Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1854-03-21
The Black Warrior case-Let;er from Consul
Robertson to Secretary Marcy.

The Washington Union publishes the doeu-
ments accompanying the Presidents message re
/ Iative to the seizure of the Black Warrior. The
following extract fiom the letter Of Consul Rob
/ inson to Mr. Marcy contains the facts in relation
TO the subject
The -hip arrived here on the morning of the
2aih. The captain delivered his manifest IN bal
/ last a had been customary. lie assures me
! that he had always been under the impression
! that n speeial concession existed which exempted
his vessel and other steamers from the iornaii.Y
Il MAJ life ling their cargo in trdnsifH he thinks
that thu owners of the ship entertain the same be,
! lief. On the same day. (25ih,) at about II u
| clock Mr.. Tyng semi bis clerk To the custom
house for the despatch Of the stcamcrtu taxi the
-alne tn the en-, tain of the port, tn procure The
pass for her Ia leave the port; II was refused 10
| him. and be va informed that the ship was stop
ped by order Of superior authority OF the rosa
cxehequer Up this. Mr.. Tying, with the cap
tain cafne fo ms office and informed me OF the
-tate Of the ense. Whilst the former en-
tering protest, took the latter with me 10 the
captain general.
The object Of this interview was to lay before
his exceIleney all the circumstances of the case,
and particularly 10 show that there had not been,
on the part Of Capt. Bullock or any one concern
I'd in the ship, the least intention Of violating any
law If Spain or regulation OF the port. His ex-
critnfN "a uffeohrl4 listened 10 me- hbu 1tpned
that no report had been made to him on the sub
jeci, be also recommended that | should give him
my statement in IA memorial or official communi
cation Immediately returned Ia my offee,an
prepared my letter Ia the captain general. III
this letter in my anxiety to bring the affair TO
satisfactory settlement without delay, kept no
copy, which regret. In the mean time, Mr.
Tying went to the custom house, finding that
the cause Of the difficulty the omission of the
Iruus IN in he
that the twelve hours allowed by law to amend
manifest- had not elapsed, and that by making
the amendment the difficulty would be termina-
ted he applied to the collector, stating that, in
the course of fifteen minutes or half al hour, he
would be prepared Ia present the correct mani
fest. The collector replied that he could not,
aud should not, be admitted, because he had al
ready applied for the vessels despatch, or some
thing 10 TINT effect 1t is true that Mr.. Tying had
applied for the despatch, but it may be well To
bear III mind TINT it was not given; and il is n
question, IN my opinion, whether the steamer
could be considered as cleared, in effect, so far
as regards the clearance on the 25th, before she
had arrived. deem it informal.
Mr.. lying was at the same time informed that
the cargo was confiscated, and the Captain fined
according Ia the custom house regulations. In
the afternoon Of the same day, Il have been in
formed, n gang OF men sent alongside the
ship. To commence the discharge of the cargo;bu
hnding that the captain and purser were on
shore, the operation was deferred until the next
morning, when they again appeared, and the off
Ger at the head of the party demanded of the cap
tam the delivery of the cargo, which Capt. Bull
lock declined, remarkng to the officer that if he
took by force as he must do, one single bale of
the cargo. he lthe eaptain) would instantly haul
down his coiors, and abandon his ship to them
This seemed 10 make tue officer hesitate. lie
suspended his operation, and came on shore--no
doubt 10 lay the faet- before his superiors, and
receive their directions. lie soon returned ON
board opened the matches, and commepced the
disc, arge; whereupon Captain Bullock hauled
down his flag, and will his officers and crew, IL
handoned the vessel To the Spanish authorities.
On the evening of the 18th | received the cap-
tam generals reply to my letter, which was far
from satisfactory.
have omitted to say that | am informed that
the regulations concerning steamers require that
they shall manifest the quantity of coal they have
on board, but that IN no Instance H. this law been
complied with. This neglect or unohScryancc of
the laws by the authorities themselves has rem
dorod thyn ubaul,tr. ana therefore inappncablc
am also assured TINT "A law prescrlbes that when
II II Clearly shown that there has been no inten
ton OF infringing the law, or drfrauding her Ma
Jcsty revenues, parties shall not be deemed eul-
pablo. In my opinion, it is simply ridiculous to
sup ose Tor an instant that the captain of the
than conform In all established regulations.
Although had written to the "mtendenten
last evening declining the request that should
appoint person To take an account of the cargo
proposed Ia he landed to day, being led to that
course by the idea that the lntendentc's object
was To present mt least the scmbance of II sane
ton ON the part of this consulate to their pro-
ccedmgs, |, nevertheless, called upon him this
morning remarkne, by way Of introduction, that
| prese nted my self not only in the character of
consul or commercial agent, but as friend; that
| was expecting the steamer Phiadcl phia to-day,
and was anxious 10 communicate to my govern
ment the true relation of the facts on both sides,
that my government might be prepared to meet
the many demands upon it for indemnity by in
nocent parties interested in the cargo that did
not come to solicit th,t this government should
alter Its position, however DESTROYS might be To
aii IN preserving good relations between the two
governments, but to obtain facts This led IL "A
discussion. remarked that | could not see how
two wrongs made a right that 1t might have
! been wrong to have entered and cleared the ship
III ballast but that the captain, through his con
sgnoe, had attempted to correct the error within
! the legal time, and he had not been permitted ;
| that tins added To the long continued, and by the
authorities well-known, practice of entering in
! ballast when she had cargo in transtu.
did not see how they could put themselves in
the right still that | was not disposed To con
test the law points bearing ON the case, but that
| II had given me much pain that the matter had not
| been settled satisfactorily and amicably, as it
! should have been and finally that | was appre.
henslye that this affair might create great agta-
ton and difficulty, from the crcum stance of there
| beng so many parties interested who had nothing
whatever to do with the vessel To all this the
intendcnte said that he regretted that he had
not seen me before that, as the matter stood.
he did not know what to do lint he wnnld ax