Treaty with Sweden and Norway. the clearance delivered to the vessels which depart from the European ports of His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway, shall be acknowledged and admitted as such in the United States; and that, in the same manner, whatever the chief or collector of the customs in the ports of the United States shall have designated and specified as the growth, produce, or manufacture of the United States, shall be acknowledged and admitted as such in the territories of His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway. to enter, and there dispose of the same; or the said vessel may depart therewith to the ports of any other country. It is, however, understood, that the duties, imposts, or charges, which are payable on the vessel itself, ought to be paid at the first port where it breaks bulk and discharges a part of the cargo, and that no such duties or impositions shall be again demanded in the ports of the same country where the said vessel may thereafter enter, except the inhabitants of the country be subjected to further duties in the same circumstances. The specification or designation given by the chief of the customs in the colonies of His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway, and confirmed by the governor of the colony, shall be considered as sufficient proof of the origin of the articles thus specified or designated, to obtain for them admission into the ports of the United States accord-in ingly. ART. 9. The citizens or subjects of one of the contracting parties shall enjoy in the ports of the other, as well for their vessels as for their mer chandise, all the rights and privileges of entrepot which are enjoyed by the most favored nations the same ports. ART. 10. In case any vessel belonging to either of the two States, or to their citizens or subjects, shall be stranded, shipwrecked, or have suffered any other damage on the coasts under the dominion of either of the parties, all aid and assistance shall be given to the persons shipwrecked, or who may be in danger thereof, and passports shall be granted them to return to their own country. The ships and merchandise wrecked, or the proceeds thereof, if the effects be sold, being claimed in a year and a day by the owners or their attorney, shall be restored, on paying the same costs of salvage, conformably to the laws and usages of the two nations, which the citizens or subjects of the country would pay in the same circumstances. The respective Governments shall watch over the companies which are or may be instituted for saving shipwrecked persons and property, that vexations and abuses may not take place. ART. 7. The citizens or subjects of one of the contracting parties, arriving with their vessels on any coast belonging to the other, but not willing to enter into port, or, being entered into port, and not willing to unload or break bulk, shall have liberty to depart, and to pursue their voyage without molestation, and without being obliged to render account of their cargo, or to pay any duties, imposts, or charges whatsoever on the vessels or cargo, excepting only the dues of pilotage, (when a pilot shall have been employed,) or those of quayage, or light money, whenever those dues are paid in the same circumstances by the citizens or subjects of the country. It being, nevertheless, understood, that whenever the vessels belonging to the citizens or subjects of one of the contracting parties shall be within the jurisdiction of the other, they shall conform to the laws and regulations concerning navigation, and the places and ports into which they may be permitted to ART. 11. It is agreed that vessels arriving dienter, which are in force with regard to the citi-rect from the United States at a port under the zens or subjects of the country; and it shall be dominion of His Majesty the King of Sweden and lawful for the officers of the customs, in the dis- Norway, or from the ports of his said Majesty in trict where the said vessels may be, to visit them, Europe at a port of the United States, furnished to remain on board, and to take such precautions with a certificate of health from the competent as may be necessary to prevent all illicit com- health officer of the port whence they took their merce while such vessels remain within the said departure, certifying that no malignant or contajurisdiction. gious disease existed at that port, shall not be subjected to any other quarantine than such as shall be necessary for the visit of the health officer of the port at which they may have arrived; but shall, after such visit, be permitted immediately to enter and discharge their cargoes: Provided, always, That there may not be found any person on board who has been, during the voyage, afflicted with a malignant or contagious disease, and that the country from which the vessel comes may not be so generally regarded at the time as infected or suspected that it has been previously necessary to issue a regulation by which all vessels coming from that country are regarded as suspected, and subjected to quarantine. ART. 8. It is also agreed, that the vessels of one of the contracting parties, entering the ports of the other, shall be permitted to discharge a part only of their cargoes, whenever the captain or owner shall desire so to do, and they shall be allowed to depart freely with the remainder, without paying any duties, imposts, or charges whatsoever, except on that part which