This report was on the same 14th February laid by the governor before the executive council for consideration, as appears by the subjoined further extract from the minutes of the council:1 Extract from the minutes of the council-Minute 65/10 of the proceedings on the 14th February, 1865. The council are specially summoned to consider a report from Police Superintendent Lyttleton, to whom had been intrusted the warrant mentioned in yesterday's proceedings, for the arrest of a British subject known as "Charley," who was stated on oath to have illegally enlisted himself on board the confederate ship Shenandoah. The report is read to the council. [151] * His excellency then draws the attention of his advisers to the gravity of the present state of affairs as respects the confederate steamship Shenandoah, and points out that as the ordinary course of the law has been frustrated by William Waddell refusing to allow the execution of a warrant issued upon a sworn information, it becomes necessary to consider what steps should now be taken to enforce the maintenance of neutrality. After full consideration of the instructions issued by Her Majesty's government for the observance of neutrality, and some discussion upon the question of the right of government to enforce the execution of the warrant, the council advise his excellency to direct the honorable the commissioner of trade and customs to write to Lieutenant Waddell and request that officer to reconsider his expressed determination to resist by force the execution of the warrant; and further to inform him that, pending his reply, the permission which has been granted to him to repair and take in supplies has been suspended by the governor. His excellency then issues a direction under his own hand that, upon the receipt of an instruction to that effect from the chief commissioner of police, none of Her Majesty's subjects in this colony are to render any aid or assistance to or perform any work in respect to the so-called confederate steamship Shenandoah or in launching the same. His excellency further directs that the chief commissioner of police be instructed to send some police to Williamstown, to take care that the direction above mentioned is duly observed by Her Majesty's subjects, and that the officer in charge of this force be strictly enjoined to prevent any collision between the police and the officers and men of the Shenandoah, and that no obstruction in any manner whatever is to be offered to their movements. In pursuance of the advice of the council the following letter was on the same 14th February, 1865, addressed to the commander of the Shenandoah by the governor's direction: 2 CUSTOM-HOUSE, Melbourne, February 14, 1865. SIR: I am directed by his excellency the governor to state that it has been reported to the government that you have refused to allow the execution on board the Shenandoah of a warrant issued upon the sworn information according to law, alleging that a British subject is on board that vessel who has entered the service of the Confederate States in violation of the British statute known as the foreign-enlistment act; that it is not consistent with the British law to accept any contrary declaration of facts, whatever respect be due to the person from which it proceeds, as sufficient to justify the non-execution of such warrant; and that, moreover, it is conceived that this government has a right to expect that those who are receiving in our port the aid and assistance which they claim as a belligerent under the Queen's proclamation should not in any way oppose proceedings intended to enforce the maintenance of neutrality. It will be apparent to you that the execution of the warrant is necessary, in order to enable the government to bring to justice those upon whose depositions the warrant was issued, if the statements in those depositions should prove false in fact. In this view you are appealed to to reconsider your determination, and, pending further information from you, which you are requested to make with as little delay as possible, the permission granted to you to repair and take in supplies is suspended, and Her Majesty's subjects have been duly warned accordingly. I have, &c., (Signed) J. J. WADDELL, Esq., JAS. G. FRANCIS. Lieutenant Commanding Confederate States Steamer Shenandoah. I Appendix, vol. i, p. 524. 