The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-11-12


proceedings WIRE commenced. the delay having ex
pred that u allowed BY law for the recti6cation Of
the manifest. Article l62 Of the Customs Regula
tions Of the Havana states, that latter tho twelve
or addition to, the manifest shall have expired al
goods that may have been omitted In il shall bt
seized; and, moreover, the captain ehal be fined tC
the OF their value, provided awaysthe amount
Of duty which would have to be paid the contents
the package or packages do not exceed $500; be
cause, II 1t exceed that sum- and If the goods belong
or are consigned TO- the wner captain supercargo
the fine shall not be imposed, but instead of it, the
available, shall be seized" This s explicit enough
and It is to be noted that q copy Of the Custom
House regulations, printed in English, was handed
to Captain Bullock, commanding the Black War.
the authorities The cargo was landed, and found to
cor sst OF 957 bales OF cotton. The amount OF seiz
ure and OF fines incurred vas very large, and the
Marquis OF Pezuea, Captain. General of the Hava
consider the matter. with . view to is reduction
That board fully confirmed the legality of the steps
taken and fines imposed, but left II at the discretion
of the Capfain.Geueral to reduce tho latter II he
of the island, who recommended their reduction to
ten the usapd dollars, exclusive Of all expenses in
cured in dischafgDg the cargo; but General
Pezuela finally decided to reduce the pc.
costs and charges. In the meantime the con-
sigpees had made various apple atoms to the Cap
tain General, admitting their fault declaring the
captains omission to have arisen from Ignorance,
that the vessel might be allowed to depart upon
pay ment of the transit duties, corresponding TO
ship lads n as she was; and, finally, when the fine
Of six thousand dollars was definitely fixed upon,
entreating its further reduction. This, however,
the Ca plain General who had officially announced
his decision, refused to grant: but he forwarded
petition from the consignees to the Queen of Spain,
In which it WAS get forth that there could have been
.l..Ie kr~kf I~s~u< l.
Of consumption in the island Of Cuba-in which the
heavy loss arising from the detention, dis barge,
and Ielosding Of the vessel was urged, and the re-
mission Of the fine craved. This prayer was sub
sequently granted; but before that was done the
dispute between Spain and the United States had
assumed menaciDg proportions.
This statement Of well ascertained facts shows
tie Cuban authorities have acted strictly within the
clemency to the persons who had transgressed it, II
il suited American vessels trading between Mobile
and New York to call at the Havana to take In Goals
or for other Objects they were bound to comply in
colony and could not expect to get of scot free if
they trsr sgressed them. But there is circumstance
to he taken into consideration which somewhat mod
es t. Is view of matters in the case of the Black
indulgence, or-lt has been suggested, but have
not seen it proved-the corruptDess Of TIE Cuban
authorities, the Black Warrior had been In the habit
Of entering the port with cargo, exhibiting ma.
i
entered and cleared accordingly, snd that she had
actually made.more than thirty voyages in that man
rer without let or impediment. It is scarcely pos.
sible that this should not have been known to the
Cuban custom house, and II So it must be Omitted
that the course pursued the occasion of the voy
age made in February, 1854, was, although doubt
less strictly legal harsh and injudcious. The neg
ect to enforce the law on more than thirty previous
should have induced the Cuban authorities though
it had been but from considerations Of prudence
to reinforce it less suddenly. II is easy to under
stand that the new captain general, and one or two
other newly appointed and high functisnaries, who
had gone out with him to Havana only few weeks
before the occurrence of the difficulty, were fred
with zeal for reform; and it is stated that during
the first few months Of their administration, the
revenue of the island increased. But they should
have gone to work more coolly and gradually. In
consideration Of the long impunity the Irregularities
of the Black Warrior had enjoyed, it would surely
hsve sufced. On the 2sth February, to have warned
longer permitted and that on her next voyage, the
law would be rigidly enforced, should occasion be
given. Towards country Of equal or inferior
power, this would have been the fairest and most
aggressive neighbor as the United States, it was
most unwise to adept any other. But although nu.
merous Misrepresentation have heen circulated on
the subject, this fault Of Judgment is the only one
in the affair Of the Black Warrior trat can fairly be
imputed to General Pezuela and his subordinates.
or course, the business wasa g0dsend to President
Pierce and the annexation party in the United
States. The former forthwith sent a strong-I
might almost say q vi0!ent-me6sage to the House
of Representatives, declaring the seizure of the
Black Warrior to present I" clear case Of wrong"
attrbuting habual misconduct to the authorities of
CuDa, ana stating that he had already given IN
in the event of the refusal of which. he declared in
menacing terms, that he would "vindcate the honor
ofthe American flag" Now Mr.. Soule appears
again upon the scene. The demands addressed by
i'm IN hN Gna war an in1a ynuifv
of EGO 900 sterling the dimissal Of all those Cuban
authorities that bad been concerned in the proceed
iDgs against the Black Warrior, (this would Of
appears not to have been mentioned IN the note,)
and finally, that, In, future, the Governor of Cuba
should have power to settle disputes with the Uni
ted States without reference to the home govern.
ment-an arrangement directly opposed to the colo
Spanish ministry demurred TO such exorbitant and
unreasonable demands. Caldercn de Ia Barca, the
feeble and timid foreign minister OF the Sartorius
cabr ct, was no match for Mr.. Soule. He even suf-
fered himself to be bullied by the American Score.
tary Of Legation, who, on conveying to him a com
munication took out his watch and stated the exact
time he would allow him to answer it. And al
tbous Sartorius came to the aid of his aged and
incapable colleague, he quickly Disguised Mr.. Soule
by bis doubledealng evasions and procrastination.
None of the communications that have passed du-
ring the discussion OF the Black Warrior affair have
as yet been published in Spain, or, that am aware
in Cuba is before u.s. that we enabled to form
an opinion on the merits Of the case but there our
documentary information stops: What is positively
known from ether sources is, that there seemed 90
little chance Of the affair being settled with Mr..
Soule, that the Spanish government directed Senior
Sueto to try to arrange 1t at Washington and sent
after him. after his departure by Senior Galiano,
notes and instructions to aid him in the task.
For considerable time after that scarcely any.
thing was heard of the matter, and there Is
trnsreason to believe that Mr.. Soul6 was
himself lett without communications from his govern
mentor length Of time that annoyed and per
haps surprised him. This naturally awakens q
doubt whether his proceedings have been alto.
gether approved at headquarters. His friends here
maintain that they have. 1t is presumable that they
derive their information from himself
On the LIST of August last, in compliance with TIE
desire of the United States Senate President Pierce
sent to it a message with respect to the state Of
American relations with Spain since his former me-
nacipg message cfthe 10th Of March, All that he
said thst directly referred to the Black Warrior Of
fair was that Spain, instead of granting prom t re-
marathon had iust6ed the conduct of the Cuhan an.