Washington telegraph., 1854-04-05
| From de N. O. Piraynnc.l
Important.
HAVANA, March 20. 1858.


DEAR Pic Il embrace the present op-
portunity to drop you . few lines. though I
Shall not give you very long letter, for
want Of leisure 80 to do.
The noisy affair Of the Black Warrior
has at last come to point, ard the decision
Of Tie court il, that the ship and cargo shall
Be released, but that Capt. Bulloch shall
pay fine Of $4,000. Tie agents have de-
tcrmined to accept the ship and cargo, and
pay the fine under protest This i IN
doubtedly wise course, and. in the estima-
ton Of every cool man, just what should BE-
done in the present state Of affairs The
consignees Of the ship; Messrs. Cha's Tying
& Co. have conducted the matter with
great Judgment on their part, and Col Rob-
ertson the acting Consul. has displayed
much frmness and truly national spirit in
maintaining the rights Of our countrymen-
The decision of the court i'm this case
shows how preposterous was the position as
sumed by the Collector in demanding bonds
at the time Of the seizure for an exorbitant
amount. Tt proves that the Collector was en-
trely wrong in his course, for no penalty
has been cxacted for the offence which he al
legged. Indeed, had the ship been liable. as
lie assumed she was, she could not have cscap-
cd confiscaton and an enormous fine. The
present fine is imposed because the ship by en-
tering and clearing in ballast during the thir-
ty-six trips she has made here has avoided the
payment If the ponton dues Of II rials per
ton. Thus have the Spanish authorities
abandoned their ground. and with their usu-
al duplicity now seek to escape from just
censurc by bringing up new issue. entire
" foreign to the seizure. and which they
would never have thought Of seeking had
| they not been entirely wrong in their first
attempt.
There is no doubt at all that the course
Of the collector here was instigated BY the
hope Of lucrative confScation, and followed
/ up aud decided, when that failed, by the
universal sentiment Of hatred which every
| Spanish official entertains towards Amcri-
cans and American interests Let no one
suppose that this case has been decided up
on any principle Of right or justice. When
| the ship was first seized the matter was said
BY the Government to be one of the Gus
toms; when pressed, this point was aban-
doDed, and it was asserted TO BE- judicial
question; and finally, the court says it il
one against the royal treasury. The result
is that being in tie wrong. and forced into
a false position, in order to obtain sem
blance Of right, they have adopted the pres
ent issue. The officials are all very much
irritated against the Americans in general,
and the parties to this affair in particular
You may be sure that every effort to annoy
them will be used.
The introduction of Mr. Deans rcsolu-
ton about the Black Warrior and the sus.
pension Of the neutrality laws has caused
friends in the Palace are already seeing Vi
sions. One would think, from, some of the
things they do. that 1.-THE man with the pok.
CT" was after them.
Our new fee labor apprenticeship sys.
TEN has been put in operation with nine hun
dred free negroes, which have been seized
by the Government out Of large number
that have been landed from Africa lately as
slaves The modns opeyandi is as follows
Parties applying for apprentices from the
Government must pay SIT per head fol
each negro. The contract is then made out
that the negro shall serve as an apprentice
| uHucT iHc FfkIidl!THS vi the HTee LABOR
Code Of the 24th December last. for the
term Of three years; at the end Of which
time he is to become absolutely free Du
ring the service As an apprentice the en-
ployer is to pay to the negro 81 a month
wages, and feed and clothe him; and give
the government 81 month fur the appren
lice fund.
Among the slave traders all is hnpa and
gladness | learn from them that twenty.
seven expeditions (vcssels) are now looked
for to arrive from the coast with negroes, Il
be landeJ either as slaves or apprentices. a.
occasion may serve, from which they lool
for large profits The matter stands thu.
with them and Gen. Pezuela IF they car
run them in secretly he il to have ounces
(sS5) head if they canno. do this with
out discovery they are to be landed openly
as apprentices. and the General will gct on
ly the seventeen dollars head for theil
registrations My opinion j. that very
few will be at present landed a. apprentices
The gain to the Capta;n-General Of sixty
eight dollars a head. and to the trader d
the difference between the price Of slave
for life and an apprentice for a few years
are too great to Be given up easily
Yours, SENTINEL.