Mr. Chase to Mr. Seward. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 20th instant, covering the translation of a despatch addressed to you by the French minister on the 16th instant, and of a letter from the Chamber of Commerce of Lyons to the minister for agriculture, &c., of France, relating to the bearings of our tariff on French silks. I have transmitted to the chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, for the information of the committee now employed in revising the tariff of the United States, the letters of Mr. Mercier and of the Chamber of Commerce of Lyons, with a note from myself, of which I enclose a copy. I am confident that it will be the aim of Congress in all modifications of the tariff to make such changes only as are required by the interests of the people of the United States, and so doing will observe entire impartiality with regard to the industrial interests of other nations. SIR: I have the honor to transmit, herewith, a copy of a letter from the Secretary of State to me, dated 20th instant, covering translations of a letter addressed to him by the minister of France, M. Mercier, and of a letter from the Chamber of Commerce of Lyons to the minister of trade of France, relating to the bearing of our tariff on French silks, which is represented to be unequal and injurious to French manufacturers. I am certain it will be the aim of Congress in forming the tariff bill now under consideration to make its provisions bear with entire impartiality upon the industrial interests of other nations, and I shall say this in my letter to the Secretary of State, in advising him of the disposition I have made of the letters of M. Mercier and of the Chamber of Commerce of Lyous. With great respect, Hon. THADDEUS STEVENS, S. P. CHASE, Secretary of the Treasury. Chairman Com. of Ways and Means, House of Reps. Count Mejan to Mr. Thouvenel. No. 148.] [Translation.] Consulate of France, Mr. MINISTER: In my despatch No. 146 I had the honor to give you some information upon the commercial and financial situation of New Orleans since the occupation of that city by the federal troops, and especially in regard to carrying into execution the first orders of the governor of Louisiana relative to the burning of cotton before the arrival of those troops. At the time I wrote I estimated at about 250,000 bales the amount which had been given to the flames, and think there is not much to be added to this figure at this time, although burnings have been continued in proportion as the naval federal force has ascended the Mississippi river and occupied the few towns which lie on its banks from New Orleans towards Natchez, the great centre of the cotton production of the State of Mississippi. Many planters have themselves set fire to their cotton, while others have left the task to official incendiaries; all who had time have taken their produce to a distance from the banks of the river to hide it in the woods, or to place it in quantities in the open grounds of the interior ready to sacrifice it on the approach of the federals. It should not be dissembled that the determination not to let the cotton fall into the hands of the authorities or the troops of the United States is general, and from all accounts which reach me from travellers the most disinterested and most worthy of credit, I have arrived at the conviction that, short of an amicable arrangement between the two parties carrying on this destructive war, the quantity of cotton which will be exported this year will be altogether disproportioned to the wants to be satisfied, as well in Europe as the United States. The government at Richmond has renewed the order to burn all cotton and tobacco, rather than to let it fall into the hands of the enemy. The governors of the diverse southern States, as well as the military authorities everywhere, publish orders to this effect, and the willingness and patriotism of the people nowhere falls short of these. Various ideas influence the inhabitants-hatred of those they call invaders; the always continuing dread of confiscation, to which voluntary sacrifice seems preferable; and also the disappointment caused everywhere by the protracted indifference apparent among the European powers, and even by the rumors now current of a mediation by France, or rather by the form given to such mediation. I have difficulty to believe in the carrying out of acts indicating at once such an exultation of patriotism and such indifference for their own welfare and somewhat also for the rights of others, for the avails of every crop of cotton is pledged beforehand to various creditors. To-day, I repeat it, I am constrained to modify my opinion, and to acknowledge that, in proportion as the limits of the contest are more restricted, the determination increases with the disposition for the greatest sacrifices. The first vessels from the north which will come here in the hope of loading cotton will experience very great disappointment, and the arrival at Boston of a vessel loaded here last week and carrying only eleven bales of cotton, (made up of remainders of those burned,) will perhaps open the eyes of many people. I know of deposits of cotton, bought in the interior for account of French houses, which have been spared, but which may be burned at any moment, and which the buyers have engaged not to bring into the city and not to ship but with the consent of the selling producers. I know of transactions made by strangers with cotton planters, and broken off because the latter would not bind themselves to cause this cotton