The Express.
London, England, 1866-12-14 00:00:00

EXPRESS FROM PARIS.

EXTRAORDINARY LAW SUIT.
ACTION FOR DAMAGES BY FRENCH
CONFEDERATE I 3 ISER.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARIS, THURSDAY EVENING.
A lawsuit extraordinary, of very great interest,
was heard yesterday in a preliminary stage before
the Civil Tribunal of the Seine, presided over by M.
Benoit Champy. The plaintiff is Andrew Johnson,
President of the United States ; and the defendants
are M. Arman, the great shipbuilder of Bordeaux,
a member of the Corps Legislatif, and others. The
circumstances of the case fully appear from the
declaration filed by the President of the United

States, which is as follows :
Whereas in the course of the year 1861 several states
belonging to the republic of the United States of America
took up arms against federal authority, and attempted to
form a separate confederation under the denomination of
the Confederate States of the South ; and whereas the
French government did, it is true, recognise the said states
as belligerents by an imperial declaration published in the
Moniker Uninersel, of June 30, 1861 ; but whereas the
said declaration positively prohibited French citizens from
taking any part whatsoever in the manning or arming of
any ship of war or privateer belonging to either party,
and moreover strictly enjoined all French subjects to re-
frain from any act whatsoever which, in violation both of
the laws of the empire and of the law of nations, might
be considered as a hostile act towards either party
and contrary to neutrality ; and whereas in defiance of
the precise terms of the above declaration, and of the vari-
ous laws on which it was grounded, and at the risk of most
seriously compromising French neutrality, • joint-stock
company for the purpose of supplying verse's of war to the
so-called Confederate States was formed in France under
the inspiration and direction of the defendant Armen of
the one part and the defendants Voruz, Joilet, Babin,
Dubigeon, and Mazeline of the other part ; and whereas
by verbal conventions agreed upon in Paris on April 15,
1803, M. Armen contracted with one Bullock, a Confede-
rate agent, es well to build in his own docks two
ships of war for the Confederate States as to obtain
from MM. Voruz, Joilet, Babin, Dubigeon, and
Mazeline a contract for the construction of two
other similar ships ; and whereas the price of the four
ships aforesaid was fixed at 1,800,000 fr. each,or. 7,200,000 fr.
in all, the money to be payable in Paris ; and whereas it
being impossible that these contracts could be otherwise
than provisional so long as permission for the sailing of
these armed ships was not obtained, 31. Amman did, on
June 1, 1863, solicit the Minister of Marine for permission
to take away the ships aforsaid, armed with from 12 to
14 guns, alleging that they had been ordered of him for
the account of a foreign merchant, who wanted them for
a mercantile packet service in the Pacific and Chinese
seas, and who moreover looked forward to the possibility of
selling them as ships o: war to Chi's or Japan ; and
whereas the Minister of Marine, deceived by the above false
and fraudulent allegation, granted the permission required,
on June 6 ; and whereas, on the very same day, on the
ministerial authorisation being communicated to him, M.
Flisell [Qy. ? Slidell], who assumed the quality of Con-
federate envoy in Paris, confirmed the contract which bad
been made by Bullock on the preceding 15th of April ;
and whereas tb-ee days after this ratification, and on
June 9, M. Erlanger, a banker in Paris, end a financial
agent for the pretended Confederate government, under-
took for a commission of 5 per cent. to guar.intee If.
Armen the payment of the first two-e`ths of the stipu-
lated price for the four ships ; and whereas the adhesion
of MM. Voruz and Co. to the verbal convention of
April 15 was obtained by M. Ar man ; that Armen and his
co-defendants received accordingly, in the course of the
year 1863, at least two-fifths of the price, i.e., 2,800,000 fr.;
and whereas the French government being informed
by the American government of the real destination of
the four ships aforesaid, did, in October, 1863, expressly
withdraw the permission which had been obtained from
it by fraud and sum price, and upon the faith of which
alone the payments on account aforesaid were made to
Armen and his co-defendants ; and whereas it appears
from the facts above stated, that Armen and his co-
defendants are now holders, without any lawful right or
title, of the sums of money handed to them in pursuance
of an illicit contract, and which sums they ought to
refund; and whereas the government of the United
States is the only party entitled to call for the restitution
of the sums of money aforesaid; and whereas Armen
and his co-defendants bating acted in bad faith in
receii•-ig the sums aforesaid are bound to refund the
same 'A Lt h interest ; and whereas the said defendants
have by their conduct done most serious damage to the
United States, and in particular did, so far as depended
on them, prolong the duration of the rebellion by contri_
basting to accredit the belief that the French government
favoured the cause of the Southern states, and was eien
a ,out to recognise in them a distinct nationality ; and
whereas the government of the United States is therefore
justified in suing the defendants jointly and severally
for reparation for the damage done as aforesaid ;
and whereas the sum of 2,600,000 fr., with interest,
can only be considered an extremely moderate esti-
mate of the damage so caused—May it please
the court to condemn the said defendants to pay to the
government of the United States the sum of 2,800,0001 r.,
with costs of suit, and without prejudice to any further
claim for damages, or for larger sums which they may be
proved to have received on account of the said ships.
The interlocutory motion made yesterday by M.
Lacan, counsel for the defendants, was ono simply
of course that President Johnson, as a foreigner,
suing in a French court, should give proper secu-
rity for costa (judicators solri is the French term)
in case of his losing the action. The only question
before the court was what that amount should be,
and upon this the estimates of counsel on either side
differed widely. On the one part it was contended
that registry dues for the transfer of the various
ships in question which had been sold, ought to be
provided for by the caution money • while, on the
other, it was said that these dues, being incurred
subsequent to a fraudulent transaction, could in no
event whatever be charged to the United States,
and that it would be a great libel upon the assumed
cheapness of French law to fix the security for
costs at more than 5,000 fr. The court, however,
gave the defendants the utmost sum they asked
for, and " condemned " Andrew Johnson—con-
demned being no doubt the matter-of course and
appropriate word—to pay 150,000 fr. (6,0001.) into
court.

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At the Bourse yesterday's prisms were fully
maintained.