Mr. Perry to Mr. Seward. [Extracts.] No. 165.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I take up the relation of what has been done in the case of the rebel ram Stonewall, where it was left by my No. 164, of the Sth instant. On that day, in the morning, I sent to Mr. Bigelow the telegram No. 16, enclosed in despatch No. 164, informing him that the Stonewall is the same ship which was called Stoerkodder at Bordeaux, and Olinde in the bay of Quiberon, and that she is manned by the old crew of the pirate Florida. In the afternoon I received a telegram from Mr. Harvey, at Lisbon, saying that the Sacramento had entered that port, and asking for information. This telegram was also forwarded with despatch No. 164. I received also a communication from Mr. Bigelow, at Paris, dated 5th instant, giving me important information, to which I replied in the evening of this day, and beg to call your especial notice to the copies of these documents, which go enclosed. My own letter, February 8, was the exact statement of the state of this business at the time it was written, as well as an expression of my own idea of what the government of France was called upon to do in view of the facts as reported to this legation. I had in fact seen Mr. Banuelos the same afternoon, and had received from him the statement that he had shown your despatch No. 6, of February 4, 1862, to Mr. Benavides, who had found it excellent; that the draught of a note I had also left with him the day before was very good and entirely acceptable; that it was decided there should be no repairs on the Stonewall, but the Spanish government could not undertake to arrest her definitively in their port, first, because they had not the material power to to do it, and, second, because they did not think they had a right to do it. If they let her go away in precisely the same condition in which she was when she entered the Spanish jurisdiction, they were not responsible for anything this ship might do afterwards. This was what they would do. He would send me back my draught of a note, which I might sign under the same date as the one it was to replace, and withdrawing the latter, the whole matter would be arranged. I confess that having obtained this much, (apparently,) I did not feel disposed to press the extreme point of definitive detention of this ship, by the direct exercise of the authority of the Spanish government. I had put it into my note of the 5th instant, in order to cover the whole ground which my government might wish to occupy, in case this question should not be resolved to my satisfaction. But I had the consul's report that the Stonewall could not sail, in point of fact, unless the repairs were made, and I confess I would have dropped that point of theoretical right, and contented myself with the practical result of no repairs, if the Spanish government had itself fulfilled what I was that afternoon led to expect. On the 9th of February I sent to the consular agent at Ferrol a telegram, in which I authorized him to employ what people he might need to watch the ram and see that she made no repairs, that she took no coals, nor provisions and water, except what might be necessary to keep her crew from day to day, &c., ordering him to do all in good accord with the authorities of the port, and announcing a letter of credit by mail to cover the expenses of this service. I am forced to close here to save the mail, enclosing copy of my protest,* night of 9th instant, to be explained in next despatch. Respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, HORATIO J. PERRY. Secretary of State. Mr. Bigelow to Mr. Perry. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: The confederate steamer Stonewall, referred to in your telegram received this morning, is undoubtedly one of the rams_built at Bordeaux, originally for the confederates but ultimately sold conditionally to the Danish government. She left Bordeaux last September for Copenhagen, but not answering to the specification of the contract, was refused. She left, as was given out to the public, and stated in the shipping articles of the crew, for Bordeaux, early in January, with a Danish crew shipped by Arnous de la Rivière, (the agent of the builder, M. Arman,) who accompanied her to Copenhagen and returned with her. She stopped in the bay of Quiberon, just inside the isle of Houat, where she discharged her Danish crew, and received at the same time from the Duke of Richmond, an English steamer, a crew, guns, and munitions of all kinds. From a steam-tug sent from St. Nazaire she also received 30 tons of coal, which replaced what had been consumed on her voyage from Copenhagen, where she had also taken thirty tons, that being the extent of her capacity at that time, from which I infer that she left Bordeaux full of coal, and that her final destination for the confederates was planned before she left Bordeaux. The name she bore when she left Bordeaux was the Stoerkodder; after passing into the confederate hands, as I presume she did immediately after clearing at Copenhagen, she