him, that is to say, for complying with the sanitary regulations of Cuba, General Butler might have been able, without doubt, to carry it into effect by a great abuse of power, and the consul himself might have believed himself compelled to leave his port under the force of such unsuitable and unreasonable language. The undersigned, nevertheless, always desirous to maintain perfect harmony with the government of the United States, approves the conduct of Mr. Calligan, it being, as is true, that, legally and internationally speaking, his continuance in New Orleans depends on higher authority than that of the military authority of that department. Respecting, finally, the other expressions which were to be transmitted to the captain general of Cuba, General Butler is doubtless ignorant that the governors of the provinces of Spain have no power to hinder the despatch of Spanish or foreigu vessels in accordance with the laws, and seems even to be ignorant that the commanders of the military departments of the United States have not either the authority to hinder the vessels referred to and lawfully despatched from being received in the ports of his country open to commerce, as is that of New Orleans. Lastly, at the interview cited, Mr. Calligan asked that some reason should be given for the quarantine of the steamer Cardenas, and that General Butler postponed reply, the matter remaining in the same condition as before. Under these considerations the undersigned doubts not the Hon. Secretary of State will disapprove of the conduct of the commanding general at New Orleans, entertaining the right to expect that in relation to the steamer Cardenas, if perchance not already done, she be released from a quarantine which, in any case, would already be too long, and having, besides damages which the illegal act done to her may have occasioned, and fixing the rules to which vessels coming to New Orleans must be liable, with due reciprocity in the island of Cuba, and least prejudice to commerce. In what relates to the Roanoke, and the conversation with the consul of Spain, that that authority be made to understand that he must respect the sanitary regulations of the island of Cuba, that he treat with more consideration the consuls of friendly nations, and refrain from expressions which are not suited either to give security to trade, or to maintain friendly relations between the authorities of that island and those of the United States. The undersigned avails of this occasion to renew to the Hon. Secretary of State the assurances of his highest consideration. Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. GABRIEL G. TASSARA. Secretary of State of the United States. Mr. Seward to Mr. Tassara. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, The undersigned, Secretary of State of the United States, duly received the note of Mr. Tassara, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of her Catholic Majesty, of the 28th ultimo, making representations in regard to the course of Major General Butler, at New Orleans, with reference to the Spanish steamer Cardenas and the United States steamer Roanoke, which had arrived there from Havana since the former port had been partially opened to trade by the President's proclamation of the 12th of May, 1862. The absence of the undersigned from the seat of government for some time after Mr. Tassara's note reached the department has occasioned the delay in replying to that communication. The complaint against General Butler in the case of the Cardenas is, in substance, that he caused that vessel to be ordered into quarantine after she had been allowed to land her passengers at New Orleans-a proceeding alleged to be premature according to the sanitary regulations in force under the laws of the State of Louisiana. In the case of the Roanoke, Mr. Tassara represents that upon the refusal of Mr. Callegan to sign the bill of health of that vessel, which was to touch at Havana on her way from New Orleans, General Butler made use of threatening language to the consul, and with reference to the captain general of Cuba. This important complaint, as well as the allegation in the case of the Cardenas, will be a proper subject of investigation by the special agent of this government who is now at New Orleans. A copy of Mr. Tassara's communication will consequently be sent to him with instructions to proceed accordingly. The undersigned avails himself of this occasion to offer to Mr. Tassara a renewed assurance of his very high consideration. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Señor DON GABRIEL GARCIA Y TASSARA, &c., &c., &c. Mr. Tassara to Mr. Seward. [Translation.] SPANISH LEGATION, Washington July 23, 1862. The undersigned, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of her Catholic Majesty, had the honor to receive in due season the note of the honorable Secretary of State upon the conduct of the cruisers of his navy on the coasts of Cuba, together with the correspondence transmitted by the honorable Secretary of the Navy. Still more recently he has received from the governor captain general of that island another communication on the subject, with another copy of the reply of the commander of the American squadron of the Gulf to the commander of the Spanish frigate Petronila. The undersigned does not doubt the intention manifested by the honorable Secretary of the Navy, as well as by said commander of the Gulf squadron, to respect the maritime jurisdiction of the island of Cuba. He must, nevertheless, insist that this has not always been verified, but hopes, in every view, that the orders issued will be strictly complied with, so as to avoid questions, and even conflicts, the responsibility whereof can in no case fall upon the authorities of the island of Cuba. Another important point presents itself, and that is, the limit of maritime jurisdiction, which the