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All the laws seem to be perfectly clear except that concerning the right of a foreign vessel to go from Carthagena to San Blas. As to this right, however, I no longer entertain the doubt expressed in my last dispatch, but think the right is, and will be, recognized by this Gov ernment.

The New York papers contain what purports to be a copy of a letter written by the Colombian vice-consul in New York to the owner of the Whitford, informing him that he might clear for Colon and there receive a license to trade upon the San Blas coast. Such information would be correct if the Whitford desired to go to Puerto Bello with such cargo as the law permits, but is not correct for San Blas. The viceconsul has fallen into a serious error, and, although he may not be able to bind his Government so as to prevent it from legally seizing the schooner, he has at least furnished the owners thereof with a document which will enable them to purge themselves of any attempt to defraud the revenue of Colombia.

This Government will treat this whole matter in a most friendly and proper spirit, in my belief. So far as I am informed, nothing arbitrary or unusual bas been meditated or performed. There is no desire to drive our commerce from the San Blas coast, nor to confiscate the vessels of those who have acted in good faith. There is a desire to enforce the revenue laws, which are intended to be just and to furnish all conveniences to traders consistent with the nature of the means at hand and the proper enforcement of the law.

I would suggest that the licenses said to have been issued at Colon, permitting trade upon the San Blas coast, be carefully scrutinized. It may be that they were only granted for Puerto Bello.

The great difficulty experienced here is that of securing reliable information. It is not known whether the Julian and Willie are in Carthagena or not. The ministry here did not expect that those boats (if those are the ones) would be brought to Carthagena to be condemned, but solely to pay their duties and receive permits to go to San Blas. What has really been done no one knows. It would be a source of satisfaction if our vice-consul in Carthagena would notify this legation when events so important are taking place.

Information has just been received at the foreign office that the schooner Whitford has arrived at Colon, and was there informed by the authorities that she would have to proceed to Carthagena and pay her duties, in order to obtain permission to trade upon the San Blas coast. What course the captain of the schooner took is not known.

I am, etc.,

JOHN T. ABBOTT.

[Inclosure 1 in No. C6.-Translation.-From the Diario Oficial, August 9, 1887.]

Decree No. 521 of 1887 (August 8) upon commerce in the free ports.

The President of the Republic of Colombia, in execution of laws 107 and 109 (article III) of the present year, decrees:

ARTICLE I. Persons introducing foreign merchandise into the free ports of the Republic for consumption therein shall present to the chief inspector of customs of the port into which the merchandise is iniported the consular invoices thereof, certified agreeably to article II of law 107 of the present year, within 48 hours from the time when permission shall have been given by the manager of the mails to whom it belongs to discharge said merchandise.

ART. II. The invoices mentioned in the preceding article shall be compared by the chief inspector of customs with copies of the manifests which shall be presented by the consignees of the vessels whose discharge has been permitted by virtue of the pro

visions of article III of decree No. 638 of 1883; and, if the comparison shows a disagreement in the two papers, the said officer shall investigate the cause of such disagreement and shall make a note of the result of his investigation at the foot of the invoices and the manifests.

ART. III. The chief inspector of customs shall, either in person or by means of agents appointed therefor, attend carefully to the unloading of the vessels, and shall register, in a manner capable of verification, the packages disembarked according to their class, number and marks, having regard, as a general rule, to causing the least possible amount of obstruction and delay in the transport of the merchandise to its respective destinations.

Paragraph. The register in which is recorded the packages disembarked shall also serve to verify the conformity of the invoices and manifests; and, if such conformity do not appear, the chief inspector shall proceed in the same manner as in article II of this decree.

ART. IV. If an entire agreement between the invoices and manifests shall appear, the chief inspector shall place a certification of the fact at the foot of the invoices and shall deliver them to the interested party.

ART. V. When the chief inspector of a free port shall believe that merchandise has been introduced without presentation of the certified invoices treated of in the foregoing article II of law 107 of the present year, he shall proceed as provided for by the terms of articles 125 and 126 of the fiscal code. He shall demand that the certified invoices be presented, and shall examine the packages by their marks and other external signs, and shall open them if there be no other way of establishing their identity with those mentioned in the invoices.

ART. VI. In case of a failure to present the invoices of one or more packages, although they may have the same marks as others imported with them, a fine shall be imposed of double the amount of consular fees for certification of the document; and, in the case of deficiency or inexactitude of dates respecting the packages mentioned, the fine imposed shall be 50 per cent. of said amount.

ART. VII. In case the importers of merchandise in the free ports shall fail to present invoices agreeably to the provisions of law 107 of the present year, there shall be imposed a fine equal to four times the sum fixed as consular certification fees for said invoices, and the cargo shall be opened by the proper officer to verify that it does not contain articles of merchandise which are prohibited.

ART. VIII. The proceeds of the fines shall be received by the manager of the mails of the respective port, in virtue of the notice of the inspector, who shall inform of the fact the government of the department and the general office of accounts.

ART. IX. The party interested may appeal against the imposition of the fines in writing within 6 days before the governor of the department, who shall obtain from the inspector the information and documents necessary to an understanding of the case, and, in his quality of agent of the executive power, will give final decision upon it.

ART. X. For execution of this decree the consuls of the Republic will forward to the chief inspector of the free port for which the merchandise is bound a copy of the certified invoices, agreeably to the provisions of article 48 of the fiscal code.

ART. XI. Whenever the inspector shall see good cause to suspect that one or more of the packages subject to the formalities of this decree contains prohibited merchandise, or others which do not agree with the invoices, he shall open and examine them.

