Washington sentinel. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1855, 1854-08-22
From the Portland (Me.) Aygns.
Another Cuban Outrage.

Another Cuban Outrage.
About the middle of last February, the
barque Y. d. Hamilton, of this port, Thomas
Means being master and part owner,) arrived
In Havana from New York, with a general
cargo, described in FoRrY.NINE bills of iading.
In due time, the captain prepared his manifest.
and delivered it to the boarding officer Ifnon
going ashore, however, to the house of his CON
signee, and comparing his bills of lading with
his freight list he found that, in some few par.
tculars, they disagreed; and fearing that the
errors might extend to his manifest, and anx.
ious to leave open no possible chance of diff.
Guilty with the island officials, he repaired at
once to the custom-house and asked to see his
manifest, in order to correct it, if it was wrong.
But the collector refused 10 give ii 10 him. and
with the usual insolence of his class, refused
also, to give him any reason for OBTAINING it,
This was within THREE HOURS after the mani
fest had been delivered and the custom. house
regulations OF Cuba expressly provide that
during the TWELVE HOURS after having de.
livered the manifest, which are to Commence
from SIX o'clock in the morning until seven at
night, the captain, supercargo, or. consignee
can make any alteration he thinks proper or
necessary; and for this purpose he will cali on
the collector, or in his absence on the comman-
der OF the custom-house officers in service
Within this provision Captain Means had clearly
brought himself He had called on the collec-
tor; ne had stated his purpose; he had asked
Tor his manifest. But the collector would not
give it to him, and he had to leave the custom
house without it. The t,celve hours however
DID not expire until the next day at ten o'clock;
and In the morning. with the clerk of his con
signee, he renewed his application at the Gus.
tom-house. The collector still refused him
untu ten o'clock, and then the manifest was
returned to him.
Without leaving the custom-house. and in q
few minutes, he found the errors he looked for.
and corrected them; but upon rendering the
corrected manifest to the proper officer, he was
told that the t,oelue hours had expired by t,cen.
ty minutes, and that it could not be received |
Thus, after having made it impossible for him
to alter his manifest, until the prescribed time
the official coolly took advantage of his own
wrong, and left the captain to be a victim of
Cuban tyranny. Of course, the captain pro-
tested, but OF course his protest did no good !;
and in order to clear his vessel, his consignees
were actually obliged to give heary bonds to
secure the payment of any claims which might
legally be adjudged against her. 1t was be-
lieyed, however, that from a case of such clear
and manifest wrong on the part of the authori-
BILE to the owners, but that the whole matter.
probably, would be speedily and summarily
dismissed. To this end, proper statements were
prepared, and transmitted to the captain gene.
raj; and Captain Means has since made a vow.
age to Havana without hearing of it. But, by
a late arrival, the consignees Of the vessel
(Messrs. Drake q CO.. have transmitted drafts
to Messrs. Jenness, Chase & Co., her agents
and part owners here, for the sum of six thou.
sand and eighty-seven dollars, claims, and thir-
teen hundred dollars, expenses, which they
have been obliged to deposite in Havana, to
await the further action of the Cuban courts
and authorities on the case.
In this way, the petty tyrants Of Cuba seek
to profit by their own rascality, and hope to ex-
tort from an American vessel some new means
OF pampering their depraved tastes, and of pay
ing the expenses of debauched and arbitrary
government.
CUBAs WRoNGs.-She is permitted no voice
IN the Cortes the press is under the yilest
censorship; farmers are compelled to pay ten
per cent. on all their harvest except sugar. and
on that article two and half per cent. the
island has been under martial law since 1926
over $23,0OO,000 of taxes are levied upon the
inhabitants to be squandered by Spain; ice is
monopolized by the government; -four is SO
taxed as to be inadmissible; Creole must
purchase q license before he can invite few
friends to take cup of tea at his board
there is stamped paper, made legally neces.
sary for special purposes of contract, costing
eight dollars per sheet; no goods, either in or
out OF doors, can be sold without licence. the
natives of the island are excluded entirely from
the army the judiciary, the treasury, and the
customs. The military government assumes
the charge of schools. The grazing of cattle
is taxed exorbtantly. Newspapers from abroad,
with few exceptions, are contraband Letters
passing through the post are opened, and
purged of their contents before delivery. Fish.
ing on the coast is forbidden, being govern.
ment monopoly. Planters are forbidden to
send their sons to the United States for educa.
tional purposes. The slave-trade is secretly
by government. No person can
remove from one house to another without first
paying for government permit. All cattle
1.-THE same as goods that are sold, must paw
six per cent Of their value to government; in
short, every possible subterfuge is resorted to
by the government officials to swindle the peo-
pie, everything being taxed, and there is no
appeal from the decision of the captain-Ren.
Cuba, published by Derby.