to be respected by the incendiaries in case of the approach of federal troops. If hatred is bitter, confidence is absolutely gone, and nothing is done to re-establish it. While General Butler appeared to be opposed to carrying off slaves, some officers under his command, such as General Phelps, well known by a certain proclamation, and in command of a corps near the city, favor it; many subaltern officers do the same. Domiciliary visits made daily without written order, at all hours of the day and the night, and many other arbitrary measures, keep up distrust. General Butler, who knows how to be polite when he chooses, uses towards the most respectable people, against whom he thinks he has cause of complaint, language the most extraordinary; his first words are almost always, "I will hang you," or "I will send you to Fort Jackson." He seeks means to fall back on occurrences which have happened during the war, and especially in running the blockade, and in imposing arbitrary fines under threat of being sent to Fort Jackson. Some time since a vessel, which on two occasions had run the blockade-the Wittemore, formerly the Fox-was taken on the coast, and a bag of letters was found on board; they have been opened, and all commercial papers found taken away, and use has been made of them to draw from various mercantile houses sums more or less considerable. A Spanish house had to pay $9,500; another house was condemned to pay $12,000, that is to say, the amount of a bill of sales of cotton effected at the Havana. This house is managed by French citizens, Messrs. Cahuzae, at Havana and Paris. It seems to me very plain that this is an arbitrary act of the worst sort, for martial law is thus applied retroactively to cases which have no connexion with it and which would, at the most, be within the province of an admiralty court. 66 A young German has been brought before General Butler, who presented a draft found in one of the letters, of about $600, which Messrs. Mumm, of Rheims, had sent him to be cashed. The general threatened him with Fort Jackson if during the afternoon he should not have paid the amount, and it was only on the earnest representations of the consul of Hamburg that he gave up the matter, saying to Mr. Schroeder, the German in question, that he had other complaints against him, and if they should be proved he would hang him. In fine, yesterday he made Mr. Cavas come before him, a very respectable and rich Greek merchant. Their conference was about as follows: "You have sugar on hand?" "Yes, general." How have you bought it?" "With my means, and my drafts on the house Zizinia & Rally, (French,) of London." "Have not you paid for this sugar with gold which you have brought from Havana and sold at 100 per cent. premium?" "No, sir; I don't do such things." "In fine, I make much account of understanding the character of this transaction, and as soon as you can you must give me proof of what you state." Here, then, is a house well known, having large transactions, which will, without doubt, be forced to show its mercantile books for investigation by experts sworn by the military commander of the United States troops. Measures of this sort are suspended over the heads of all, and certainly not taken to re-establish confidence or inspire the residents with it and encourage them to send their produce to the city. So, as I have already said, the over-excitement, instead of being calmed through the country around, is still increasing, and already at this moment it is in question in part of Louisiana to sacrifice even the sugar, a product truly indigenous. The absence of all unionist feeling throughout the general mass of the popu lation springs from all these facts. There may be, and there in truth is, some weariness amongst a part, and an able administration, a moderate application in form and substance of the necessities of war, might improve it into the recall of some minds. I question if there can be any success through the application in this enlightened country, accustomed to a liberty which borders on license of a regime and a despotism unknown to the world. I have had nothing personally to complain of with General Butler, who is always very agreeable when I have relations with him; but I cannot admit that in a country whose existence is based upon absolute liberty and a written Constitution, martial law should be the absence of all law, and even of all regularity, and permit all the prescriptions of the Constitution to be set aside. A great number of coffee houses, of bar rooms, billiard rooms, are kept at New Orleans for strangers-French, Spanish, Italian, &c.- under licenses, costing each year $150, part going to the city, part to the State, and payable by forces of special laws. These licenses are issued in the month of January. General Butler has just decided that new licenses must be taken out, to the profit of the United States, without doubt, and $150 paid in gold, or city bills, or treasury notes. I at once addressed a remonstrance to him, grounding myself on the absence of any law authorizing such an impost, and upon the impossibility of paying it, &c, in the shape exacted. The general sent me a verbal answer that the law martial gave him the right to establish it. I call the attention of the minister of the Emperor at Washington to this question, which interests a great number of Frenchmen. Another Frenchman, Mr. F. Barriere, has been sentenced to a fine of $100 for not having opened his shop. In fine, others of our countrymen have suffered various damages, of which I will send a