took the name of Olinde, which she bore on her stern while lying in Quiberon bay. I heard a report current a day or two after she sailed that great things were expected from a ram which had just left France, called the Stonewall, and that the utter destruction of our blockading fleet off Charleston was to be one of the least considerable of its achievements. Of the identity of these two vessels I have no doubt, nor do I believe any is entertained here, either in the department of marine or foreign affairs, both of which I visited immediately upon the receipt of your despatch. I proposed that his excellency the minister of foreign affairs should telegraph this afternoon to his minister at Madrid to ask the Spanish government to detain the Stonewall, at least until the investigation which the government here is now making be completed, and the guilty parties, if there be any, to the equipment of this vessel in French waters, be ascer tained. I assured him that our legation at Madrid would unite in such an application if necessary. Unfortunately he had not yet received a report from the department of marine, without which he could not take any step of that gravity. I took measures to have the report of the minister of marine reach him within an hour after my interview, and I hope that one of the results of a perusal of the evidence will be a telegraphic direction this afternoon to M. Mercier to do what is necessary to detain the vessel. I write you all these facts in detail that you may understand the position which the French government occupies, and to suggest that you put yourself at once in relation with M. Mercier, and urge him to do what he can to make the Spanish government seize or at least detain the Stonewall. The more France can be made to take the initiative in this matter, the more will our future course be simplified. Should M. Mercier receive no instructions, or should he decline to act, I would suggest that you make the application in behalf of your own government. France has recently furnished Spain an excellent precedent for such a step in the case of the Rappahannock, which was fraudulently taken from English waters into Calais, to be fitted out and equipped for the confederates. This government refused to let her leave upon grounds which apply with exactness to the case of the Stonewall. In both cases they got an opportunity of flying the confederate flag by a fraud upon the government under which they were equipped in part. France refused to recognize a nationality acquired in that way, and the Rappahannock lies at Calais to this day. Have you any agent at Ferrol? If not, would you not do well to send one there at once? I hope you will keep me advised of the movements of the Stonewall by telegraph. I am, sir, with great respect, your very obedient servant, JOHN BIGELOW, Chargé. * For protest, see enclosure to despatch from Mr. Perry, No. 166. D, with No. 165. Mr. Perry to Mr. Bigelow. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: The confederate steamer Stonewall, now at Ferrol, is the same ship mentioned in your letter of the 5th instant, under the names of Stoerkodder and Olinde. Her crew is reported by my consular agent at Corunna to be in great part the old crew of the pirate Florida. This, then, is an armed expedition, begun and completed in the waters of France to make war upon the United States. I can see nothing in point of international law to distinguish this from the expedition organized, armed and equipped in the Canadian territory of England to carry on hostile operations at St. Albans. The Alabama and her sister ships escaped from the waters of England unarmed and in the guise of peaceful vessels, and were armed subsequently out of English jurisdiction. But aside from the fact that a steam-ram cannot be reduced to the condition of an unarmed ship, since the hull itself is the arm both for offence and defence, in this case the confederates seem to have made the mistake of putting the crew and officers, the cannon, coals, and ammunition, aboard the Stonewall within the jurisdiction of France, where she was also built. They have thus involved the responsibility of the imperial government in a way which cannot but prove prejudicial to themselves. They start for the first time out of the jurisdictional waters of France, fully organized, armed, and fitted, to make war upon the United States. The complete good faith and the executive efficiency with which the Emperor's government has caused the decree of neutrality to be obeyed up to this time, as in the case of the Rappahannock, and in that of this very steam-ram, until the rebels found means to deceive the imperial government and mock its authority, makes me confident that when you represent these facts to Mr. Drouyn de Lhuys, with your accustomed ability, you will find it easy to obtain from that clear-headed statesman some sufficent action designed to stop the career of this formidable ship before she has an opportunity to come into hostile contact with the forces or the ships of the United States. I do not really see