Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1891-06-12

Capt. Caleb Bnssrtt irds gnsinI ono morn
ing Through his trusfU gdss
In the year 1894 Capt Caleb Basscii.
navigator Il the old sort. was gains
one morning through his trusty glass "a
very suspicious object on tho horizon
The Yankee skipper was gray with scrv
ice. hut his eyes were keen anl true. and
the first mate. nj his side WAS warning
with unconcealed anxiety for their vrr
dict
Yes" said the skipper. Its one Of
those cursed Frenchmen."
The mate frowned and muttered few
biblical phrases much In Use among
sailor then and now.
Crowd sail" said Bassett. and II
go below and get my papers ready"
What followed Is n matter Of record
The American bark Sunbeam. Capt
Bassett. was overhauled and captured b,
French cruiser. and its cargo u pro
visions conascated. The prize was taker
20 France. condemned and sold. AMI IN,
food distributed among the starving
poor. And Capt. Bassett. who was
very careful and methodical man. dull,
wrote out n protest and an iicinizc,
claim for damages. amounting. for shin
and cargo. 10 $9s.3l7s0 This. in brief
was The Bassatt Claim"-an heirloom
which Is still preserved in the family
Its name may not be familiar to In,
reader; and yet there have been no les,
than forty-three reports made to differ
ent congresses on this claim, as one Of 4
number Of similar cases, and without
much doubt there will be many more
for We all know the power OF habit, and
congress can be fairly said Ia have con
tracted the habit Of n favorable report on
the French spoliation claims.
1t has bsen urged. as one OF the objec.
tons in the way Of settling these claims,
that they slept" but no lawyer could
retreat behind such q technical defense
rs this with regard to the Bassett claim.
On the contrary. IL had been afflicted
with insomnia from birth. The method.
ical Capt Bassett, being very 10th to
lose at one stroke the bulk Of his hard
earned competence, took proper legal
advice, made out his case, and duly laid
1t before Mr.. Morris, then onr minister
at Paria Mr.. Morris, writing home to
the state department at this time. used
the following plain language: These
captures create great confusion. must
produce much damage to mercantile
men and are source Of endless and
well founded complaint Every post
brings me piles Of letters about it from
all quarters. One fat package in these
piles came from Capt Caleb Bassett.
and 1t was perhaps after reading its con.
tents that the minister added: "If were
to give way to the clamors Of the injured
parties ought to make demands very
like declaration Of war"
But Mr.. Morris was able TO get very
little satisfaction for Capt. Bassett. nor
was Col. James Munroe, who soon after.
ward succeeded him, able to do more.
And. In fact. matters yearly grew worse
instead OF better, in spite Of the efforts
Of such men as Pinckney, Marshall and
Gerry. until, after i've years Of letter
writing--in . shaky, Grabbed hand,
much at variance with his firm and even
disposition-the skipper was hot for war,
and - the original lobbyist for the Bias
sett claim, went to Philadelphia in 1913,
and was one Of many who urged the
government to demand justice Of France
ut the cannon's mouth.
But calmer and wiser counsels pre-.
vailed The cannon after all Is poor de
batter. No one was ever convinced by hav.
ing his leg shot of or his only son blown
TO pieces by . shell. And in this par.
ticular case we should have been Obliged
70 cope with . master ia that stolid
brutal line Of arguments young Cor.
sican adventurer, then ut the head OF
the French government, who shortly aft
er became very famous for his skill IN
disputations Of this character.
Now, as Q matter Of fact, laying aside
national pride for the moment, we did
have our match game Of empire with
Napoleon, and, like everybody else. go,
worsted; only he checkmated rs with a
bishop Instead Of . castle. For just "a
Caleb Bassett and others were shouting
their loudest for redress, that shrewd
priest Taleyrand moved sidelong out
with counter charge Of national claims
on Us, springing from our neglect to per.
form the duties Of friendship, as stipu.
lated in the all important treaty under
which France became our ally in the
war for independence. Talleyrand ad.
mitted that We had some plausible
claims on them-they certainly had on
rs; but both nations were "hard up" and
in trouble-suppose We "call it square"
And finally we did; by . vote Of
twenty-five to four in the senate-each
Of the obdurate four receiving spiteful
letter Of thanks from Captain Bassett for
his firm though unavailing opposition.
But though angry and disturbed, the
s6pper was not discouraged, for he was
given to understand that our govern
ment had merely bought of France with
these claims, and would now settle
them promptly and on equitable terms.
So Mr.. Timothy Pickering, the score
tary Of state who drew the instructions.
told the captain, and SO the same person
wrote many years later, telling the story
succinctly as follows: THUS the gov.
eminent battered the Just claim Of our
merchants on France to obtain relin.
quishment Of the French claim. .
On this view Of the case it would seem
that the merchants have an equitable
claim for indemnity from the United
States"
But, not to go into an argument, Capt
Bassett took this view Of the case" at
any rate, and spent part Of several win.
tiers in Philadelphia and Washington try.
ing to get his money; and ut five years
difference in time he was instrumental
In securing two favorable statements u
fact-one by Mr. Giles in 1902, and the
other by Mr.. Marion in 1901. But by
this time he was growing old and at
tached to his arborial stoop at home. 80
that in that year he formally gave the
claim to his only son. Windward Bassett.
born aboard the unfortunate Sunbeam
on cruise to the Windward Isles in 1909.
Windward Bassett was the shopkeeper
Of the family. and was too busy and pros.
porous to make n good claimant. More
over, for q number Of reasons. the French
claims fell into disfavor at this time. and
1878 and 1924 met the only three
reports they ever encounter
ID. Windward Bassett did not neglect
he claim. however, by any means. but
'hortly after the old shippers death.
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