The Oreto is pierced for four guns; but she has as yet taken nothing on board but coals and ballast. She is not, at present, fitted for the reception of guns, nor are the builders aware that she is to be supplied with guns while she remains in this country. The expense of her construction has been paid, and she has been handed over to Messrs. Fawcett & Preston. Messrs. Miller & Sons state their belief that her destination is Palermo, as they have been requested to recommend a master to take her to that port, and our collector at Liverpool states that he has every reason to believe that the vessel is for the Italian government.

We beg further to add that special directions have been given to the officers at Liverpool to watch the movements of the vessel, and that we will not fail to report forthwith any circumstance which may occur worthy of your lordships' coguizance. (Signed) THO. F. FREMANTLE. GRENVILLE C. L. BERKELEY.

The reports which the commissioners of customs had received from their officers at Liverpool were as follows:1

Mr. Edwards to the commissioners of customs.

LIVERPOOL, February 21, 1862. HONORABLE SIRS: The builders of the vessel Oreto are Messrs. Miller & Sons. Mr. Miller is the chief surveyor for tonnage. By their note inclosed, the vessel is correctly described, and I have every reason to believe that she is for the Italian government, and not for the confederates.

It will be seen by the note of the surveyor, Mr. Morgan, which I annex, that as yet she has nothing in her, so that the information furnished to the government is, so far, incorrect.

Special directions have been given to the officers to observe the movements of the vessel, so that whatever takes place can be made known to the board at any time. Respectfully, &c., (Signed)

S. PRICE EDWARDS.

Mr. Miller to Mr. Edwards.

LIVERPOOL, February 21, 1862.

SIR: We have built the dispatch-vessel Oreto for Messrs. Fawcett, Preston & Co., engineers, of this town, who are the agents of Messrs. Thomas Brothers, of Palermo, for whose use the vessel, we understand, has been built. She is pierced for four guns;

she has taken nothing whatever on board except coals and ballast; she is in no [55] way fitted for the reception of guns, as yet; nor do we know *that she is to have guns while in England. Mr. Thomas, of the firm at Palermo, frequently visited the ship while she was being built.

According

We have handed her over to the engineers, and have been paid for her. to the best of my information the present destination of the vessel is Palermo; and we have been asked to recommend a master to take her out to Palermo. I remain, &c.,

(Signed)

T. MILLER.

Mr. Morgan to Mr. Edwards.

February 21, 1862.

SIR: I beg to state that I have inspected the Oreto, now lying in Toxteth Dock, agreeably with your directions issued to-day.

She is a splendid steamer, suitable for a dispatch-boat; pierced for guns, but has not any on board, nor are there any gun-carriages. Coals and ballast are all that the

holds contain.

Respectfully, &c.,
(Signed)

C. MORGAN, Collector.

A copy of the report of the commissioners of customs was sent on the 26th February by Earl Russell to Mr. Adams.

Her Britannic Majesty's minister at Turin was directed to inquire whether the vessel was intended for the use of the Italian government; and, on the 1st March, 1862, he telegraphed as follows: "Ricasoli tells me that he has no knowledge whatever of the ship Oreto, but will cause inquiry to be made."

1

Appendix, vol. i, p. 159,

2 Ibid., p. 3.

Up to this time no information whatever tending to prove that the vessel was intended for belligerent use had been obtained by Mr. Adams, or was possessed by Her Majesty's government. She had been built for a Liverpool firm of engineers and iron-founders, and was stated by the builders to be for the use of a firm at Palermo, a member of which (himself a native of Palermo) was known to have often visited her while building. She was pierced for guns, but not fitted for the reception of them, and had none on board. Beyond this Mr. Adams's note and Mr. Dudley's letter contained only vague hearsay and conjecture.

No further information could be obtained by Mr. Adams, or was received by Her Majesty's government, up to the time of the sailing of the ship.

On the 3d March, 1862, the Oreto was registered at the port of Liverpool, in the name of "John Henry Thomas, of Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster, merchant," as sole owner thereof. The declaration made by the said John Henry Thomas at the time of registry was as follows:1 Official number of ship, 44,200; date of registry, March 3, 1862.

Feet. Tenths.

Main breadth to outside plank...

Length from fore part of stem, under the bowsprit, to the aft side of the

head of the stern-post...

Depth in hold from tonnage deck to ceiling at midships.

Length of engine-room..

Number of engines....

Combined power, (estimated horse-power,) number of horse-power

410.41

231.90

178.51

61 feet.

2

200

[56] *I, the undersigned, John Henry Thomas, of Liverpool, county of Lancaster, merchant, declare as follows: I am a natural-born British subject, born at Palermo, in the island of Sicily, of British parents, and have never taken the oath of allegiance to any foreign state. The above general description of the ship is correct. James Alexander Duguid, whose certificate of competency or service is No. 4,073, is the master of said ship. I am entitled to be registered as owner of sixty-four shares of the said ship. To the best of my knowledge or belief no person or body of persons other than

' Appendix, vol. i, p. 10.

such persons or bodies of persons as are by the merchant shipping act, 1854, qualified to be owners of British ships is entitled, as owner, to any interest whatever, either legal or beneficial, in the said ship. And I make this solemn declaration conscientiously, believing the same to be true.

(Signed)

JOHN H. THOMAS.

Made and subscribed the 1st day of March, 1862, by the above-named John Henry Thomas, in the presence of

(Signed)

J. C. JOHNSTONE, JR., Registrar of Shipping, Port of Liverpool.

On the 4th March, 1862, the Oreto was cleared from the office of customs, Liverpool, for Palermo and Jamaica, as appears from her victualing bill, of which the following is a copy: :1

Pilot

Victualing bill.

Granted number, [662.]