how the responsibility of the French government can be disengaged, unless some adequate effort of this kind is made, and made promptly. Fortunately the ram has entered the arsenal at Ferrol in a partially disabled state, and our consular agent reports that she cannot keep the seas till she is repaired. I have obtained from the Spanish government positive orders that these repairs shall not be made; she is closely watched, and only allowed to purchase provisions, &c., enough to maintain her crew from day to day. I have claimed also that she should not be allowed to go out of the port at all; but I am informed confidentially that if the ram chooses to go, there is not power enough in the batteries and vessels in the port to stop her. She is detained, however, provisionally, so far as orders to that effect can detain her. I have the second-class screw sloop Sacramento, also out of repair, coming round as fast as possible from Cadiz, and ought to be on the ground by to-morrow. Will not France consider herself called upon to arrest this armed expedition even by force on the high seas for having violated her orders, and armed, organized, and equipped in her waters, and started thence against the United States, with which government France is at peace? Is it not due to her own dignity and to the vindication of her own violated sovereignty that she should do all she reasonably can to arrest this armed expedition and bring it back to her ports, and reduce it to a condition of quiet and harmlessness? I make these suggestions, sir, not as forestalling the decisions of your own better judgment, but simply to present to you the whole case as it appears to me in the light of the facts reported to this legation, and that you may understand the grounds and course of my own action here. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. JOHN BIGELOW, U. S. Chargé d Affaires, Paris HORATIO J. PERRY, Chargé d'Affaires. Translation of the telegram. Station of Ferrol, February 9th, 9 minutes past 8 o'clock at night.-Received in Madrid, February 9th, 39 minutes past 8 o'clock at night. The Consul to the Chargé d'Affaires of the United States: I am officially informed that it has been ordered by the superior authority to execute on the Stonewall the works indispensable to guarantee the safety of her crew on the sea; that she shall be furnished with provisions, water, and coal, and that she immediately leave the port in fact. ALFRED V. DE ARCE, Chief Clerk in Service. MADRID, February 9, 1865. Sent out at 8 o'clock 45 minutes of the 9th of February. No. 166.] Mr. Perry to Mr. Seward. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: With my number 165, sent through the despatch agent at London yesterday, you received a copy of a protest which I wrote and delivered to her Majesty's minister of state on the evening of the 9th instant. A second copy is also enclosed herewith. At about 7 o'clock in the evening of the 9th instant I had received a telegram from Mr. Fernandez, consular agent at Ferrol, in reply to mine of the morning, giving him instructions that the Stonewall was not to be repaired, and what he was to do in watching her. It informed me that everything should be executed as instructed, and that the authorities were keeping vigilant watch, and nothing would be furnished to the corsair except for the day. About two hours later, at 9 o'clock, I received another telegram from the same agent, whose copy you will find enclosed. I then immediately wrote the protest, and had it delivered the same evening. I have since known that the state department were hard at work to prepare copies of documents, and a large package was sent to Mr. Tassara two days since in order to get them thus before you, while I am still ignorant what will be the answer of this government to me. I have since seen both Mr. Benavides and Mr. Banuelos-the latter twice. No very satisfactory personal explanation can be made for the surprise practiced on me after the negotiation had been virtually terminated as to the repairs of this ship, and the decision announced to me verbally by the assistant secretary of state. I have, therefore, been disposed to accept whatever was said, and let this point drop easily out of sight. The real motives for the change I understand to be these: The present minister of marine is an old officer, the highest in rank on the navy list, and it seems he declared that he could not and would not send seamen out to sea without stopping the leak in their vessel first; he did not understand the distinction made between iron-clad and wooden ships, and if the crew of the Stonewall claimed to stop the leak in the vessel they were aboard of before going to sea they must be allowed to do it. The disposition had grown strong in the cabinet to get rid of the unwelcome visitor, but it was found he really could not go without something being done for him first. I have no doubt that the conversation of Mr. Mercier with Mr. Benavides instead of being an advantage to me was the reverse. He sustained with me the opinion which he no doubt honestly