shall have been landed, and which shall be marked and noted on the list or manifest containing the enumeration of the merchandise which the vessel ought to have on board, and which list ought always to be presented, without reservation, to the officers of the customs at the place where the vessel shall have arrived; and nothing shall be paid on the part of the cargo which the vessels take away; and the said vessel may proceed there with to any other port or ports in the same country, into which vessels of the most favored nations are permitted ART. 12. The Treaty of Amity and Commerce concluded at Paris, in 1783, by the Plenipotentiaries of the United States and of His Majesty the King of Sweden, is renewed and put in force by the present treaty, in respect to all which is Neutral Obligations. contained in the second, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, twenty-first, twenty-second, twenty-third, and twenty-fifth articles of the said treaty, as well as the separate articles one, two, four, and five, which were signed the same day by the same Plenipotentiaries; and the articles specified shall be considered to have as full force and vigor as if they were inserted word for word: Provided, nevertheless, That the stipulations contained in the articles above mentioned shall always be considered as making no change in the conventions previously concluded with other friendly and allied nations. ART. 13. Considering the distance of the respective countries of the two high contracting parties, and the uncertainty that results therefrom in relation to the various events which may take place, it is agreed that a merchant vessel belonging to one of the contracting parties, and destined to a port supposed to be blockaded at the time of her departure, shall not, however, be captured or condemned for having a first time attempted to enter the said port, unless it may be proved that the said vessel could and ought to have learned, on her passage, that the place in question continued to be in a state of blockade; but vessels which, after having been once turned away, shall attempt a second time, during the same voyage, to enter the same port of the enemy, while the blockade continues, shall be liable to detention and condemnation. ART. 14. The present treaty, when the same shall have been ratified by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and by His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway, shall continue in force, and be obligatory on the United States and His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway, for the term of eight years from the exchange of the ratifications; and the ratifications shall be exchanged in eight months from the signature of this treaty, or sooner if possible. In faith whereof, the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the present treaty, and have thereunto set the seal of their arms. Done at Stockholm, the fourth day of September, in the year of Grace one thousand eight hundred and six teen'. JONA. RUSSELL, LE COMTE D'ENGESTROM, LE COMTE A. G. DE MORNER. NEUTRAL OBLIGATIONS. [Communicated to Congress, December 26, 1816.] To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: It is found that the existing laws have not the efficacy necessary to prevent violations of the obligations of the United States as a nation at peace towards belligerent parties, and other unlawful acts on the high seas, by armed vessels equipped within the waters of the United States. With a view to maintain more effectually the respect due to the laws, to the character, and to the neutral and pacific relations of the United States, I recommend to the consideration of Congress the expediency of such further legislative provisions as may be requisite for detaining vessels actually equipped, or in a course of equip ment, with a warlike force, within the jurisdic tion of the United States; or, as the case may be, for obtaining from the owners or commanders of such vessels adequate securities against the abuse of their armaments, with the exceptions in such provisions proper for the cases of merchant vessels furnished with the defensive armaments usual on distant and dangerous expeditions, and of a private commerce in military stores permitted by our laws, and which the law of nations does not require the United States to prohibit. JAMES MADISON. DECEMBER 26, 1816. The following documents, relating to the subject referred to in the above Message, were laid before the House of Representatives, by Mr. Forsyth, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations.] Mr. Forsyth to the Secretary of State. JANUARY 1, 1817. SIR: I am instructed by the Committee of Foreign Relations to inquire what information has been given to the Department of State of violations, or intended violations, of the neutral obligations of the United States to foreign Bowers, by the arming and equipment of vessels of war in our ports; what prosecutions have been commenced under the existing laws to prevent the commission of such offences; what persons prosecuted have been discharged, in consequence of the defects of the laws now in force; and the particular provisions that have been found insufficient, or for the want of which persons deserv ing punishment have escaped. I have the honor to be, &c. JOHN FORSYTH, Chairman Com. Foreign Relations. Hon. JAMES MONROE. Secretary of State to Mr. Forsyth. SIR: Having communicated to you, verbally, the information asked for by your letter of the 1st instant, except so far as relates to the last inquiry it contains, I have now the honor to state, that the provisions necessary to make the laws effec tual against fitting out armed vessels in our ports, for the purpose of hostile cruising, seem to be→ 1st. That they should be laid under bond not to violate the treaties of the United States, or the obligations of the United States under the law of nations, in all cases where there is reason to suspect such a purpose on foot, including the cases of vessels taking on board arms and munitions of Neutral Obligations. war, applicable to the equipment and armament of such vessels, subsequent to their departure. 