Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (Charles City, Iowa) 1861-1864, 1862-06-26
T9e gntellieenter.
Gen. Butler and the COnSlS.


4 the consul of the Netherlands, he or
dercd Captain Shipley, of the 13ti
Massachusetts, regiment, with prop
er guard, to take possession of the
office. Capt Sbipley found a Mr. Con
turie at the Office, who confessed tc
having the keys Of the vault in his
possession, but refused to deliver them
up. Lieut.. Kinsman, of Gen Buffers
staff, was then sent back with Capt.
Shipley, and on demanding the keys,
Mr.. Conturie claimed to be French
man, and sent note to the French
consul, demanding his protection. He
n afterwards stated that he was consul
for the Netherlands, and protested
N against the invasion of his consulate
Lieut.. Kinsman told him that he must
have the vault keys, and ordered his
guard to search Mr.. Conturic's person,
n on doing which they found the keys
in his trowsers pocket On opening
4 the vault, Lieut.. Kinsman discovered
nearly cord Of kegs filed with
specie. A guard was placed over
them for the night, and on Sunday
they were removed to the custom
house. There were one hundred and
4 sixty kegs, each evidently containing
five thousand dolars-in the aggre-
gate eight hundred thousand dollars.
Each keg was sealed and stamped
"Citizen's Bank, n. O." The money
4 was of the date of 1861, and each
\ piece had the o, which indicated its
having been mnted at New Orleans.
i There is the best reason to believe
that it is a part of the identical spc-
Gle stolen by the rebels from the mint
at the commencement of the war. Mr..
i Conturie was confined in his office by
4 the guard until evening, and was then
\ released. His first act after his liber-
alton was to haul down the Consulate
flag. He then prepared a statement
3 of the transaction for his government,
and forwarded to Gen. Butler the fol-
lowing letter:
New Orleans, Saturday, May 10.
To Major-General b. f. Butler, Uni
ted States Army, Commanding De-
par tment of Gulf, at New Orleans -
b Sir Herewith inclosed | have the
honor to transmit to you statement
n of facts which transpired in my Con
sular Office during the afternoon of this
day, duplicates of which statement |
n am about TO transmit to the Minister
q Of my Government accredited at
VI Washington and also to the Minister
of Foreign Affairs at the Hague.
Il | desire to know whether the acts
srecited in said statement were per-
formed with your sanction or by your
orders Your answer, or a faithful
copy thereof, shall accompany my
messages to my Minister and Govern
ment. | have the honor to be, res
pectfully, your obedient servant,
AM CONTUmE,
Consul of the Netherlands.
The Consuls of all foreign powers
represented in New Orleans, also pro-
tested against the action Of Gen. But
Ter, who made the following response:
MEssRs / have the protest which
you have thought proper to make in
regard TO the action of my officers
toward the Consul of the Neither
lands, which action approve and sus-
tain. ! am grieved that without in
vestigation of the facts, you, Messrs,
should have thought it your duty TO
take action in the matter. The fact
+ will appear to be, and will be easily
q demonstrated at the proper time, that
the flag of the Netherlands was made
to cover and conceal property of an
incorporated company in Louisiana,
sccretcd under it from the laws and
authority Of the United State that the
supposed fact that the Consul had I'M
der the flag only the property of Hope
& Co, citizens of the Netherlands, is
untrue. He had other property which
could not by law be the property of
Hope g. Co. /; of this | have abundant
proof in my hands. No person can
exceed me in the respect | shall pay
to the flags Of all nations, and to the
consulate authority, even while do
not recognize many claims made un-
der them but | wish it distinctly I'M
derstood that, in order to be respected,
the consul, his Office and the use OF
his flag. must each and all be respect
cd by himself | have the honor to
be. very respectfully, your obedient
servant, BENZ L. BUTLER,
Mai. General Commanding.
Owing to Gen. Butler having been
informed that large amount of spe-
Gle belonging to the Confederate Gov
crnment was secreted at the offices of
the French and Spanish Consuls, a
guard was placed over those Offices
the same day of the seizure at the
Consulate of the Netherlands but on
the positive assurances Of the repre-
VI tbS 1ooNC
that the information was entirely in
correct, the guard was withdrawn.
In regard to the seizure of property
at the clearinghouse of Samuel Smith
& CO., it appears that Gen. Butler was
informed thot $4,000 in specie had
been removed from the mint to the
above house, and being satisfied that
the money must be either the property
of the United States Government or
the Confederacy, he took possession
of the bank and arrested the members
Of the firm. The specie could not be
found, and the bankers affirmed posi-,
lively that they had only fourteen
thousand dollars of specie in the bank,