 The initial burst of ardor was great enough that the Confederate government could lay down some rather stringent conditions, such as requiring the deposit of large bonds, to insure that the practice did not degenerate into outright piracy.The holders of letters of marque were also required to be the actual owners of the ships; this was to discourage speculation in the letters.An anomalous feature of the legislation governing Confederate privateering was that it allowed attacking enemy warships.