2d. To invest the collectors, or other revenue officers where there are no collectors, with power to seize and detain vessels under circumstances indicating strong presumption of an intended breach of the law: the detention to take place until the order of the Executive, on a full representation of the facts had thereupon, can be obtained. The statute book contains analogous powers to this above suggested. (See particularly the eleventh section of the act of Congress of April 25, 1808.) The existing laws do not go to this extent. They do not authorize the demand of security in any shape, or any interposition on the part of the magistracy as a preventive, where there is reason to suspect an intention to commit the offence. They rest upon the general footing of punishing the offence merely where, if there be full evidence of the actual perpetration of the crime, the party is handed over, after the trial, to the penalty denounced. I have the honor to be, &c. JAMES MONROE. Jon JOHN FORSYTH, Chairman Com. Foreign Relations. Secretary of State to Mr. Forsyth. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, January 10, 1817. Sia: In addition to the letter which I wrote to you of the 6th, in reply to the one which you wrote to me on the 1st instant, I have the honor to state, that information has been received at this Department, from various sources, that vessels have been armed and equipped in our ports for the purpose of cruising against the commerce of nations in amity with the United States, and no doubt is entertained that this information was in some instances correct. The owners of these vessels have, however, generally taken care so to conceal these armaments and equipments, and the obiect of them, as to render it extremely dicalt, ander existing circumstances, to prevent or punish this infraction of the law. It has been represented 1st. That vessels belonging to citizens of the United States, or foreigners, have been armed and equipped in our ports, and have cleared out .rom our custom-houses, as merchant vessels; and, after touching at other ports, have hoisted the flag of some of the belligerents, and cruised under is against the commerce of nations in amity with the United States. 2dly. That in other instances, other vessels, armed and equipped in our ports, have hoisted Such flags after clearing out and getting to sea, and have, in like manner, cruised against the commerce of nations in amity with the United States, extending their depredations, in a few cases, to the property of citizens of the United States. 3dly. That in other instances, foreign vessels have entered the ports of the United States, and, availing themselves of the privileges allowed by our laws, have, in various modes, augmented their armaments, with pretended commercial views; have taken on board citizens of the United States, as passengers, who, on their arrival at neutral ports, have assumed the character of officers and soldiers in the service of some of the parties in the contest now prevailing in our southern hemisphere. Information, founded upon these representations, has from time to time been given to the attorneys and collectors of the respective districts in which the armaments are stated to have been made; but, from the difficulty of obtaining the necessary evidence to establish facts on which the law would operate, few prosecutions have been instituted. In reply to your second inquiry, I beg leave to refer to the communication from the Secretary of the Treasury to the Committee of Ways and Means, during the last session of Congress, in the case of the "American Eagle," and to the papers enclosed herewith. I have the honor to be, &c. JAMES MONROE. Hon. JOHN FORSYTH, Chairman Com. Foreign Relations. Extract of a letter from John Dick, Esq., Attorney of the United States for the district of Louisiana, to the Secretary of State, dated MARCH 1, 1816. Attempts to violate the laws, by fitting out and arming, and by augmenting the force of vessels, have no doubt been frequent; but certainly in no instance successful, except where conducted under circumstances of concealment that eluded discovery, and almost suspicion; or where carried on at some remote part of the coast, beyond the reach of detection or discovery. In every instance where it was known that these illegal acts were attempting, or where it was afterwards discovered that they had been committed, the persons engaged, as far as they were known, have been prosecuted, while the vessels fitted out, or attempted to be fitted out, have been seized and libelled under the act of the 5th of June, 1794; and when captures have been made by vessels thus fitted out and armed, or in which their force was augmented or increased within our waters, where the property taken was brought within our