entertains in common with his government, that all that belongs to the navigabilité or seaworthiness of the ship must be conceded to mariners in the way of repairs to their ship in all civilized ports, no matter who they may be. I do not attempt to foresee how much weight this argument may have with you, called to review calmly all the incidents and bearings of this case, nor, once the position of neutrality as between belligerents is assumed, whether you might not consider this concession of repairs, so far as these relate strictly to the conditions of navagabilité, as a necessary corollary to that false conclusion originally arrived at in 1861 by the governments of Europe. The radical vice is in the first declaration of belligerent rights, and in the position of a neutral or quasi neutral taken towards the insurgents. I have produced a good deal of hestitation here by my effort to sweep this whole vicious declaration of neutrality entirely away, and if Spain had been alone I have no hesitation in saying I should have succeeded; but the representatives of France and England were consulted by this government. The O'Donnellite opposition, now powerful and menacing in the chambers, had made that declaration, and had made a precedent under it in the case of the Sumter at Cadiz; and this was what they finally fell back upon in spite of the better judgment of Mr. Benavides, and after even he had apparently carried in the cabinet the resolution of no repairs announced to me as reported. Whatever your decision upon the whole question may be, it was my business here to sustain the whole ground, and reserve the rights of my government in the presence of an adverse decision. The theoretical questions involved go to the President entire and unjudged; practically I have succeeded at least in producing ten days' hesitation and delay, which have given time for the Niagara to come from England and anchor in the mouth of the bay, where the ram has only been able to begin his repairs after Captain Craven's appearance on the scene. My protest has also had the effect to reduce these repairs to the very least possible which can be done once she is touched at all. Mr. Benavides has promised me an exact and minute statement of all that is done, which will be very much less than what she really needs. They have determined not to touch her armor plates under any circumstances. It seems the vessel is badly constructed, and makes much water around her helm-ports, both her rudders working in the helm-ports badly. But they have determined not to raise the plates, not to do any thing to her from the outside, and are fothering the helm-ports, and bracing and wedging with wood and iron from the inside. This will stop the leak while she is in smooth water, but whether it will stand the working of the ship in a seaway may be doubted. In fact, so far as I can judge, even if this ram were to meet no enemies but the elements, the attempt to cross the Atlantic ocean at this season may very probably prove disastrous to her crew. I am very much chagrined and disappointed by the failure of the Sacramento to appear where she is needed. Enclosed you will find a series of telegrams received in this legation, among which those of Mr. Harvey are answers to as many more from myself referring to this ship. She must be badly disabled, or Mr. Harvey, with so many repeated and urgent instances, would have sent her along to co-operate with the Niagara. Mr. Wurts has not been able to prepare copies of my own telegrams and letters in time for this despatch, and they will be forwarded by next steamer. In laying the principal documents in this case before you, I ought to say that, though I have felt called upon to use firm language, and to protest and reserve the rights of the United States in the presence of an adverse decision by the Spanish government, I have not to complain of anything like sympathy or a disposition to aid the insurgents, or of any unfriendly disposition towards the government of the United States or the northern people on the part of any minister or other officer of this government. On the contrary, I am persuaded that if the present cabinet had found this question completely new and unjudged by others, I should have been able to come to an understanding with the present government of her Catholic Majesty which would have proved satisfactory to you; and it is now, when I am brought by the force of circumstances into a diplomatic conflict with this government, (at least provisionally and until your better judgment can be consulted,) that I take pleasure in saying that I am convinced of the sincere friendliness and entire good will of the present counsellors of her Majesty towards the government of the United States, and that I am personally much better satisfied in this respect now than I have been with other cabinets which have preceded that of the Duke of Valencia. I have the honor to remain with the highest respect, sir, your obedient servant, HORATIO J. PERRY. Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State, Washington. |