These unpleasant incidents had scarcely ceased to arrest the public
attention, when the affair of the Black Warrior again brought Mr Soulé’s
name prominently before the world. This affair has been so much
discussed that its main facts must be generally and well known, and I
will use the utmost brevity in here recapitulating them, which I do for
the sake of adding a few comments, and of relating one or two
circumstances in the dispute to which they gave rise that I believe are
not widely known. On the 28th February last, the Black Warrior
steam-ship, a regular trader between Mobile and New York, arrived from
the former place in the port of Havanah. She was entered at the
custom-house as in ballast, and the manifest presented was conformable
with that declaration, ship’s provisions being the only cargo set down.
Her clearance was then applied for; but on the searcher from the
custom-house visiting the vessel, she was found to be cotton-laden;
whereupon her departure was stopped, and judicial proceedings were
commenced, the delay having expired that is allowed by law for the
rectification of the manifest. Article 162 of the Customs Regulations of
the Havanah states, that “after the twelve hours allowed by Article 15
for the rectification of, or addition to, the manifest, shall have
expired, all goods that may have been omitted in it shall be seized;
and, moreover, the captain shall be fined to the amount of their value,
provided always the amount of duty which would have to be paid on the
contents of the package or packages do not exceed four hundred dollars;
because if it exceed that sum, and if the goods belong, or are consigned
to, the owner, captain, or supercargo, the fine shall not be imposed,
but, instead of it, the vessel, together with its freights and
everything else available, shall be seized.” This is explicit enough;
and it is to be noted that a copy of the custom-house regulations,
printed in English, was handed to Captain Bullock, commanding the Black
Warrior, as soon as he entered the port. By order of the authorities the
cargo was landed, and found to consist of 957 bales of cotton. The
amount of seizure and of fines incurred was very large, and the Marquis
of Pezuela, captain-general of the Havanah, desired the superior board
of administration to consider the matter, with a view to its reduction.
That board fully confirmed the legality of the steps taken and fines
imposed, but left it at the discretion of the captain-general to reduce
the latter if he thought proper. He consulted the attorney-general of
the island, who recommended their reduction to ten thousand dollars,
exclusive of all expenses incurred in discharging the cargo; but general
Pezuela finally decided to reduce the penalty to six thousand dollars,
including all costs and charges. In the mean time the consignees had
made various applications to the captain-general, admitting their fault,
declaring the captain’s omission to have arisen from ignorance, pleading
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account