The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1854-04-08

iidNaHr hafch %, 1921
| SIH:--By the United States steamer Corwin
which dispatched to Charleston the 1t inst
conceiving that the importance of the intclli-
scncc had to communicate justified that
course advised you of the seizure by the Gus
tom house authorities here. apparently. or rath-
er evidently. with The consent and appreciation
oi the supreme authority of the island, of the
cargo on board the steamer Black Warrior. of
New York. and Of the attcmht to lay a very
heavy fine uron The caf'tau OF the vessel. which
fine is said to be double in amount to the value
OF the cargo--all this under the preteace of his
having made false entry, to wit: that he stated
his ship to be in ballast, when She had cotton
on board i trdns;tu. l feel it to be my duty
to repeat the circumstances Of the case, to cor
rect any errors that may have communicated
III my dispatch before mentioned. numbered 81
Inc steamer was expected here from Mobile,
on her way to New York. on the 2Gth ult.
Mcssrs. Tying Il Co.. her consignecs. on the day
before. ta5th, Saturday. ontoroh and cleared
ncf 4" bdHdst. This has been customary fer the
Law and British mail lines | am informed
that the Black Warrior has been entered and
cleared ia ballast sincc she commenced to run
Eow about 70 months past making two trips
per month without any objection OH the part
OF The custom house authorities. who cannGt
plead Ignorance of the fact. for Immediately
that a steamer drops her anchor two custom
house guards. and an unlimited number of po-
licemen. public and secret, were placed on board
to watch every passenger or package on thc
ship. No attempt has ever been made as | am
aware Of to conceal the cargo. Furthermore.
the captain of the Black Warrior has been in
the habit of to deliver TO the authorities, Oh ar
rival several numbers of the public journals of
New York. or Mobile. Of the latest dates which
contained the advertisement of the Black War
rior's being about to sail on such date, cx-
pressing the cargo she carried for her port of
destination.
The ship arrived here on the morning of the
2Sth The captain delivered his manifest in
ballast as had been customary. lie assures me
that he has always been under the impression
that special concession existed which exempt
cd his vessel and other steamers from the for
mallty OF manitcsting their cargo IN fraasitu ;;
he thinks that the owners of the ship entertain
the same belief On the same dav (2SthO at
II clock, Mr.. Tying sent his clerk to the Gus
tom house for the dispatch of the steamer to
take the same to the Captain Of the Ports, 10
procure the pass for her to leave the port it
was refused to him, and he was informed that
the ship was stopped by order of superior all-
thority of the Royal Exchequer. Upon this.
Mr. Tying. with the captain, came to my Office
and informed me of the state Of the case. While
the former was entering a protest. took the
latter with Inc to the Captain General. The
object OF this interview was to lay before his
ENccllcncy all the circumstances of the case
and particularly to show that there had not
been, OH the part Of Capt. Bullock, or any one
concerned in the ship, the least intention of
violating any law of Spain or regulation of the
port. His ENccllcncy coUrtcously listened TO
me. and replied that no report had been made
to him on the subject; he also recommended
that should give him my statement in o mo
NOR al or official communication. Iimmed; ate
ly returned to my office and prepared my letter
to the Captan-General. OF this letter. in NV
anxiety to bring the affair to satisfactory set
tlement without delay, kept no copy, which
regret. In the meantime, Mr.. Tying Z en-. to The
custom-house, finding that the causc of the diff:
ficulty was the omission of the cago an fransitu
in the manifest, and thinking tina. as the twelve
hours allowed by law to amend manfcsts had
not elapsed and that by making the amend
mcnt the difficulty would be terminated he an
piled to the collector, stating that in the course
of fifteen minutes or half an hour, be would he
prepared to present the correct manifest. The
collector replied that it could not and should
not be admitted, because he had already applied
Tor the vessels dispatch, or something to this
effect. 1t is true that Mr.. Tying had applied for
the dispatch; but it may be we'll to bear in mind
that it was not given; and it is question, in
my opinion, whether the steamer could be con-
sidercd cleared in effect so far as regards the
clearance on the 25th. before she had arrived
deem in informal Mr.. Tying was at the same
time informed that the cargo was confscatcd
and the captain fined. according to the custom
house regulations. In the afternoon of the same
day Il have been informcd) gang Of men were
sent along side the ship to commence the dis
charge of the cargo ; but finding that the cap
tain and purser were on shore, the operation
was deferred until the next morning. when they
again appeared, and the officer as the head of
the party dcmanied of the captain the delivery
of the cargo. which captain bullock declined.
rcmarking to the officer. that if he took by force
as lie n!ust do, one single bale of the cargo he
(thc captain) would instantly haul down his
co!ors and abandon his ship to them. This
seemed to make the officer hesitate. He sus-
pended his operations and came ON shorc-no
doubt to lay the facts before his supcriors and
receive their directions. He soon returned on
board, opened the matches and commenced the
discharge, whereupOn captain Bullock hauled
down his flag, and with his officers and crew,
abandoned the vessel to the Spanish authori-
ties.
On the evening of the 2Sth, received the
Captain-Gcncral's reply to my letter. which
was far from satisfactory. copy and transa-
tiOn of the same were transmitted to you with
my communication, No. 81 sent per steamer
Corwin.
On the 1st, at about IL o'clock, the Collector
wrote communication to Mr.. Tying. / send
you copy of this communication, as well as
that Of second letter from the same officer,
also that of Mr.. Tyng's reply. Inclosed you
will likewise find copy OF a letter l received
last evening from the "Intendcnte" Of the treas
ury, and of my reply thereto. also accompa-
ny a copy of the printed regulations which are
handed TO all captains Of vessels on the FIST
visit from the custom-housc officers.
7 have omitted to say that am informed fiat
the regulations concerning steamers require
that they shall manifest the quantity of coal
they have on board. but that in no instance has
this law been complied with. This neglect or
unobservance of the laws By the authorities
themselves, has rendered them obsolete. and
therefore inapplicable. l am also assured that
a law prcscribes that, when it is clearly shown
that there has been no intention Of infringing
the law OF defrauding her majesty's revenues,
parties shall not be deemed culpablc. In my
opinion. it is simply ridiculous to suppose for
an instant, that the captain of the Black War
lior had any intention to do otherwise than con-
form to all established regulations.
Although had written to the "!ntendente''