jurisdiction, or even found upon the high seas by our cruisers and brought in, it has been restored to the original Spanish owners, and, in some instances, damages awarded against the captors. An enumeration of the cases in which individuals have been prosecuted for infringing, or attempting to infringe, our neutrality, in aid of the Governments of New Spain, and in which vessels have been seized and libelled, under the act of the 5th of June, 1794, together with a list of the vessels and property restored to the original Spanish owners, (confining the whole to the operations of the year commencing March, 1815, and ending February, 1816,) will show more conclusively, perhaps, than anything else can, how totally without foundation are the com Neutral Obligations. plaints, and how misplaced are the assertions of the Minister of Spain on this head. a marine league of our shore. The principles that guided the decisions of the court, as well in The names of the individuals prosecuted in the distral means had been used, as in declining all inrestoring the property captured, where our neutrict court of the United States for the Louisiana terference where that was not the case, manifest, district, during the year 1815, for violating, or attempting to violate, the neutrality of the United I think, a disposition to, and an exercise of, the States, in aid of the Governments of the United most rigid neutrality between the parties. Provinces of New Grenada, and of the United Provinces of Mexico. List of vessels libelled for illegal outfits of the same Brig Flora Americana, restored. the United States. 1. Schooner Cometa, restored April, 1815. 2. Schooner Dorada, proceeds restored 16th May, 1815, $3,050. 3. Schooner Amiable Maria, $3,850. 4. Schooner Experimento, restored 3d August. 5. The polacre brig De Regla and cargo, proceeds restored 18th December, 1815, $19,209 50. 6. Schooner Alerta and cargo, being the proceeds of the capture of about eighteen small vessels, restored 18th December, 1815, $62,150 05. Damages awarded to the original owners against the captors in the two foregoing cases, $55,272 99. If the whole of this letter is not an act of supererogation, to dwell longer upon those parts of the correspondence of the Chevalier De Onis which relate to Louisiana would at least be so considered. Mr. Glenn to the Secretary of State. BALTIMORE, Sept. 7, 1816. SIR: Immediately upon the receipt of your letters of the 16th of August, I obtained from the collector of this port an affidavit, stating that Thomas Taylor had, in April last, sworn that he was a citizen of the United States, and, as such, had cleared out the schooner Romp, which vessel the collector also declared, on oath, he be lieved to have cruised against the vessels of the King of Spain since that time. Upon which affidavit, an intelligent justice of the peace of this city, well disposed, upon the score of political feeling, to do as much as justice required towards the punishment of Taylor for his conduct, issued a warrant, by virtue of which Taylor was arrested. Upon its return, I appeared before the justice, (whose name is John Dougherty,) and presented all the documents which were sent to me in company with your letter, which were read and received as evidence by him. I also caused a sailor, who had served on board the Romp, and who was at that time in hospital at this place, to be summoned, as also the editor of the "American" newspaper, in which Taylor's letter had appeared, bearing date at "Baltimore, the 10th of July, 1816;" all of whom were examined, on oath, before the justice. The sailor was cautioned not to criminate himself, upon which he refused to answer any question. Mr. Murphyne of the editors of the American, declared, on oath, that he had no authority whatever from Taylor to publish the letter which bore his ignature, but that he had taken the same, of his own accord, as an article of intelligence, from a newspaper re-printed in Charleston. I was not, you will perceive, in the slightest degree assisted in my case by the examination of these witnesses, 1, bowever, urged before the justice that the depositions laid a sufficient ground of probable cause of suspicion against Taylor, when connected with the affidavit of the collector. I also produced some authority to show that Taylor ought to be committed. Whereupon the justice desired until yesterday morning to consider upon the case, and requested that the marshal might be present at the time of his decision, which accordingly took place. The justice has, notwithstanding all these circumstances, actually discharged Taylor, upon the ground, as he states, that he could not find there was any probable cause to believe he was concerned with, or advised Squire Fisk, to com 7. Cargo of the schooner Petit Melan, restored 1st February, 1816, $2,444 31. 8. Cargo of the schooner Presidente, 1st February, 1816, $10,931 15. 