Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1855-02-15
For the Eastern Times.
French Spoliations prior to 1900.


gress making provisional appropriation for
payment, by the United States, for spoia-
tons committed by France, upon our COM
merce previous to the year 1900. Mr.. Polk
vetoed such bill while President, for which
he was much vllifed by interested parties
and now bill has just passed which only
awaits the signature of the President TO be-
come a law Whether the bill will be APP
proved or meet with veto seems not to be
well settled at the present moment. though be-
fore this article is put in type the result will
probably be known. For one, the writer of
this is free TO confess the conviction that a veto
should promptly meet the bill, although it may
be cheaper TO pay out some five millions than
to keep the subject an open question for end
less legislation.
The friends of the spoliation bill claim that
France was justly indebted to our citizens !;
that in treaty stipulation with France our gov
eminent assumed the debt, or agreed to stand
between that government and the claimants,
and that. in consequence of this treaty agree
ment, our governmet is bound in honor to pay
the bills. Indeed, it is often alleged that
| France has paid the claims to our government,
and that the government has meanly refused,
for fifty years, to redeem its obligations
4 Now in justice to our country, let it be stated
/ that all this is mere assertion, without one
particle of truth for basis. But, it will be
! II III - I 81
ana, stipulate that our government should as
sumo her Indebtedness to our citizensl Not
at all. France, previous to the purchase of
Louisiana, had acknowledged her Indebtedness
to our citizens to the amount of twenty mill
lions of francs. Napoleon instructed the agent
of his government TO get fifty millions for
Louisiana. Marbois, finding he could do bet
ter. bargained TO sell for eighty millions of
francs, twenty millions 10 be paid 10 our own
citizens in liquidation of claims upon France,
acknowledged by that government, and sixty
millions to be paid into the French treasury.
France actually received ten millions more
than she asked for Louisiana, and besides,
we assumed twenty millions of her indebted
ness. This twenty millions icas actually paid
ouer 10 satisfy those claims which France ac-
knowledged, and there is wanting the first ev-
idence that that government ever acknowl
edged single franc Indebtedness beyond the
twenty millions. Everything that we agreed
TO do in connection with the Louisiana pur-
chase, we fulfilled to the letter. The present
claims rest not here-at any rate, they find no
support here. What, then, it may be asked,
was the consideration received from France
which iustifes the sufferers from French spolia-
tinns in preferring their claims against our
own government Mr.. Webster shall answer
this question. He says, ''that the United
States government, by the surrender and dis
charge Of these claims OF its citizens, had made
this surrender to the French government to Oh
tain for HseTd discharge from the onerous la
hHtieS imposed upon them by the treaty Of IT'S,
and in order to escape from fulfilling other
stipulations, proclaimed in the treaty of COM
merce of that year, and which, if not fulfilled,
might have brought about war with France.
This was the ground on which these claims
rested y See Mr.. WebSta'S speech in the S.n-
ate an 1885. Let it here be remembered that
in treaties of ;aliance, amily and commerce
concluded with France in 1776-fye years
before the close of the revolutionary war
France agreed to guaranty our independence,
and we agreed on our part to guaranty her
possessions in North America. 1t was also
mutually agreed that if either contracting
party should, after the close of the then ex
listing war between the colonies and England,
become involved in a war with third power,
it should be lawful for its ships of war and
privateers freely to carry its prizes into the
ports of the other contracting party, without
being subjected to the common laws of admi-
rally, while neither party was to allow an en-
envy of the other any privilege of this kind, or
TO afford to such enemy any shelter except
when forced by stress of weather or the dan
gers of the sea. Then, again, it was agreed
that so far as France and our government were
concerned, free ships should make free goods,
except in articles contraband Of war, while
one section of the treaty enumerated large
list of merchandise, embracing nearly every
article then exported by us, which should not
be contraband as between France and our gov
eminent, although made expressly contraband
by the law of nations. These were some of
the provisions of the treaty of '7S,-the SON
erous liabilities y of which Mr.. Webster
/ spoke to release ourselves from which we
surrendered the claims of our citizens. Four
teen years after the conclusion of this treaty,
war broke out between France and England,
and France took unusual and unexpected lib
critics under the advantage secured by treaty
of bringing prizes into our ports and even
went so far as to purchase ships, arm them
| and enlist men for her navy, all in our ports,
claiming a treaty-rlght so TO do. England
complained, ard much trouble was likely 10
result from such acts.
As we have already hinted shy the treaty,
provisions of all kinds, ship timber, ship
tackle, (guns only excepted) and large list
of other articles of trade and commerce, were
declared not TO be contraband, while the same
articles are expressly made contraband by the