2 Ibid., p. 643. To this letter the following reply was received:1 CONFEDERATE STATES STEAMER SHENANDOAH, February 14, 1865. SIR: I am in the receipt of your letter of this date, in which you inform me that you have been directed by his excellency the governor to state that it has been reported to the government that I have refused to allow the execution on board the Shenandoah of a warrant issued upon sworn information, according to law, alleging that a British subject is on board this vessel who has entered the service of the Confederate States in violation of the British statute known as the foreign-enlistment act, and that it is not consistent with the British law to accept any contrary relation of facts, whatever respect be due to the person from whom it proceeds, as sufficient to justify the non-execution of such warrant. I am then appealed to to reconsider my determination, and the letter concludes by informing me that, pending a further intimation from me, the permission granted to repair and take supplies is suspended. I have to inform his excellency the governor that the execution of the warrant was not refused, as no such person as the one therein specified was on board, but permission to search the ship was refused. According to all the laws of nations, the deck of a vessel of war is considered to represent the majesty of the country whose flag she flies, and she is free from all executions, except for crimes actually committed on shore, when a demand must be made for the delivery of such person, and the execution of the warrant performed by the police of the ship. Our shipping articles have been shown to the superintendent of police. All strangers have been sent out of the ship, and two commissioned officers were ordered to search if any such have been left on board. [152] They have reported to me that, "after making a thorough search, they can find no person on board except those who entered this port as part of the comple ment of men. I therefore, as commander of the ship, representing my government in British waters, have to inform his excellency that there are no persons on board this ship except those whose names are on my shipping articles, and that no one has been enlisted in the service of the Confederate States since my arrival in this port, nor have I in any way violated the neutrality of the port. And I, in the name of the government of the Confederate States of America, hereby enter my solemn protest against any obstruction which may cause the detention of this ship in port. I have, &c., (Signed) Hon. JAS. G. FRANCIS, Commissioner of Trades and Customs, Melbourne. Late in the evening of the same day (14th February) four men, who had been on board the Shenandoah, were apprehended by the police under the circumstances stated in the subjoined report: Superintendent Lyttleton to the chief commissioner of police, Melbourne.2 I have the honor to inform you that, acting on your instructions, I proceeded yesterday, at 4 p. m., to Williamstown, and took possession of the slip on which the confederate Vessel Shenandoah is placed. I cleared the yard, and would not allow any workmen to go on board the ship. At about 10 o'clock. p. m. four men left the Shenandoah in a boat, pulled by two watermen. They were followed by the water police, who were unable to come up with them until they got to the railway station. They were then requested to come back and see me. I questioned them, and they told me that they had been on board a few days unknown to the captain, and that as soon as he found they were on board he ordered them to go on shore. I have detained these men in custody, and have written to the American consul requesting him to forward some one who may be able to identify them. The tug-steamers came at 4 this morning to tow the Shenandoah off. I ordered them off, and requested Captain Fersou not to supply the ship with a pilot. I am still in charge of the slip. I have. & C.. (Signed) J. LYTTLETON. The four persons so apprehended were on the 16th February taken before a magistrate and charged with having violated the foreign-enlistment act by enlisting, or attempting to enlist, in the confederate service, Ibid., p. 527. Appendix, vol. i, p. 644. One was discharged, being an American; the three others--one of whom was identified as being the man known as James Davidson or Charley-were committed for trial. On the 15th February the lessee of the slip on which the Shenandoah was being repaired wrote to the chief secretary of the colony stating that his manager had informed him that, should a gale of wind arise, he the manager) would either be compelled to launch the ship or run a great risk of her sustaining serious damage in consequence of her unsafe position on the cradle.1 This communication was laid before the executive council, and the governor, by the advice of the council, determined that the order by which the permission to repair had been suspended should be revoked, and the vessel allowed to complete her necessary repairs, her commander being at the same time told that he was expected to use every dispatch in getting to sea by the time previously fixed.2 A communication to this effect was accordingly made to Commander Waddell, who, in acknowledging it, reiterated his previous denials in the following terms: 3 The four men alluded to in your communication are no part of this vessel's complement of men; they were detected on board by the ship's police after all strangers were reported out of the vessel, and they were ordered and seen out of the vessel by the ship's police immediately on their discovery, which was after my letter had been dispatched informing his excellency the governor that there were no such persons on board. These men were here without my knowledge, and I have no doubt