The Rhode-Island Republican. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1809-1841, 1839-07-10

J., BE il enacted, &c. That ships or vessels
enrolled BY virtue Of an act for registering and
clearing vessels, regulating the coasting trade,
and for other purposes and those Of twenty
tons and upwards, which shall be enrolled after
+ the last day Of March next, in pursuance Of
act and having license an )oree or il less than
twenty tons, not being enrolled, shall have Ii
cense in force, as is hereafter required, and no
others shall be deemed ships or pesseis Of he u
nited States, entitled 10 he pririleees Of ships or
uessels empioyed in 0e eodsting trade or fisher
ies."
Earolled and licensed vessels then, not regis
tered vessels, we're those which were qualified
for carving on the fisheries. aud were entitled
to the privileges of ships vessels Of the Uni
ted States. Let us see what construction was
given TO these acts by the Comptroller Of the
Treasury, (Mr. DuvaI, think, } in his letter in
.tructing the Collectors, &c, relative to the
mode Of carrying into effect the two acts above
alluded to, bearing date December 2a, 1893.
He says" Registered vessels, are those who'll
ly owned by citizens Of the United States, and
usually employed ia (oreign trade. Enrolled
vessels. are those wholly owned by citizens Of
the United States, aud employed in the coasting
trade, ,ohale or cod fishery, and possessed Of a
license in force for one Of said employments."
/ That it was intended that all vessels employ
! eu III Tue iISutIicS suOuIu DC HStuScu, Ho"tFct
remote or Of whatever duration their voyages
nigh, be, is manifest, from the provisions Of
the "act for enrolling and licensing vessels,
&c." which direct the Collector to furnish the
masters Of such licensed vessels with permit
to touch and trade at any foreign port or place
during the voyage, and which provide that no
penalty shall be incurred in case such license
expires while such vessel is beyond the limits
Of the United States.
! Now how can it be said that registered ves-
sci can be legally employed in the fisheries
| by engaging in them, she is most certainly de-
prived of all the privileges Of an American YES
sci. This Judge Story decided in the case Of
the brig Troy, and more recently in the case Of
tho Shylock.
1t appears by the newspaper reports, that
previous to the decision of the case Of the Shy
lock, the Collector of New York, finding that
certain vessels sailing from his district had thus
forfeited their national character, supposed that
the cargoes of oil, &c. imported in them were
liable to duty as of foreign fishing, and the ves-
sells themselves liable to foreign tonnage duty.
He exacted security for the duties accruing on
the oil, and the payment Of the tonnage. The
owners appealed TO the Comptroller of the
Treasury, and his decision is understood to
have sustained the Collector, and how could
it be otherwise The Comptroller had the
law before him, and was bound TO decide ac-
cordins to it. His letter Of the 9th of June,
instant, was Immediately prepared and trans
United TO the several Collectors for their gov
ernment. In that letter he says, to be sure,
that /" the existing laws must be inforced,'' but
intimates that any penalties or disabilities in
Cured will be RENTED at once on pettioDing
the Secretary Of the Treasury in the mode pre-
scrbed by law, and that the duties will be re-
mitted on application to Congress. Nobody
can doubt, that under the circumstances of the
case, all duties and penalties will be remitted.
and as all the vessels that are now fitting will
sail under the legal documents, as most of those
which sailed last year have done, every thing
will soon come right again.
But the question may be asked-How did
this eguarity originate How happened it
that whalcmen should ever have taken regis
ters! The writer Of this article supposes, from
the best Information he has been able to obtain,
that for several years after the passage Of the
d" act for enrolling and licensing vessels" all
the vessels employed in the whale fishery were
enrolled and licensed; but that as the voyages
became longer it was found that licensed ves-
sci, paying duty on tonnage but once year,
and registered vessel but once for each voy-
age, it would be cheaper to sail under a regis
ter. Some of the merchants, therefore, sp-
piled to the Collector either of this port or
Nantucket, (therc seems to be some doubt
which was the first to do it,) for registers for
their vessels, and prevailed on him to grant
them. Hence commenced a practice which
has extended itself from these, the great fish
ing districts, into every district in which the
whale fishery is carried on. Who, then, are
answerable for the consequences Of this irreg-
ularity ! Is the present Executive! Most
certainly not. Is Judge Story! No. He has
only called attention to the provisions Of law
which have for some years past been overlook.
ed. Are the present officers of the customs
They found a certain practice of long standing
and though most of them have always doubted
the legality of issuing register TO whaleman
still they very reasonably supposed that prac
tce SO old must have the sanction of some
higher authority and felt justified in continuing
= lit; and whenever the question has been asked
e as it has frequently been, by the collectors o
= other districts-Do you grant registers to YES
= sells employed in the whale fishery !-the,
r have replied that such had for many years beer
i the practice in this district, and thew continu,
= il, though they could refer to no authority 70
I so singular an act.
c Such, then, MIR. Editor, are some of tn
facts in the case, and trust that calm exam
i iDation Of them will tend to aay the excite
d ment that prevails upon the subject, and pre
n vent reasonable men from charging any one a
: present holding Office in any department of tn
e government with being the cause of the presen
IL difficulties. The blame, if blame can attacl
l. to any one, must fall upon the collectors VIII,
rs introduced the wrong practice, not on thos
IS officers who would nov correct it, II.
rr
Of From the New Bedford Daily Register.