The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1884-12-04
4 oAaE EoR pIpLoMAoY.
Tho Question of Ownership of Certain
Guano Island I'M the Caribbean Sea
Brought to a Focus BY the Seizure of q
British vessel by United States oficerss


Tho Question of Ownership of . Certain
Guano Island in the Caribbean Sea
Brought to a Focus BY the Seizure Of q
British Vessel by United States OaHcerss
EoRFoLK, VA, November %.
A question involving possession of an
island in the caribbean Sea has been raised
here by the seizure of q vessels cargo.
In order to fully understand sle case, 1t
is necessary to explain the law. In 1852,
Congress passed law extending prOtec-
ton to certain guano islands belonging to
citizens of the United States, and among
other provisions required that after g
limited period the guano should be sold
only ~ citizens of the United States, and
that commefc5 wish these islands should
be governed by laws regulating the coast
ing trade of the United States. One OF
the laws governing the coasting trade is
that any cargo carried in a foreign vessel
in that trade is subject toforfelture and a
foreiansxesseI transporting il IS subject
to a penal tan of fifty cents per tom
On Saturday last thc British brig
Natalie, Captain Michael Neal, arrived in
Hampton Roads with a cargo of guano
from the Island of Pedro Cages, lying off
Jamaica, in the Caribbean Sea. This
island is claimed by tie CHstom-house
authorities here TO be one of the STla 40
islands of the United States, and Col
lectOr BoWden seized the cargo and re-
ported the case TO the District Attorney,
who caused il 70 be1libeled by the United
States Marshal and imposed the penal
tonnage tax of fifty cents peF ton. The
owners of the cargo, MessrS. G. DeCOF@
dOva & Co., of New York, claim that the
island belongs to Great Britain, and that
DeCordQya s. Co., of Kingston, have a
lease on the island from the Government
of jamaica They fled Wednesday their
protest as fOllows; .ss s-rfsa-. aisle s.
The undersigned owners of the cargo OF
the British brig Natalie, of Halifax,
Nova Scotia, laden with about three
hundred and twenty tons of phosphate
guaiio, bound from Pedro Cages, small
group of islands in the Caribbean Sea,
owned by Great Britain, to New York,
and now detained in Hampton Roads by
the Collector of Customs at the port Of
Norfolk, Va, Geo. Il. Bowden, Esq.
First-That the said islands on Pedro
Cages are dependencies of the island of
Jamaica, and subject to the jurisdiction
of the Governor of Jamaica, and have been
an integral part of the lands subject to his
authority and to the British Government
since the year 1863, and that such fact
was established by the British Government
when certain parties in Baltimore claimed
that the Cages were American Islands.
Second-That the undersigned, as own
ers of said cargo, therefore protest
against said brig being detained in Hamp-
ton Roads, and hereby give notice that
all costs and damages incurred and sus.
tanned by such detention must be re.
funded by the Government of the United
States to the parties suffering from such
unlawful proceeding.
We became owners of the cargo by
reason of having advanced the full value
to Gabriel j. DcCordova, of Kingston,
Jamaica, British subject who is lessee
of said island, the same having been
leased to him by Sir Henry Wylie Nor
man, as Governor of Jamaica and its de-
Tendencies, for a term of years specified
in certain agreement therefor, dated
December 2lst, 1888, and recorded in the
record book of the island, new series libeI
XXX w, folio $50.
[Signedl DECORD0vA.& Co,
New York.
Witness, BARTON MYERS, British Consul.
Collector Bowden did not proceed
until he had consulted by wire with the
Treasury Department In Washington,
and was advised to take action as above
indicated.
Mr.. Barton Myers received yesterday
a telegram from the British Minister
asking the full particulars. The case
will 60 to the United States Court,
but viii eventually go to Washington
for adjustment between the Treasury
Department and the British Minister,
Lord West. 1t may, however, assume
the importance of National dispute be-
tween John Bull and Uncle Sam.