Sir F. Bruce to Mr. Hunter. WASHINGTON, June 3, 1865. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of yesterday's date, and of its enclosures, relative to an infamous attempt to introduce into New York and other northern cities the dangerous contagious disease known as yellow fever. I will lose no time in bringing your communication to the knowledge of the authorities of Bermuda, and you may rest assured that they will not fail to adopt every legal means in their power for the arrest and punishment of the persons implicated in this most atrocious scheme. I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, Hon. W. HUNTER, &c., &c., &c. FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE. Sir F. Bruce to Mr. Hunter. WASHINGTON, June 5, 1865. SIR: With reference to my note of the 18th ultimo, relative to the excessive charges levied on British vessels in the port of Boston, I have the honor to transmit copies of a further despatch, and of its enclosures, which I have received from her Majesty's consul at Boston, from which it appears that the system complained of is still in force with respect to British vessels, notwithstanding the instructions of the Treasury Department. I have the honor to be, with high consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, Hon. Wм. Hunter, &c., &c., &c. FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE. Mr. Lousada to Sir F. Bruce. HER MAJESTY'S CONSULATE, Boston, May 31, 1865. SIR: In reference to my despatch, No. 30, of the 9th instant, I regret to say that the unjust charges to which British vessels entering this port are subjected still continue. The enclosed correspondence will show that on my remonstrance with the collector, instructions were asked from Washington, and the reply (copy enclosed, No. 1) fully bears out my position. I then (No. 2, enclosed) suggested the return of such overcharges, and the collector (enclosure No. 3) admits the claim, but hampers it with such conditions as to render it practically null; the vessels which he would admit as rightful claimants having already sailed and not being likely to return within the time limited to putting in their claim. The Passing, however, over this, the original grievance still continues; for instance, no later than this 25th instant the "Vivid,' of 73 tons, was unlawfully made to pay $13,50 for measurement. I then wrote (enclosure No. 4) to request an explanation of this charge being made, in face of the collector's letter to myself saying that his instructions from Washington were as follows: " Foreign vessels are not chargeable with fees for measurement." collector's reply, received this day, (enclosure No. 5,) is very unsatisfactory. The charge is clearly illegal, and there is no reason, seeing the slowness of official correspondence, why this further inquiry may not go on for some time, perhaps throughout the whole summer, to the manifest injury of our vessels. I therefore think it my duty to report the whole case for the action of the legation. SIR F. BRUCE. F. LOUSADA. Mr. Harrington to Mr. Goodrich. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, May 6, 1865 SIR: I have received your letter of the 4th instant relative to the admeasurement of vessels not of the United States, and reply that foreign vessels pay tax on their tonnage as ascertained by actual measurement according to United States laws, except when by treaty stipulations the tonnage expressed on the vessel's register is accepted as correct. The method of admeasurement prescribed by the law of May 6, 1864, entirely supersedes that of the act of March 2, 1799, and applies as well to foreign as to American vessels when the tonnage of the former is to be ascertained, the foreign vessels, however, are not chargeable with fees for measurement. I am, sir, J. Z. GOODRICH, &c., &c., &c. GEORGE HARRINGTGN, Ass't Secretary of the Treasury. Mr. Lousada to Mr. Goodrich. HER MAJESTY'S CONSULATE, SIR: In reply to your note of the 17th instant, enclosing to me copy of treasury letter of May 6th, the decision there set forth would seem to bear out my objections to British vessels paying tax on the old United States measurement, and I beg to be informed if my claim on behalf of those British vessels that have been erroneously overcharged will be entertained. I see that the Treasurer's minute is dated the 6th instant, although only communicated to me on the 17th, and it appears that no later than yesterday a vessel, Jane McDingle, of 82 tons, was measured according to the United States old plan, and made to pay on 154 tons. F. LOUSADA, Her Britannic Majesty's Consul. J. Z. GOODRICH, &c., &c., &c. Mr. Goodrich to Mr. Lousada. CUSTOM HOUSE, COLLECTOR's Office, SIR: In reply to your communication of the 18th instant, I beg leave to state that all payments for excess of tonnage made during the coming month can be refunded at this office. Prior to that time I have no authority. Application for a refund must be made during the present month. Very respectfully, F. LOUSADA, Esq. J. Z. GOODRICH, Collector. Mr. Lousada to Mr. Goodrich. HER MAJESTY'S CONSULATE, Boston, May 30, 1865. DEAR SIR: The schooner Orina was charged on the 25th of May $13 50 for measurement. The letter of the Treasury Department dated May 6, of which you sent me a copy, says, foreign vessels, however, are not chargeable with fees for measurement." I shall be glad of an explanation of this discrepancy. 66 F. LOUSADA, Hon. J. Z. GOODRICH, &c., &c. &c. Mr. Goodrich to Mr. Lousada. CUSTOM HOUse, Collector's Office, DEAR SIR: I have your favor of this date, and, in reply, have to say that I reported the decision of the department to which you refer to the surveyor. He is having some further correspondence with the department on the subject on his own responsibility. I understand him to say that he deems it his duty to collect the fees till he receives a reply. This is all the reply I can make. F. LOUSADA, Esq., &c., &c., &c. J. Z. GOODRICH. Mr. Hunter to Sir F. Bruce. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 27th ultimo, transmitting a copy of a resolution which has been forwarded to you by the Grand Lodge of freemasons of Ireland, with reference to the assassination of President Lincoln. With the sanction of her Majesty's government, I will thank you to convey to the proper officer of the Grand Lodge an expression of the grateful estimation placed by this government upon that acceptable manifestation of sympathy in our national affliction. I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your obedient servant, W. HUNTER, Acting Secretary. Hon. SIR FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE, &c., &c., &c. Mr. Hunter to Sir F. Bruce. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 5th instant, relative to the charges levied on British vessels in the port of Boston, and to inform you that the necessity for a consideration of its contents has been anticipated by my note of to-day and its accompaniments, upon the subject, wherein it is stated by the Secretary of the Treasury that no fee for readmeasurement of British vessels will be charged; but that the tax cannot, in compliance with the act of the 6th of May, 1864, be levied upon the basis afforded by the British register. The collector of the port of Boston has been authorized to refund any excess of tonnage he may have received under the act of the 6th of May, 1864. I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your obedient servant, W. HUNTER, Acting Secretary. Hon. SIR FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE, &c., &c., &c. Mr. Hunter to Sir F. Bruce. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: Referring to your note of the 18th ultimo requesting that the additional tax which is alleged to have been unduly levied upon British vessels since the 17th of April may be remitted, I have the honor to enclose, in reply, a copy of a communication of the 29th ultimo from the Treasury Department. I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your obedient W. HUNTER, Acting Secretary. servant, Hon. SIR FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE, &c., Sr., &c. Mr. McCulloch to Mr Hunter. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, May 29, 1865. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge your letter of the 26th instant, covering the despatch of the British minister of the 18th, remonstrating against the enforcement by the collector of Boston of tonnage tax on British vessels under the old system of 1799, whereby their register tonnage is increased nearly one-third, and requesting that the tonnage of such vessels may be hereafter assessed upon the tonnage borne by their British registers; and also that the excess of tonnage tax thus collected may be refunded. The excess of tonnage tax on British vessels over and above the tonnage ascertained to be due by remeasurement under the act of 6th May, 1864, will be refunded by the collector in compliance with my letter of instructions to him of this day's date, a copy of which is herewith enclosed. With great respect, Hon. W. HUNTER, Acting Secretary of State. H. MCCULLOCH, Secretary of the Treasury. Mr. McCulloch to Mr. Goodrich TREASURY Department, May 29, 1865. SIR: The attention of this department has been called to the imposition of the tonnage tax on British vessels under the act of 1799 instead of the 6th of May, 1864, with the request that the additional tax which you have "thus unduly levied upon British vessels since the 1st of April last may be remitted, and that in future the tax in question may be assessed upon the tonnage borne upon the British registers." This last request cannot be granted. By letter of this department of the 6th instant, you were directed to levy the tonnage tax according to the law regulating the admeasurement of tonnage of May 6, 1864, but that no fee for such readmeasurement of British vessels was to be charged by you. You are hereby authorized and instructed to refund to masters or their representatives any excess of tonnage you may have collected of British vessels as may be shown by readmeasurement under the act of May 6, 1864, and in case these vessels are no longer within your district or are loaded for departure, you will charge tonnage duties according to their several British registers. With great respect, J. Z. GOODRICH, Esq., H. MCCULLOCH, Secretary of the Treasury. Collector, &c., Boston, Massachusetts. Sir F. Bruce to Mr. Hunter. WASHINGTON, June 10, 1865. SIR: It will be in your recollection that, in the year 1864, a correspondence passed between this legation and the State Department, arising out of an offer on the part of the United States government to station a squadron on the African coast for the suppression of the slave trade, in fulfilment of the obligations of the treaty of July, 1862. This plan for a joint co-operation, however, could not then be carried into effect, owing to difficulties arising on the terms of the proposal for the admission of the vessels of the United States into British ports on the African coast, but the Secretary of the Navy of the United States, in declining the proposal, expressed a hope that no long time would elapse before the Naval Department would be able to tender the means of an efficient co-operation on the terms of the treaty for the suppression of the slave trade. I am now instructed, by her Majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs, to invite the attention of the United States government to this matter, and to state that her Majesty's government are still most anxious to obtain the assistance of United States cruisers in putting down the slave trade; and I am at the same time to assure the government of the United States that their cruisers will be received in all British ports on the African coast on the most I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, Hon. W. HUNTER, &c., &c., &c. FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE. Mr. Seward to Sir F. Bruce. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, June 12, 1865. SIR: I have had the honor to receive your note of the 10th instant, on the subject of the obligations of the United States under the treaty of July, 1862, to keep up a squadron on the African coast for the purpose of aiding in the suppression of the slave trade. In reply, I have the honor to inform you that your communication shall receive as prompt attention as circumstances, well known to you, connected with my state of health, will allow. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. SIR FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE, &c., &c., &c. Mr. Seward to Sir F. Bruce. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, June 14, 1865. SIR: I have been requested by the president of the Soldiers' National Cemetery, at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to extend to you an invitation to attend the ceremonies of laying the corner-stone of the monument to the memory of the soldiers who fell on the battle-field of Gettysburg, which are to take place on the 4th of July next. The ceremonies cannot fail to be interesting, and it is hoped that you may find it convenient to accept the invitation to be present on that occasion. I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Hon. SIR FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE, &c., &c., &c. Sir F. Bruce to Mr. Hunter. WASHINGTON, June 15, 1865. SIR: You will doubtless recollect that in November last formal notice was given to her Majesty's government by the American minister in London, that at the expiration of six months the government of the United States would deem themselves at liberty to increase, if they saw fit, their naval armament on the lakes. In March, however, Mr. Adams, in compliance with instructions, dated March 8th, informed her Majesty's government that the government of the United States were quite willing that the agreement of 1817, in regard to armament on the lakes, should remain practically in force; that the United States had not constructed any additional war-vessels on the lakes, and that no such vessel would be built or armed by them in that quarter; and that they hoped the same course would be pursued by the British government. |