can be properly called stoaways, and such they would have remained but for the vigilance of the ship's police, inasmuch as they were detected after the third search; but in no way can I be accused, in truth, of being cognizant of an evasion of the foreign-enlistment act. The Shenandoah quitted Port Philip on the morning of the 18th February, 1865. On the 18th February, after the ship had sailed, the consul of the United States sent to the governor a declaration on oath pur[153] porting to be made by a man named Forbes. *The declaration was to the effect that about 4 p. m. on the 17th February Forbes had seen on the pier at Sandridge five men, (most, if not all, of whom were stated by him to be British subjects,) and that one of these told him that they and others were going on board a bark called the Maria Ross, then lying in the bay, and were to join the Shenandoah when she was out at sea, and that boats from the Maria Ross were to come for them at five o'clock. The consul stated that Forbes had come to his (the consul's) office with this intelligence at about five p. i., and had been taken by him immediately to the office of the Crown solicitor, with the view of laying an information, but that the Crown solicitor had refused to take the information, whereby an endeavor to prevent a vio lation of the neutrality of the port had been defeated. The consul inclosed also a statement by a Mr. Lord, who had accompanied him to the Crown solicitor. This statement, after giving an account of the interview, proceeded as follows: 5 We left and went first to the office of the chief commissioner of police, and not finding either him or Mr. Lyttleton in, we drove to the houses of Parliament, and on sending your name to the attorney general he at once came out and asked us into the side room; he patiently listened to all you had to say, and then suggested that, if you would place the matter in the shape of an affidavit, he would lay it before his colleagues; that a verbal statement was not sufficient for the government to proceed upon. We then left and drove to the office of the detective police, and saw Mr. Nicholson, the chief, who heard the man's statement in full, but, as he could not act with out a warrant, advised us to go to the police magistrate, Mr. Sturt, and get a warrant ; then he would at once act upon it. Leaving there, we went to the residence of Mr. Sturt, in Spencer street, who received you very politely, listened to what you had to say, examined the man, but stated that he could not take the responsibility of granting a warrant on the evidence of this man alone, and advised your going to Williamstown to Mr. Call, who, perhaps, would be in possession of corroborative testimony through the water police. We then left, it being about half past 7, and you, finding such a disinclination in any one to act in the matter, decided to take the deposition yourself and send it to the attorney general, leaving it to the government to take such action on it as it might deem proper. Going to your consulate the deposition was taken, and a copy inclosed to the attorney general, with a request for me to deliver it. I took it to the houses of Parliament, which I found closed, and it being then late, about 9, I decided it was too late to stop the shipment of the men, as we understood the vessel was to leave at 5, and I went home and returned the letter to you on Saturday morning. Previous to going home, however, I again went to the detective office, saw Mr. Nicholson, told him how you had been prevented from getting the evidence before the government in the shape they required it. He expressed his regret, but could not act in so important a matter without a warrant. The consul complained that the language and manner of the Crown solicitor, in refusing to take the information, had been insulting to him. The consul's letter was answered as follows:1 Mr. Warde to Mr. Blanchard. FEBRUARY 21, 1865. SIR: I am desired by his excellency the governor to acquaint you that he received your letter of the 18th instant in the afternoon of that day, Saturday, and that on Monday, the 20th, he cansed it to be referred, through the honorable the attorney general, to the Crown solicitor for any explanation he might wish to offer. 2. After stating that it was only in consequence of his accidentally returning to his office at half past 5 p. m., after it had been closed for the day, that the interview between you and himself occurred at all, Mr. Gurner states that he informed you that, not being a magistrate, he could not take an information, and adds that he was in a hurry to save a railway train, and therefore left more suddenly than he otherwise should have done; but he positively asserts that neither in manner nor language did he insult you. 3. His excellency feels sure that the Crown solicitor's tone and manner have been misapprehended, and confidently assures you that there was no intention on the part of that officer to fail in the respect due to your position as the consul of the United States of America. I have, &c., (Signed) N. L. WARDE, From