semmes condemned privateering

In Service Afloat and Ashore During the Mexican War, Semmes argued that governments could not properly control the private armed cruisers they commissioned. He portrayed privately financed cruises as speculative ventures whose crews pursued plunder and revenge. Bonds, penalties, and the threat of forfeiting a vessel were, in his account, inadequate restraints. He also argued that short cruises, recruitment across nationalities, and the character of the work prevented lasting discipline. These were the reasons behind his description of privateers as little better than licensed pirates. His later Confederate command was a naval surface raider, but his earlier objection also extended to commerce warfare conducted by navies.