recapitulation to your excellency. To come to the question, which is the principal purpose of this despatch, that about cotton, it follows, as I said above, from all the information I have collected, that in Louisiana, as in Mississippi and Alabama, all the cotton is destined to the flames on the approach of the federal troops. It is gathered everywhere in enormous piles, and committees everywhere exist who take on themselves the task of destroying it at a given moment, with or without the will of the owners, for there are many sufficiently honest not to wish to do the patriotic at the expense of their creditors. I must state, at the same time, that the cultivators of the soil (habitants) have devoted more than two-thirds of their lands to the production of alimentary crops; and that, according to what is said by persons who have been all through the State of Mississippi, and that portion of Louisiana watered by Red river, not half a crop has been prepared for the coming year, which will be further lessened by floods. In fact, all the low lands of Louisiana, above the Red river and the State of Mississippi, are now under water. In every aspect, then, the future is very sad; refusal to send to the city, and preparations for burning the cotton of the present crop, and almost certainty of an altogether insufficient crop next year, and, as a consequence, the probable ruin of the country and incalculable losses to our manufacturers and misery to our workmen. The remedy of the present can only be sought in a general and prompt pacification. As for indicating any for the future, that is still more difficult, for the planting season is in the months of March and April, and it is more than doubtful that replanting could be attempted at a time so advanced in the year. Please accept the homage of respect with which I have the honor to be, Mr. Minister, your excellency's very humble and most obedient servant, His Excellency Mr. THOUVENel, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Paris. C. MEJAN. Memorandum of conversation between Mr. Mercier and Mr. Seward. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Mr. Mercier called upon Mr. Seward informally, to speak of some irritation among the consuls at New Orleans, resulting from irregularities and severities reported to have been practiced by Major General Butler towards them on the occasion of his taking military possession of that city. Mr. Mercier said that he had not called now to present any complaint on the part of the French consul, and explanations which had been already made by General Butler perhaps would relieve him of any necessity for doing so. Mr. Seward said that he had seen newspaper reports of the occurrences at New Orleans, but as yet had received nothing official, either from any representative of any foreign government or from the War Department. But he had had no hesitation about interposing in the matter at once. Yesterday, after a brief conversation with Lord Lyons, when the subject was first brought to his notice, he had procured orders from the Secretary of War to Major General Butler, directing him to refrain from practicing any severities or strictness of doubtful right towards any consul or subject of any foreign power; which orders had been already transmitted. To-day it had been decided to devolve the civil government of New Orleans upon a provisional military governor, who would proceed with the utmost despatch to New Orleans and relieve General Butler of civil administration there. Mr. Seward said that he had already appointed a commissioner for the State Department, of distinguished ability and character, to proceed to New Orleans as speedily as possible, and inquire and take evidence of the transactions which have occurred there, in which any complaint of violation of consular rights, privileges, and courtesies has arisen under the administration of General Butler, to redress any such clear violation which he may ascertain to have occurred, by making restitution, and in every other case to make full report to the Secretary of State for his decision thereupon. Mr. F. W. Seward to Mr. Mercier. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR Referring to the letter from a Frenchman at New York to the consul general of France there, relating to wines being considered by the custom-house authorities at that place as contraband of war, which you some days since left at this department, I now have the honor to enclose to you, for your information, the copy of a communication of the 6th instant from the Secretary of the Treasury, to whom the matter was referred, from which it appears that wines, as they do not properly come under the head of ardent spirits, are permitted to be shipped. I have the honor to be, with high consideration, sir, your obedient servant, F. W. SEWARD, Acting Secretary. Mr. HENRY MERCIER, &c., &c., &c. Mr. Chase to Mr. Seward. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, June 6, 1862. SIR: I have received your letter of the 22d ultimo, stating that a letter from a Frenchman at New York to the consul general of France at that port has been left at your department by Mr. Mercier, which represents that the writer had been informed by the custom-house authorities that wines were considered as contraband of war, and asking for information in regard to the matter. I have the honor to transmit herewith, for your information, a copy of the instructions addressed to collectors, with reference to clearances to the ports newly opened by the proclamation of the President, by which you will perceive that |