circumstances which were discovered after the sailing of the Shenandoah, there was reason to believe that a number of men had gone secretly on board of that vessel during the night of the 17th February, and that they went to sea in her and became part of her crew. The governor reported this fact to Her Majesty's government, and at the same time sent to the governors of the other Australian colonies, and to the governor of New Zealand, letters in the following terms:2 [154] 'Governor Sir C. Darling to governors of Australian colonies and New Zealand. GOVERNMENT HOUSE, Melbourne, February 27, 1865. S: I consider it my duty to place your excellency in possession of the accompanying correspondence and other documents connected with the proceedings of the commander of the Confederate States vessel Shenandoah, while lying in Hobson's Bay, for the purpose of having necessary repairs effected and taking in supplies, under permission granted by me in accordance with the conditions prescribed by Her Majesty's proclamation and instructions for the observance of neutrality. 2. I have also the honor to forward copies of letters from the chief commissioner of police in Victoria, accompanied by reports and statements which leave no doubt that the neutrality has been flagrantly violated by the commander of the Shenandoah, who, after having assured me of his intention to respect it, and pleaded the privilege of a * Ibid., p. 565. Appendix, vol. i, p. 618. 2 There appeared to me to be about 40 to 50 men on board, slouchy, dirty, and undisciplined. I noticed also a great number of officers, and could not help remarking that the number appeared out of all proportion to the few men I saw on board. Without disparaging the confederate war steamer Shenandoah, I am altogether of opinion that there is nothing in her build, armament, (with the exception of the Whitworth guns,) and equipment that should call for more special notice than that she is an ordinary merchant-vessel, armed with a few guns. I have, &c., CHARLES B. PAYNE. The consul of the United States at Melbourne had, on the Shenandoah's first arrival in the port, sent to Mr. Adams, in a letter 156 dated 26th January, 1865, the following *description of her, communicated to him (the consul) by persons who had been on board of her as prisoners:1 She has the appearance of an ordinary merchant-ship, with a long full poop, a large bright wheel-house, oval skylights on the poop. She has one telescope funnel. The mizzen topmast and top-gallant staysail both hoist from the mainmast head. She is wire-rigged. The officers declare it would not be safe to fire a broadside. It is the general impression that she is not a formidable vessel. She is leaky, and requires two hours' pumping out. The crew consists of seventy-nine, all told. Her armament was stated by these persons to consist of "two unrifled S-inch-shot guns, two rifled 4-inch guns, and two ordinary 12-pounders, the original ship's guns." By several persons who had been on board of her as prisoners or among her crew, it was sworn that only the two ordinary 12-pounder guns were used during her cruise in making prizes. By this was meant (as appears from the depositions themselves) that these guns were used in firing blank shots, to compel merchant-vessels to heave to. They do not appear to have been used in any other manner. With respect to her crew it was sworn by one of the prisoners that he had heard her captain say that he and his officers took charge of her at the Madeira Islands, and sailed thence with a crew of seventeen men. Another deponent (one Silvester, a seaman who had joined her from the Laurel and left her at Melbourne) stated on oath that, when she was left by the Laurel, her whole crew, including officers, numbered twentythree persons. When she arrived at the port of Melbourne she had captured nine or more United States merchant-ships, and her crew was largely increased by the addition of men who had joined her from those ships. Several men who had so joined her, and who left her at Melbourne, affirmed that they had been forced to take service in her against their will by threats and ill-usage. On the 20th June, 1865, Earl Russell received the following letter from Mr. Mason, who had been residing in England during the war as an agent of the government of the Confederate States, though not officially recognized as such by Her Majesty's government: Mr. Mason to Earl Russell. 28 GROVE STREET, Leamington, June 20, 1-65. MY LORD: It being considered important and right, in the present condition of the Confederate States of America, to arrest further hostile proceedings at sea in the war against the United States, those having authority to do so in Europe desire as speedy as practicable to communicate with the Shenandoah, the only remaining confederate ship in commission, in order to terminate her cruise. Having no means of doing this in the distant seas where that ship is presumed now to be, I venture to inquire of your lordship whether it will be agreeable to the govern Appendix, vol. i, p. 653. |