PORT OF LIVERPOOL.-ORETO.

Bonded and drawback stores in the and Jamaica. Men, 52; passengers or troops,

James A. Duguid, master, for Palermo -; guns, ; 178 tons.

The above victualing bill is in the usual form, printed, with blanks to be filled up according to the facts in each case. The blanks [57] following the words "passengers or troops" and the word

"guns," respectively, are equivalent to the statement that the vessel had on board no passengers or troops, and no guns. The words "178 tons" denote the registered tonnage of the ship.

It may be convenient here to explain briefly what is meant by the words "registry" and "clearance," and what are the duties of the officers empowered to register ships, and of the officers of the customs in respect to granting clearances.

Registry signifies the recording, in a book kept for that purpose, of the name of a ship which the owner desires to have recognized as a British ship, together with certain particulars composing a general description of the ship.

The effect of registry is to entitle the ship to use the British flag and assume the British national character. The conditions necessary for obtaining registry, in the case of a ship not already registered, are the production to the registrar of a certificate by the builder, in a form prescribed by law, and of a declaration (also in a prescribed form) that the ship is British-owned.

It is not the duty of the registrar to question or ascertain the accuracy of either the builder's certificate or the declaration of ownership. As a ministerial officer, he is bound to accept them, if tendered to him. For false statements in the certificate the builder is liable to a penalty; and for making a willfully false declaration, the owner is liable to be indicted for a misdemeanor, and to forfeit his interest in the ship.

In Great Britain, as in the United States, the law does not positively require the registration of any vessel. But the disadvantages and disabilities incurred by omitting to procure it are practically sufficient to make the registration of British-owned ships universal.

The register, though in ordinary questions arising under municipal law evidence of the title of the person registered as owner, is not conclusive in a question arising between other parties, nor is it necessarily sufficient proof of the national character of the ship. A transfer to a foreigner, at sea or beyond seas, of a registered British ship, is sufficient to change its ownership and the nationality of the ressel, though not followed by any registry. The law of registry is a part of the law by which British trade and navigation are regulated for fiscal and other purposes; and a ship is registered as British on the voluntary declaration of the person claiming to be owner, without further proof.

The number of vessels which were placed on the registers of the various ports of the United Kingdom in the year 1870 was 1,043, of which 970 were built within the United Kingdom.

Clearance signifies the final official act by which the proper officer of customs notifies that all has been done which the law requires to be done before the departure of ship and cargo. It is purely for customs purposes, the main objects being to protect the revenue, and to secure statistics as to the number of ships and quantity of merchandise entering and leaving British ports. As there are in ordinary times no restrictions or duties on the export of articles of any kind from the United Kingdom, no rigid inspection is exercised by the customs authorities over the general nature of the goods shipped on board vessels in British ports. The attention of the authorities is mainly directed to the shipment of those articles on which an exemption from import duties otherwise payable, or a remission of import duties already paid, is claimed on the ground

of their exportation abroad. The object of the inspection is to ascertain that the goods of this nature stated to be thus exported are really shipped and carried away on board the vessel. The agents who ship such goods furnish the customs department with statements in the form of shipping bills, of the amount and nature thereof, and it is the duty of the examining officer to ascertain that the packages placed on board the vessel correspond with these statements. Before starting on his voyage the master of the vessel is bound to produce a paper called a content, giving the number and description of any packages of merchandise shipped on board, on which exemption from, or remission of duty is claimed, but merely specifying any other articles as "sundry packages of free goods." The master has also to produce a victualing bill, enumerating the amount of stores liable to duty, (such as tea, spirits, tobacco, and the like,) which he has shipped for the use of his crew. These papers are compared with the shipping-bills and certificates already in the possession of the customs authorities, and if they are found to tally, a label, signed and sealed by the examining officer and collector, is affixed to the victualing-bill and certificates, and these papers are delivered to the master as his clearance.

It is true that, for statistical purposes, the agents to the master of the vessel are required to furnish to the customs department a list, called a manifest, giving the number and description of all packages of goods, whether liable to duty or not, shipped on board the vessel, and the shipping-agents or exporters are also required to furnish specifications of all goods, described by the master on his content as "sundry packages of free goods," and subsequently further described in his manifest; but the law does not require that these* particulars should be given before the vessel sails; it is complied with provided they be furnished within six days after she has cleared.

[58]

Previously to the year 1867, no penalty was attached by law to the departure of a vessel for foreign ports without a clearance, provided she was in ballast, and had on board no stores except such as were free or had paid duty. Since that date, however, clearance has been required in these as well as in other cases.

A clearance may not be granted until the master of the ship has declared the nation to which he affirms that she belongs; and a ship attempting to proceed to sea without a clearance may be detained until such a declaration has been made. The officer, however, cannot ques tion, or require proof of, the truth of the declaration. As to the destination of the ships sailing from the United Kingdom, the officers of customs have little or no means of ascertaining this beyond the information which the master or owner gives on entering outwards. It frequently happens that a vessel entered outwards for a specified destination changes her course when at sea, and proceeds to a different destination. There are no means of preventing this.

The number of vessels clearing from ports of the United Kingdom in the course of the year is very great. In the year 1870 the number of clearances granted was 203,031. Of these 13,214 were for vessels sailing from Liverpool, and 17,037 for vessels sailing from London.

On the 22d of March, 1862,' the Oreto sailed from Liverpool. Her master was James Alexander Duguid, a master-mariner residing at Liverpool, and the person named in the above declaration. Her crew were hired, as appears from the articles signed by them, for a voyage from Liverpool to Palermo, and thence, if required, to a port or ports in the Mediterranean Sea or the West Indies, and back to a final port of discharge

1 Appendix, vol. i, p. 161.