Alexandria daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1803-1808, 1808-04-07
Paris, Nop. lsth, 1907.

sTE,
The documen, to which these obscr.
ya,;ons are psedxed, will inform your ey.
ce,iency that an American ship tradiLg un-
der the protection of the laws OF neHons
add Of particular treaties, ssd suaarlog
shipwreck on the coas, of France, has r.
Gently been seized by his majesty's officer.
aud sdiudgsd by his council OF prizes as
follows, viz.
"Our council puts asliber,. the Amesi-
can vessel, he Horizon, shipwyeeked she
soth of May last, nesr Moria's, and con-
sequen,ly orders, that the amount OF The
sale legally made of the wreck Of the sad
vessel, together with tbs merchandise u
the cargo, which according TO al estimate
made 10 presence of the overseers ct the
ADMINISTRATIONS of the marine and custom
house, shall be acknowledged not to pro.
coed either from English manufactures or
territory, shall be restored to captain Mac
Clure without deductia6 any other expenc
IS but those relative TO the sale.
And with regard 20 The other merchan-
DICE Of the cargo which from the result OF
the said estimate shall be acknowledged 20.
come from manufactures or from Eegl:sh
territory by virtue of the 5.h article OF ihe
decree of the 2lst November, 1906, they
shall be ccuGscased for the use of the ssaye,
the whole 10 be sold by the forms psescr'b
ed in the regulations and the application
of the product to be made 10 confcrmi y 70
the arrangements of the said decree, de-
duction being made for the expeuce ct say.
ing the goods, aud that Of The support OF
the crew, until the day thu, he captain shsi
reccivs the notification OF the presen, de
decision.''
The reasons upor which this decision Is
L->-.-l-lr aud So alarm
log TO the preseot friendly relation of the
two powers. that canuo, but discuss ,l1em
with freedom 10 some degree ptopor,ion
ed tony sense of their novelty aud impor.
,ance.
Considering" says the council. "rhai
tbs neutrality OF The ship and cargo were
sufficiently established, the whole ought TO
be restored, Eagreesbiy to the provisions
of shs convention of the soh OF Septeln,
Der, 1901 provided 90 meichanoise OF
English gin hadbeen found 10 her,and Of
course tina, she had not been bro't within
the limits Of the imperia! decree of the 2iss
of Nov. 1906 -
Here is an open and unqualified admis.
sion that the ship was found within the
rules prescribed by the convention of 1900,
that according TO these rules, her cargo &
herself ought to have been restored, and
that such would have been the f8ci but for
the operation of the decree Of the els, Of
Nov. 1906.
In the letter your excellency did me the
honor to write to me on the 18th OF October
last, you thought it easy to reconcile the
obligations of this decree, with the preserva-
ton of those arising from treaties" 1t wss
not for me to examine the means by which
this reconciliation was to be Effected. They
no doubt fully existed, and yet exist, in his
maiesty's good pleasure, and taking for grant
ed this fact, saw in the opinion nothing but
proofs of friendly disposition, and pledges
that this was not to be either wantonly de-
stroyed or diminished. How inauspicious
however to its authority and the consolation
derived from it, is this recent act Of the coun-
Gil of prizes An act which explicitly ac-
knowledges the opposite characters and con-
ficting injunctions OF these two instruments,
and which of course draws after it considera-
tons the most serious to the government Of
the United States.
The I'd reason of the council is g that the
decree declaring British merchandise good
prize, had principally in view captures made
on the high seas, but that the question whe-
Their ship-wrecked goods ought to be restored
or conHscated having always been Judged un-
der the l4th article of the regulation of the
Goth of July, l77s. And according to their
character (thatmight have rendered lawful, or
have even commanded their seizure at seat
there is no room to introduce in this case any
which