9. Schooner Sante Ritor and cargo, restored 1st February, 1816, $37,962 94. The preceding account of Spanish property stored to the original proprietors, after being in the possession of the enemies of Spain, is defective, inasmuch as it does not comprehend the whole of the cases of restoration that have taken place within the period to which the detail is confined. The very hasty manner in which I have made this communication did not admit of a more accurate statement. The principal cases, however, are included in it. In several other cases, where the property was claimed for the original Spanish owners, the claims were dismissed, because it did not appear that any violation of our neutrality had taken place. The capturing vessels were not armed, nor was their force augmented within our jurisdiction, nor had the captures been made within Great Britain-Deportation of Slaves. mit the acts of piracy which were committed by him on his late cruise, and as Taylor never was on board the Romp from the time she left Baltimore. Thus ended this case, as far as I have gone. Judge Houston will be here in one or two days to hold a district court. Upon his arrival, I shall lay all the proofs before him, and claim from him a warrant, which I presume he will grant without hesitation, the issue of which shall be communicated to you without delay. As the editors of the American and Patriot tell me they copied the letter written by Taylor, bearing date the 10th of July, 1816, from the Savannah Republican or the Charleston Patriot, unless I can procure the testimony of one of these editors to prove that Taylor actually gave them that letter for publication, I do not see how he is to be implicated criminally with Fisk. If Judge Houston should take cognizance of the case, I will, at all events, be glad to have the witnesses who were examined in Virginia here on the 7th of November next, to give evidence before the grand jury which will be summoned to attend the circuit court. In this case, there are a variety of circumstances tending to show Taylor's co-operation with, and assistance to, Fisk; but none, I fear, sufficiently conclusive to convict him, unless we can prove the authenticity of his letter of instructions, which can only be done by procuring his orders to publish his last letter, which admits the authenticity of the first. I enclose to you four letters which have been lately received by me from the Spanish Consul here, as also my answer to them. I shall be happy to hear that I have, in all these affairs, acted in such a manner as to meet your approbation. I have the honor, &c., Hon. JAMES MONROE, ELIAS GLENN. Secretary of State. GREAT BRITAIN-DEPORTATION OF SLAVES. [Communicated to the Senate, February 7, 1817.] To the Senate of the United States: tution of slaves, has the honor to submit to the President the accompanying papers, marked A, B, C, D, and E, as containing all the information in this department supposed to be called for by the said resolution. All which is respectfully submitted. JAMES MONROE. A. Extract of a letter from the Secretary of State to Mr. I am sorry to have to state that the British naval commanders have construed the stipulation in the treaty not to carry off with their forces the slaves whom they had taken from our citizens differently from this Government. My correspondence with Mr. Baker, of which a copy is enclosed, will show the ground of this difference, which appears to be so decidedly in favor of the United States, that it has excited surprise that it should have existed; and still greater that the British officers should have acted on their construction, by removing the slaves in question. Mr. Baker makes a distinction between the slaves who were in British ships-of-war in our waters, and those who were in the posts held by their forces at the time of the exchange of the ratifications of the treaty, but I think without reason. It seems to have been the intention of the parties, and to be the clear import of the article, that they should carry off no slaves that were then within our limits. They were as much in the possession and under the authority of the British commanders in the forts, or other places held by their troops on the land, as in their vessels. It was as much a carrying away in the one instance as in the other; and the injury to the proprietors of the slaves was the same. In short, I see no ground for such a distinction. The United States have a right either to the restitution of all these slaves, or to compensation for their loss. I shall forward to you, without delay, a list of those thus removed, with an estimate of their value; the payment of which, if the slaves themselves are not restored, you will claim of the British Gov ernment. [Enclosed in the preceding.] I transmit to the Senate a report of the Secre- The Secretary of State to Mr. Baker, Chargé d'Affaires tary of State, complying with their resolution of the 28th of last month. FEBRUARY 7, 1817. JAMES MADISON. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Feb. 5, 1817. The Secretary of State, to whom has been referred the resolution of the Senate of the 28th of last month, requesting the President to cause to be laid before the Senate such information as he may possess touching the execution of so much of the first article of the late Treaty of Peace and Amity between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America as relates to the resti of His Britannic Majesty. APRIL 1, 1815. SIR: I regret to have to state that the commanders of His Britannic Majesty's naval forces in the Chesapeake, and on Cumberland island, and other islands off the southern coast, have construed the stipulation in the first article of the Treaty of Peace, lately concluded between the United States and Great Britain, very differently from what is thought to be a just construction of it by this Government. They comprise slaves, and other private property, under the same regulation with artillery, and other public property, and contend that none ought to be restored ex |