New Orleans Republican., 1875-11-30
3s,p Orleans &epablieai'.
pFFiCIAl JOURNAL OF THE UNITED STATES
OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS


A special dispatch from Washington, No
xember 49, to the Philadelphia Times, says:
The United States consul general at
Havana transmitted for the information OF
the State Department a printed translation
of 9 decree issued by the Captain General
of Cuba on the twenty ninth of October, as
alleged "tOr the better suppression OF SNUG
Cling" Following is a copy of the decree:
First-FOr the dispatch of cargOes Of yes.
sells arriving here from foreign port, all
invoices remitted by each shipper to each
oOnsignee in this island must be visees by
the Spanizh consuls, who will officially sign
and seal them, as 1t is usually done with
the manifests.
Second-The aforesaid consignees in this
island will be careful to add these invoices
to their customhOuse entries when pre-
sented.
Third-In case that on unloading the
vessel there shoald result any difference In
the number or contents of the parcels ex-
pressed in said invoices and those in the
manifest, the captain shall pay fine of
$1,000 in gold for each parcel above or be-
low the declared number; or. if OF different
content than manifested, the vessel Will re-
main uncleared by the customhouse until
the fine is paid or the cOnsignee stand
responsible for said payment.
Fourth-The above disposition ls 70 be
enforced on all vessels cleared from foreign
ports on and after the first of January, 1876
VALMASEDA.
Havana, October %, 1875.
In his letter to the department the vice
consul general says that the execution of
that part of this decree refer iug 10 captains
OF vessels can not prove otherwise than
source of great annoya to the commer'
of the United States with this lslsud, mas
much as the fines impc sable for non-cOn-
fnrmity with nrQvis fO he A.
Cially levied upon the cap- ius, the amounts
Of which, in most ins. res, will be beyond
their pecuniary capacity to satisfy, and
then the penalty must ne ce la,ly fell upon
the vessels, as their custom hou clearance
is to be withheld until the said fiji s be
paid or guaranteed by the consgnees here,
who, in the order of things, will refuse to
assume this responsib ity; hence d. 'ay to
the vessels, increased ypen 3 in the way
of wages and maintenance of officers and
crew, as well as the stagnation OF the capl-
tai invested in the vessels all OF which
must necessarily follow as consequences of
the enforce OF these conditions. The
consul general then proc eeds to say:
1t is next to an impOssibllity for captains
to comply with the obligations imposed by
this decree. The exports from the United
States to Cuba are comprised principally of
broadstutfs, provisions and cooperage ma
terials. Ii captains are to be responsible
for the contents" of these packages, and
are to be compelled by the Spanish govern
ment to act the detective against the con-
nivance and collusiOn of it's own officials
with the import Or here, then every package
will have to be examined by the captains
on the wharves alongside OF which their
vessels are TO load, at Bangor, Bath, Port
land, Boston, Newport, Bristol, New York,
Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans, to
see that the contents conform to the "outer
labels" and that there is nothing inserted
for the purposes of contraband. And it may
be doubted if Spanish law can in its effects
reach to so great an extra territorial degree
as is entailed by this decree. Also. if cap
tAins are to be responsible for the
weight of these packages, then they
must see them elves to the weighing of
them prior to the slowing them on board.
These operations would involve so much
extra labor, expense and drawba chat
they would soon render the carrying trade
of the United States with Cuba almost i'm
practicable. This clause is also contrary to
that time -out-Of-memory and universal COM
mercial usage which relieves the captains
from the responsibility of weight and con-
effect in the bills of lading, signed by the
captains of vessels of all nations. In this
decree the captain is pointed out as
The pivotal point upon which smuggling
here hinges, when it is well known that he
rarely has intervention or knowledge of the
smuggling of cargoes brought in his vessel
The starting point to all fraud in the GUS
toms is with the customhouse officials. If
the Captain General is serious in the inten
ton to suppress smuggling, then the first
object of his attention should have been
his OWE employees, because if those are in
cerruptible no smuggling worth notice can
ha Aouo