It is submitted that the most partial view of the said Goolrick's statement, which can be deemed admissible, does not in any degree favorably modify the conclusions which are inevitable from the whole body of the testimony, that he has acted the part of a traitor and a spy. In regard to the flour we are wholly confined, as yet, to Goolrick's statement. General Reynolds who, it is said, ordered the seizure of the flour, with the officers who executed his orders, and his entire command, has been transferred to another field of duty, and they are not now accessible for any explanation. From Goolrick's statement it appears that on the third of May, which was Saturday, a total stranger, representing himself to be one James Gemmill, of Richmond, a British subject, brought and delivered to him an invoice of one thousand barrels of flour, authenticated with great formality by the British consul at Richmond; and that on the fifth of May, which was Monday, said Gemmill took him to the storehouses where the said flour was stored and delivered the said flour to him as his agent, before witnesses, together with written instructions what to do with the same, which were neither to sell nor offer it for sale till August or September next. That afterwards, by order of General Reynolds, six hundred and thirty-three barrels of said flour were taken and converted to public use, and that he, Goolrick, did not know where the said flour came from, or who had previously owned it. The unprecedented character of this transaction justly subjects it to jealous scrutiny. It is not usual to surround honest transfers of property, or the creation of a bona fide agency, with such elaborate evidences of validity. We have no information upon what facts General Reynolds acted. He may have had proof that the flour was placed in store by the rebel military authorities, as a portion of their regular supply. But if he had only the knowledge furnished by Goolrick, and that the same contained in his present statement, that this quantity of flour was placed in the hands of a man not accustomed to deal in such property, with the observance of unusual formalities, with the unaccountable instructions to hold it for several months, and past another harvest, whatever might be the state of the market; that this was done with manifest haste at the moment when the national forces were approaching the town, and with laborious effort to secure for the flour the protection of the British flag, as British property, when it was notorious that all that was requisite to secure for it the most ample safeguards from waste or plunder, was that it should be known as private property, and not the property of the pretended government of the rebels; these facts would have warranted the seizure of the flour and its appropriation to public use as rebel military stores. At any rate, the badges of fraud flaunt so showily around the transaction that Goolrick must not deem it a hardship if the government require him to clothe his title in other garments before consenting to make him restitution. It is submitted that, before admitting this claim, the time of Goolrick's agency, at least, should be suffered to expire, and that investigation at the locality should again become practicable by the return of the inhabitants, and their resumption of the pursuits of peace, and that inquiry should also be extended to Richmond, and Mr. James Gemmill be made to appear in person, and show himself an actual British subject, and that the said flour was, in good faith, his property, lawfully held, and not being used nor intended to be used for purposes treasonable against this government. Respectfully submitted. The SECRETARY OF STATE. FRANCIS H. RUGGLES. Mr. Seward to Mr. Stuart. [Informal.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, July 23, 1862. SIR: The papers which accompanied your note to this department, of the 1st instant, marked "informal," have been taken into deliberate consideration. They relate to restrictions on the export from New York to Nassau of articles from England by steamers, and particularly to those by the China, British Queen, and to the case of the schooner William H. Clear, and to the relanding of drugs and surgical instruments shipped by a British firm in New York for Nassau. Having referred these papers to the Secretary of the Treasury, explanations upon the subject have been received from him, the substance of which will be made known to her Majesty's government through Mr. Adams, the United States minister at London. It is not to be doubted that these explanations will show the necessity of the restrictions referred to for protecting the rights of the United States with reference to transit trade through ports within their jurisdiction. I am, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM STUART, &c., &c., &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Mr. Stuart to Mr. Seward. WASHINGTON, August 1, 1862. SIR: Lord Lyons addressed various despatches to Earl Russell, in the month of May and in the beginning of June last, relative to the restrictions placed upon the export trade of the United States, and more especially upon that from New York to the Bahamas, in consequence of the instructions given by the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States to refuse clearances to vessels laden with contraband of war, or other specified articles, as well as to vessels which are believed to be, in fact, bound to confederate ports, or which are laden with merchandise of whatever description, when there appears to be imminent danger of the cargoes coming into the possession of the so-styled confederates. I have consequently been instructed to state to you that her Majesty's gov ernment, after considering these despatches, in communication with the law advisers of the crown, are of opinion that it is competent for the United States, as a belligerent power, to protect itself, within its own ports and territory, by refusing clearances to vessels laden with contraband of war or other specified articles, as well as to vessels which are believed to