commandant of the Gulf squadron indicates as at three miles from shore. Without receiving this either as a principle or as an established fact, and remitting the decision of the point to his government, the undersigned will remark that, whatever may be the limit of a jurisdiction, all the rules of the law of nations have always been opposed to the exercise upon the very boundary of a foreign territory of such watching as is equivalent to a species of blockade, by frightening away, or at least prejudicing, the commerce of a friendly nation. Such, without doubt, appears to be the case upon the coasts of Cuba, and the honorable Secretary of State will please to keep this in mind in the instructions which may be given to those cruisers. The undersigned will not finish without assuring the honorable Secretary of State that the wishes of the government of her Catholic Majesty, of the authorities of Cuba, and his personally, are, as always, to maintain, with loyalty, friendly relations with the government of the United States, and for this reason he sees with greater regret the repetition of incidents which may prejudice that result. The undersigned avails himself of this occasion to repeat to the honorable Secretary of State the assurance of his highest consideration. Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State of the United States. GABRIEL G. TASSARA. Mr. Tassara to Mr. Seward. [Translation.] SPANISH LEGATION, Washington, August 7, 1862. For the better clearing up of what occurred to the steamer Cardenas, as referred to in your communication at large of the 28th of last month, the undersigned envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of her Catholic Majesty has the honor to enclose a copy of the protest made before the Spanish consul at New Orleans by Captain Burguero. From the said document it follows, among other things, that the steamer being compelled to return to Fort Jackson, as was done on the 5th of June, did not receive a visit from the physician until the 18th, and only on the 24th was she permitted to enter the port-that is to say, twenty-five days after her departure from the Havana. In this interval the brigantine Marie Felicite, which arrived, leaving the same port on the 13th of June, obtained permit to ascend the river on the 21st. On the 13th the English schooner Virginia Antoinette, also from Havana, whence she sailed on the same day as the Cardenas, anchored in sight of Fort Jackson, and on the 18th obtained the like permit as the French brig Marie Felicite; and lastly, the mail steamer Roanoke arrived on the 10th and went up to the port without detention. The undersigned avails himself of this occasion to reiterate to the honorable Secretary of State the assurance of his highest consideration. Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, GABRIEL G. TASSARA. Secretary of State of the United States. [Translation.] At the city of New Orleans, on the twenty-fifth day of June, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, before me, D. Juan Callejon, consul of her Catholic Majesty at this place and its dependencies, appeared D. José Ramon Burguero, of the matriculation of Coruña, captain of the Spanish steamer Cardenas, the latter of Havana, accompanied by two witnesses that declaration should be made, and deposed that on the thirty-first day of May, of one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, he departed from Havana with his vessel on the course for this port, and with the regular clearance from the Spanish authorities and from the consul of the United States at the Havana, pursuing his voyage with fair weather until the third of June, on which, at five o'clock in the afternoon, he came in sight of the light-house at the Pass à l'Outre of the Mississippi river, and proceeded up the stream. At half-past eight of the same evening he came to the outpost of the custom-house, where, in normal times, note was taken of the place whence sailed, of the cargoes of vessels, and from whence advices were sent by telegraph to the consignees thereof. There he stopped the engine, blew the steam whistle, and seeing that no one was coming near him, followed up the river to Forts Jackson and St. Philips, where also he slowed and stopped the engine, blowing the steam whistle as before. No one gave any hindrance to his passing, and the steamer followed her course to the Lazaretto, where he repeated the same doings as he had done at the customs station and at the forts. No one replied but an officer called Dikman, of the United States army, and who probably belonged to that detached post; asked of the captain the favor to take him up to the city, favor which the captain allowed, and at five o'clock on the afternoon of the fourth arrived here at this place and made fast to one of the wharves. Before getting through with this work, the vessel was invaded by a crowd of people from the city; even at six o'clock there had not come on board any authority to receive her; then the captain notified the consignees of the Cardenas, Messrs. Avendaño Hormanos, and agreed with them to present himself on the following day, as it was no longer within business hours at the custom-house or at this her Majesty's consulate. But at eight o'clock at night an officer came on board, accompanied by the aforementioned Captain Dikman, and after having made the townspeople who had come on board go ashore, he asked the captain in a rough way if he had a permit from the commander at the forts to pass up. The captain answered in the negative, relating to him at the same time the circumstances already narrated; then the officer, whose name is Staffers, wrote an order, by which he directed that the Cardenas must go down and anchor below the two forts until otherwise ordered, which order is not given here, because destroyed a few moments after being made by the same person who wrote it, who gave it to