Daily national Republican., 1866-01-13
LOCAL NH w ..
surRExn CouRr or THE UsrrED STATES
EnInAH Ian IA 1868.


h,eh seas as prize Of war by the United States
ship of war sonoma, the Sd Of February, 1858,
In latitude % deg. 95 min. north, and Longitude
Is deg % min, wss. % iro% Of cns nunoS iea ns
was brought into the port o. New York, where
she was libelled in prize February l2th, OF the
same year. She set sail from the port Of London,
Great Britain oa the sth Of December, 1852, upon
4 voyage, ostensibly for Nassau, and, the libel
alieees,- whom captured was making for that
port. On the day Of the hling Of the libel, hr
Archibald, British Consul At New ioLk, nleu :
claim for the owner Of portion Of the cargo, al
iegIng that IL belonged to q British subject. on
the same day claim was nled by the owners Of
the vessel, Thomas May and others, Of Falmouth,
England subsequently, claim aim T Tssmas nso Scr.
ling Begbie, all Of London, as owners OF the
The court below found ss fact that the ship was
British owned and Registered, and that she was
chartered BY the owners Of the cargo to carry the
same from Londoa to Nassau that portions OF
the cargo consisted Of army blankets, navy but
tons manufactured By issaes' c campbell SHSs ,,o,s
Of various cofors, navy boots, army brogans.
boxes Of tin plate, and small quantity Of cay
airy swords and bayonets manufactured by the
same nru, with many articles Of mems wear
that the captain Of the vessel was directed by
vr tten Instructions Of owners or agents to re-
port to certain parties at Nassau, who Will give
you (him) orders 10 the delivery Of your cargo,
and any further Information you may re7,,irs
The letters % the agents Of isaaos, Campbell 4
Co were held to have exhibited no evidence OF
any purpose 10 deliver the cargo at Nassau, as
the end Of Its voyage, or to authorie Its sale At
Taken in connection with the fact that the bills
Of lading, made out 10 f" order, were endorsed
In blank, and the fact that no invoices were found
on the ship, they were thought to strongly sus-
tain the conclusion that Nassau was not the port
Of delivery or sale but only the port OF tranship-
meut, in further prosecution OF the design to de-
liver the cargo at some other port Of destination,
A al n al Ian "A hat Iaaa
Campbell 4 Co were sole owners Of the cargo Of
| the stephen Hart, schooner captured on the
18th Of January, 1852, between Cuba and the
southern coast Of Florida, laden w.a arms,
| gether with the schooner, were condemned as
lawful prize. Tho master Of the vessel was ason
OF the owner. aud she was chartered for the yoy-
| age by hfs authority. These facts, In connection
with the fact that the captain swore on his exam
ination that he did not know that there were con-
| traband goods on board, and that he did not know
for what reason the capture was made, when the
| under officers all admitted that the seizure was
made because Of the contraband goods on board,
were thought suficient grounds for condemna'
/ tion, which was decreed.
In the case Of the stephen Hart, and other prire
cases, should not have been invoked In this that
| they were allowed to be introduced against well.
established principles Of international lsw and
contrary to standing rules Of court that II intro
duced they did not carry with them force sufi-
| cient 10 cause decree Of condemnation that the
case stood clear Of blockade and Of enemy prop.
erty; that the papers are In order which fact was
| confirmed by the depositionu In the case every
| thing In the case showed avoyage from one neu-
tral port to another, aud there was, or should be,
| an end Of all detention. That fact decided wrong
commences with the further detention. In any
| case condemnation Of the cargo did not carry
| with II forfeiture Of the ship. There was not
fact In the case that connected the ship with
wrong under prize law. Having NO right or
| ownership In neutral property, belligerents are
not Justified in setting, holding, aud eondemning
| It, save through fact OF wrong. Prize courts do
| not condemn on assumptions; and yet on these
alone vas this ship and her cargo condemned:
| as conclusive on the questions involved:
That the spripgbok, whom captured, was pur-
suing a voyage laden with cargo not intended to
sau as its port Of destination, but intended to be
transhipped thence 10 the enemy's blockaded
port as Its port Of real destination and this was
the sole and conclusive purpsse Of the arrested
voyage. That the cargo was largely contraband
Of war. some Of the articles being specially, and
others exclusively, suited to the euemy's uie,
aud destined TO q port Of the enemy, for such
| enemy's use, by transhpment at Nassau, but
without any sale or change Of ownership there.
That the cargo was taken on voyage having, so
far as II was concerned, its terminus a guo at
| London, and its term mus dd queR at the block
| AIDED aud enemy port, and the purpose to tran
ship at Nassau did not, to the cargo, break the
oostinuity Of the voyage. That the cargo was
liable to capture as prize ofwar from the moment
| oI bthfunk WIN the purpose OF entering the
blockaded and enemy port, and being capture!
while that purpose existed, was good
That the part Of the cargo not contraband Of
war was good prize, not only for the
reasons embraced In the foregoing PROPOSE
tlons, but for the further reason that It was
owned by the owners Of the oontrabaud part
That the vessel was also good prize, because,
| when captured, she was engaged In the sole and
exclusive business Of transporting the cargo des.
tined for the blockaded aud enemy port one stage
OF Its route TO that port for the express purpose
OF securing Its delivery at that port. For this
purpose she was chartered by the owner Of the
contraband aud other goods, aud, when captured,
she was sailing on the route by which trade TO
| the bloekaded and enemy port was then usually
| ondueted, In pursuance OF the charter and In
furtherance Of that purpose, under the exclusive
| orders Of the oharterer. This made her par
tieipant In the guilt OF the cargo.
James N. Carlisle aud Charles Edwards for
claimants; James Speed, Attorney General, and
J. Hubley Ashton, Assistant Attorney General,
| for the United States.
CHARGED WITH STEALING $50, ,000.-An-