be bound to confederate ports, and that so long as such precautions are adopted equally and indifferently in all cases, without reference to the nationality or origin of any particular vessel or goods, they do not afford any just ground of complaint. But her Majesty's government are unable to understand how the refusal of clearances to vessels laden with ordinary merchandise can be justified upon the mere assumption of some "imminent danger of the cargoes coming into the possession of the insurgents," unless, indeed, there be reasonable ground for alleging and believing that some confederate port is the true destination of such vessels or of their cargoes. Under so vague and indefinite a pretext as that of "imminent danger of the cargoes coming into the possession of the insurgents," any kind and amount of arbitrary restriction upon British trade might be introduced and practiced. With reference to the measures that appear to have been taken by the United States government as to the trade with the Bahama islands, her Majesty's government consider that a distinction ought to be made between shipments of coal and other articles ancipitis usus, the export of which may have been prohibited as contraband by general orders of the United States government, to any place within certain geographical limits, and shipments to the Bahamas, or any other part of the British dominions, of provisions and other articles of innocent use, not prohibited or made contraband by any such general order. The prohibition of the former class of shipments is public and general, and it falls equally upon the shipping and commerce of all nations, and may be justified on the ground of the exigencies of a belligerent. Her Majesty's government cannot, however, so regard the interference of the New York custom-house with the ordinary exports to the Bahamas of dry goods, plain and printed cotton fabrics, &c., shoes, medical drugs, flour, and provisions. Trade between the United States and the Bahamas is regulated by the treaty of 1815, between the United States and Great Britain, the stipulations of that treaty having been extended to the Bahamas in 1830 by the mutual acts of both governments. By the proclamation of President Jackson, dated the 5th of October, 1830, pursuant to the act of Congress of the 29th May, 1830, it was expressly declared to be lawful for British vessels from the Bahamas to import into the United States and to export therefrom any articles which might be imported or exported in vessels of the United States. This engagement is still in force, and any prohibition of or interference with exports of ordinary commodities, not contraband of war, from New York to the Bahamas, in British vessels, is plainly inconsistent with that engagement. Her Majesty's government cannot, therefore, in the absence of any evidence that the articles in question were destined for the so-styled Confederate States, pass unnoticed the general restriction which had been imposed on their export from New York to the Bahamas, and I have accordingly been instructed to address this representation to you upon the subject. I avail myself of this occasion to renew to you the assurances of my highest consideration. Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, &c., &c., &c. W. STUART. Mr. Seward to Mr. Stuart. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 1st instant, in which, under the instructions of her Britannic Majesty's government, a representation is made to me on the subject of clearances of vessels and cargoes from New York to the Bahamas. No time was lost in submitting your note to the Secretary of the Treasury, who referred it to the collector of the customs at New York for explanation. I now have the honor to enclose to you a copy of that officer's report on the subject, and to state that as his proceedings therein set forth appear to have been in strict conformity with the instructions of the Treasury Department, his conduct has accordingly been approved by that department. I, however, give you the collector's reply for the better information of your government as to the exigencies which have rendered the proceedings complained of necessary in a crisis of great public danger. The exclusive order is applied to the island of Nassau only, because there is no complaint of abuse of neutrality laws elsewhere, and not at all invidiously, or because it is a British possession. The restriction is a measure adopted for the public safety, endangered by insurrection, and not at all as in any sense a measure of trade, and I think it justified on the same grounds with the inhibition of certain exports referred to by the British government. So soon as the abuses which have rendered the order necessary shall have ceased it will be at once rescinded. I shall, however, cheerfully bestow a further consideration upon the subject if your government shall require. I have the honor to be, with high consideration, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Hon. WILLIAM STUART, &c., &c., &c. Mr. Chase to Mr. Seward. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, August 13, 1862. SIR: I enclose the report of the collector of New York, made in accordance with my directions of the 5th instant, sent to him at your instance, moved by a letter from the Hon. Mr. Stuart, acting minister of her Britannic Majesty. The action of the collector appears to have been in strict conformity with my instructions of the 23d May, 1862, and, of course, receives the approbation of this department. With great respect, S. P. CHASE, Secretary of the Treasury. Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. CUSTOM-HOUSE, NEW YORK, Collector's Office, August 9, 1862. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 5th instant, enclosing letters and papers from the Hon. Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State, and the Hon. Mr. Stuart, her Britannic Majesty's acting minister, relative to the prohibition by me of shipments of goods to, and the clearances of vessels for, Nassau, N. P., and other ports in the Bahamas, and have the honor to submit the following statement of facts bearing on the subject: Referring to your letter dated at the Treasury Department, May 23, 1862, in which I am instructed "to refuse clearances to all vessels which, whatever their ostensible destination, are believed by me, on satisfactory grounds, to be intended for ports or places in possession or under the control of insurgents against the United States, or when there is imminent danger that the goods, wares, or merchandise of whatever description laden on board such vessel will fall into the possession or under the control of such insurgents." I have endeavored to exercise a proper discretion in the several cases presented to me, and have the honor to present the following in justification of my course. It may not be inappropriate here to enumerate some of the leading causes which have led to this state of affairs, of which complaint is now made by her Britannic Majesty's government, and I would, therefore, call your attention to the significant fact that the trade of this port with the British West Indies during the last year exceeds by far that of any former period, a comparative statement of the exports to that point during the first quarters of the years 1860 and 1862 showing an excess in favor of the latter period of four hundred thousand dollars. Extraordinarily large shipments of goods to Nassau, the principal port in said islands, have been made during the last year, of a character entirely different from those of former years, and such as were not suited to the wants of its inhabitants. Nearly all vessels arriving here from that port were freighted with the productions of the rebel States, and no attempt at concealment has been made by any of the traders with regard to the place of their origin, or the manner of their reaching Nassau. Traders becoming more bold, their vessels were freighted here with cargoes suited to the wants of the States in rebellion against the government, were cleared for Nassau, and in some instances went directly to Brazos, on the Rio Grande, in Texas, or, in another case, the British schooner Time, owned by H. Adderly & Co., of Nassau, as shown by the letter of our consul at that port, dated on the 6th May last, discharged her entire cargo into the rebel steamer Cecile, then lying in the harbor of that port, awaiting a favorable opportunity to run the blockade at Charleston. The case of the British schooner Sophia, which cleared for Nassau about the 20th of June last, is another instance of forwarding a cargo direct from this to a rebel port. Cargoes of coal, shipped at this port for Nassau, have in like manner reached the same destination. Intercepted correspondence and papers, among which were articles of co-partnership between members of a firm having a mercantile house in London, under the name of Jorss & North, a branch house at Charleston, under the firm of Beach & Root, and an agency or depot at Nassau, were found on the person of one of the members of said firm in London, then on his way to Nassau with instructions how to proceed on his arrival, naming the parties resident there who would be most likely to aid him successfully in transhipping his goods in small vessels, in case their steamers, then on their way, were unable to run the blockade. It was also shown by bills of lading, &c., that about one hundred and forty thousand dollars worth of goods had been shipped by their house in London in the British steamers Memphis and Pacific, in joint account, the proceeds of the sale of said goods at Charleston to be used in the purchase of a return cargo of cotton. Other letters from merchants at Nassau to their agents here have come into our possession, in which were instructions to forward certain goods suited to the peculiar trade of the island at that time, and intimating that no trouble was experienced in disposing of them at large prices to the agents of the rebels. Advices from the New York agent showed that, not being able to ship coal at this port for Nassau, he had chartered a British schooner for a port in the British provinces of North America for the purpose of taking a cargo to that port for the use of those who were interested in and carrying on trade with the rebel States. The first-mentioned letters and papers I have the honor to enclose herewith; the latter have been restored to their owners. It is a very generally acknowledged fact, and fully established by letters from our consul, as well as by the marine reports of the Nassau papers, that the port of Nassau has been for the last year, and still is, a rendezvous for both armed and unarmed vessels sailing under the British flag from ports of England, laden with arms, ammunition, and assorted cargoes, their destination, in many instances, as shown by the letters and papers referred to above, being Charleston or some other port in the so-called Confederate States. The steamer Memphis, recently brought into this port as a prize, was reported to me on the 12th June last as then lying at the port of Nassau with a valuable cargo, intending to run the blockade; and her capture laden with cotton from Charleston, is deemed sufficient evidence that she had succeeded in landing her cargo of contraband goods at that port, as intended by its owners on her clearance from Liverpool, where it was insured by Messrs. Jorss & North, at Lloyd's, at about twenty per cent. premium. The British steamer Herald, under the command of Captain Coxetter, late of the rebel privateer Jeff. Davis, reported from Charleston in the Nassau Guardian of a late date, is another instance of utter disregard of neutrality proclaimed by her Majesty's government, and at the present date it not unfrequently happens that ten or more steamers wearing the British flag are lying at Nassau at one and the same time. It is a fact worthy of notice that the trade between this port and Nassau is carried on almost exclusively in British vessels belonging at that port, and that these consignments are made in most cases to houses known and acknowledged to be in the interests of the rebels, the members of which take every oppor |