Omaha daily bee., 1896-12-31
ALLOWED TO CLEAR FOR CUBA
Dauntless Receives Permission to Sail with
Arms for the Insurgents.
OWNERS MUST TAKE THE REGULAR oATHS
TiIIbustcrinE Vessel Now out on Il
wrecking Trip. but VIII Re-
turn I'm Few Days and
Take out Papers.

WASHINGTON, Dec. SO-For the first
| time since the present struggle began in
Cuba this government has given permission
! to a customs official to clear for Cuba a
vessel loaded. according to her manifest,
with munitions of war consigned presumably
to the insurgent army. The vessel in this
case is the well known alleged flibuster,
the Dauntless, but the concession leaves the
| situation as far as she Is concerned, quite
as involved as before, as the statutes pre-
scribe that before clearance shall be granted
| for any vessel bound for foreign port the
! owners, shippers and consigners of the cargo
shall state under oath the foreign port at
which the cargo is to be landed and penalties
are provided for violations of this require
ment, including the confscation of the ves-
sci. Some time yesterday the secretary of
| the treasury received a telegram from the
attorney OF the owners of the Dauntless at
Jacksonville, stating that the owners of the
Dauntless and her cargo wouId apply to the
collector of customs at Jacksonville for clear
ance to a Cuban port with a cargo of arms.
stating, however, that the oaths required
| by the statutes would not be taken. The
| question was asked whether under these cir
cumstances papers would be issued Later
| in the day telegram was received by the
collector at Jacksonville stating that appli-
cation to clear the Dauntless for the port Of
| Neuvtas. Cuba, had been made and asking
| foI instructions. This morning the secre-
| tary replied substantially as follows 'Jf
| the master of the vessel and the owners
| thereof, shippers and consgnors of the cargo
comply with all the laws and regulations
| concerning the manifest and take the oaths
| required you may grant a clearance to Neu-
! T1,A he hn tolF. and IA
scribed in writing as required by sections
| 4l97, 4l9S and 4200 of the Revised Statutes" "
| The port named in the application as the
destination of the cargo is on the northern
coast of Cuba and is occupied by the Span
! ish forces. The treasury officials therefore
are of the opinion that the oaths required by
| the statutes will not be taken.
Late this afternoon the collector OF Gus
| toms at Jacksonville wired the secretary OF
! the treasury that ths steamer Commodore
! had applied for clearance upon practically
| tho same statement of facts as in the case OF
| the Dauntless. In response the secretary
wired permission to issue papers to the COM
modore in substantially the same terms as
| woro named in the former case. Up to the
| hour of closing the department no informa-
ton had been received as to the movements
of either vessel or whether the conditions
| imposed had been accepted.
NEW YORK, Dec. 30.-The steamer Ber-
| muda, knCwn in connection with alleged fill
clustering expeditions to Cuba, was searched
! by a United States revenue officer as she
lay off Liberty island today. Last night
the Bermuda took Coal and provisions on
! board and today she shipped crew OF
| twenty-five men. The revenue cutter Man
haitian is detailed to accompany the steamer
| to the thrce-mile limit when she goes to sea.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla, Dec 30.-The
steamet Dauntless is not I'M port at present.
| The officers say III has gone on "wrecklng
trip" and may not return for week. The
| Dauntless gave the revenue cutters the slip
yesterday, going out of the river from one
of the shallow channels, and this has
aroused the suspicion that the vessel is
again on flibustering trip. The owners
say that the vessel will be formally cleared
| for Cuba as soon as it shall return. The
| Commodore has also been granted permis-
| sion to clear with arms and will do so in
| the morning Several carloads Of arms and
| ammunition are in the city awaiting ship
| ment.
| A rather anomalous fact Is presented
| In that If either boat shall clear for Cuba
| the Spanish consul or vice consul will have
| to sign the clearance papers this being re
! quired when a vessel clears for a foreign
port. In this instance it would be a case
! of a Spanish officer affXing his signature
| to a document permitting a vessel to carry
war material to a people fighting against
| his government. Consul Soils was asked If
| he would refuse to sign the clearance pa
|
could not refuse, as it was his duty to
| sign the papers.
The cargo of both boats will be shipped
| to Salvador Cisneres, president OF the
| Cuban republic; the Dauntless cargo con-
signed to Neuvtas, and that of the Com
modore to Santiago.
| NEW YORK, Dec. 30.-Thomas Estrada
| Palma. president of the Cuban iunta, said
| Today after reading the order of the secre-
| tary of the treasury relative to the Daunt-
less clearing: This ds a victory for us so
| far as 1t allows this boat TO leave port. We
have forced the authorities at Washington
to give us clearance papers, although some
time ago they declared that such boats as
the Dauntless could not get them except
under stringent restrictions. This is a step
forward. II a vessel clears for a certain
port she has TO give reasonable excuse
II she does not deliver her cargo at that port
But stress of weather, you know. or some
other accident, might compel her to throw
the cargo overheard or deliver 1t somewhere
else We in New York know nothing of the
Dauntless case. We hope 1t will result in
a proper construction of the law which Is
now vague and difficult to understand Even
the authorities at Washington are at sea
regarding IL and it will be a good thing that