the captain verbally, ordering the debarkation of the passengers, firing up, and going away immediately. This was not possible, and by force of entreaty the captain got permission for the supercargo of the Cardenas--which individual spoke English-to accompany him to one of the officers to present him to General Butler, commanding general of the department, and state to him that, never having been at this port, the captain was ignorant of the usages here established; that he had stopped upon entering the river, on passing by the forts, and on reaching the Lazaretto, and that no one hindered him from passing on nor made any signal to him; that if at either of those points he had received orders to stop he would have respected and obeyed them; that, unusual to the practice, having boilers in bad condition, and both empty, he could not depart immediately; that it was not just that the interests of the charterers of the vessel should suffer from the neglect of the commander at the forts; that, as for the passengers following the old custom, they had landed without the captain's knowledge, and that he could not seek through a city unknown to him some thirty-five persons, but that it was to be expected that they would come to get their passports and baggage. He delivered to the supercargo the register, the manifests, and a bag of letters sealed up by the American consul at Habana, the captain giving him special instruction that if the general insisted on his going off, he should state to him that he had no provisions or pilot; that he required six hours at least to fill the boilers and get up steam, and that he would hold the general responsible for any damage that his order might occasion. The supercargo went off with the officer, and at ten at night came back, accompanied by him, and bringing back the letter-bag and papers which he took, and complaining that he had not been able to make his statements because General Butler refused to listen to them, with strong threats, forbidding him to utter a word. It being then necessary to go, in compliance with the order the supercargo had received from the mouth of the general in person, and desirous to shelter himself from responsibility, the declarant had an interview with his con signees, who accompanied him in search of the undersigned consul of her Catholic Majesty, whom they could not find owing to the unseasonableness of the hour. At two in the morning appeared the pilot, who had been ordered to be got through the aid of one of the passengers, and the Cardenas left immediately thereafter. On the fifth day, at seven o'clock in the morning, she anchored at two miles to the east of Fort Jackson, and the captain sent the supercargo to the fort to ask the commander if he gave him permission to go up; to which he answered that he had the general's order not to permit the Cardenas to go up, nor communicate with any one until fresh orders; and, from some remarks of the commander, the captain arrived at the conclusion that he had been sent there to perform quarantine. To his great surprise, because neither in the conversation held with the officers, nor in that had with the general, was anything said about sanitary regulations. There the Cardenas remained waiting, shut off from communication, for the visit of the health officer, without provisions, and in a difficult position for obtaining them. The said health officer did not come until the eighteenth day, and found there were no sick on board, but could not fix for the captain declarant the term of quarantine, nor did he receive any communication from the authorities which would fix it. On the twelfth of June the brigantine Marie Felicité arrived from the Havana, and on the twenty-first obtained leave to go up the river. On the thirteenth day arrived the schooner Virginia Antoniette, Captain Stria, and on the eighteenth obtained the same leave as the French schooner Marie Felicité. The English schooner Virginia Antoinette had left the Havana on the same day with the Cardenas. On the tenth arrived the United States mail steamer Roanoke, also from the Havana, and went up immediately to the port without performing the slightest quarantine. On the eighteenth, and by special favor, the Cardenas was permitted to pass the forts and to anchor in front of the Lazaretto. On the twentythird the captain obtained permission to come to the city, but not the vessel; she did not receive any until the twenty-fourth, on which she came up to the port of New Orleans on the twenty-fifth after her departure from Havana. What was written was read to the captain declarant, and after confirming the same, and made oath that he had told the truth in every particular, he added that, considering the procedure of the military authorities of New Orleans in regard to the Spanish steamer Cardenas, under his command, to be unjust; considering that the vessel had a crew, every one in the best condition of health, and that she was sent to quarantine for an indefinite time, and without receiving a visit from the health officer until thirteen days after her arrival; considering that this causeless detention has produced great losses to the owners and fittersout of said Spanish steamer Cardenas, among others that of the cargo of fresh fruit, of which she brought a large quantity, and which it was made necessary to throw overboard because it was in a state of putrefaction; considering that said authorities have acted with notorious injustice in detaining the steamer Cardenas, while they permitted the coming up to the port of vessels proceeding from the same place with the said steamer, even imposing on the last a shorter quarantine than on the Spanish, or not subjecting them to any, as happened with the American steam mail packet Roanoke, by these presents, once, twice, thrice, and in the most public, formal, and solemn manner, he protests against, &c. (Certified.) |