ART. XII. If the packages should be found to contain prohibited merchandise, the governor of the department, the judicial authority, and the agent of the ministry shall be notified without delay, and the proper parties be called to account agreeably to the laws and the present decree, and the merchandise shall be held in deposit pursuant to the orders to be given by said governor.

ART. XIII. Respecting the cargoes which pass through the Isthmus of Panama, bound for the national custom-houses of the Pacific, or which arrive at the port of Colon, not for the purpose of disembarking, but to be transshipped for the customhouses of the Atlantic, they shall be governed by the observances actually in force. The ship shall present its invoices to the officers stationed there, to whom the consuls shall also remit sealed papers containing copies of the manifests and invoices mentioned in the first part of article 48 of the fiscal code.

ART. XIV. For the execution of the preceding articles the respective inspectors shall inspect the manifests presented to them by the captains of vessels and the contents of the invoices, regarding the destination of the merchandise and other circumstances; and they shall proceed, in case of infraction, in accordance with the suitable provisions of the same articles.

ART. XV. The formalities regulating traffic between the free ports and the other ports of the Republic shall be the same which have been in force according to the fiscal code, the aforesaid decree, and the other legislative and executive provisions upon the subject.

ART. XVI. The inspectors of the free ports shall retain copies of the invoices to be sent to the consuls for fulfillment of articles 48 of the fiscal code and 10 of this decree, and the registers of the unlading of vessels for the formation of statistics in the terms of article 34 of decree No. 638, already cited; and, if such copies are not received in good season, they shall be demanded without delay.

ART. XVII. This decree shall be in force in the free ports from the 21st of next September.

Done at Bogota, the 8th day of August, 1887.

RAFAEL NUÑEZ. ANTONIO ROLDAN, Secretary of the Treasury.

[Inclosure 2 in No. 66.-Translation.-From the Diario Oficial, June 23, 1887. No. 7081.]

LEGISLATIVE POWER.-NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

Law 107 of 1887 (June 21) on commerce in the free ports.

The national legislative council decrees:

ARTICLE I. Ninety days after the publication of this law in the Diario Oficial the cargoes of foreign merchandise bound for the free ports of the Republic for consumption therein shall be subject to the formalities exacted by the fiscal code for merchandise bound for the closed ports, as to the exactions of said code of the presentation of invoices certified by the respective consuls.

ART. II. Persons discharging foreign merchandise for consumption in the free ports of the Republic, upon presenting to the consuls the invoices of the cargoes, shall declare under oath that the contents of said documents are exact, and shall be responsible to the Government for any differences between them and the contents of the packages, and also for not unloading prohibited articles of merchandise.

ART. III. In the future, in addition to the commodities mentioned in article II of law 36 of 1886, the national coin, of whatever denomination or metal, with the exception of gold and silver of 0.900 and the unsigned banknotes of the national bank, shall be held to be prohibited articles.

ART. IV. The inspectors of the ports of Panama and Colon shall receive the invoices of cargoes of foreign merchandise destined for consumption in those cities and shall be empowered to inspect suspected articles with formalities prescribed by Government in a special decree.

Done at Bogota, June 20, 1887.

VICENTE RESTREPO,

President. JOSÉ M. RUBIO FRADE,

Vice President. ROBERTO DE NARVAEZ, MANUEL BRIGARD,

Secretaries.

[Inclosure 3 in No. 66.-Translation -From the Diario Oficial, June 28, 1887. No. 7090.]

LEGISLATIVE POWER.-NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

Law 109 of 1887 (June 22) of authorization to the Government.

The national legislative council, in view of section 9 of article 76 of the constitution, and considering that it is of the utmost importance to provide for the protection of the revenue and the prosecution and punishment of frauds committed upon it, matters which can only be suitably provided for by the legislative power, decrees: ARTICLE I. The executive power is hereby authorized to introduce into the customs and salt mines service all modifications suited to enhance their efficiency, increasing the personnel of the custom-houses and assigning to new employés appropriate salaries not to exceed those now paid to the same customs officers.

ART. II. These salaries shall be considered as included in the law of salaries and shall figure in the respective accounts of expenditures.

ART. III. The executive power is also authorized to make such regulations as may be necessary for the prosecution and punishment of fraud on the revenues newly created.

In said regulations the measures to be pursued shall be specified and the employé in whose province it shall lie to apply the penalties against persons guilty of fraud. ART. IV. The executive power shall give account, in due season, to Congress for the use made of the authorizations contained in this law.

Done at Bogota, June 20, 1887.

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SIR: Your dispatches Nos. 53 of January 11, 56 of January 20, and 65 of February 1, 1890, in relation to foreign trade with the San Blas coast and the reported seizures of vessels unlawfully engaged therein, have been received, and I have much pleasure in commending your full and clear reports on the subject.

A report of Mr. Vifquain, consul at Colon, accompanied by translations of all the Colombian laws and regulations bearing on this point which he has been able to discover, agrees fully with the results of your examination and bears out the conclusion that direct trade on the San Blas coast from a foreign country or indirect coastwise traffic from an open free port are distinctly prohibited.

Your dispatches * * indicate that, while steps have been taken to properly instruct the consuls and local customs officers of Colombia as to their exact function in the premises, no penalty is likely to be visited on vessels which may be found to have engaged in the prohibited traffic in good faith under clearances or licenses mistakenly granted by Colombian officers. This proper and equitable view of the situation was to be expected, and you will use your best endeavors to see that no American vessel, reasonably appearing to have acted in good faith, shall be subjected to other inconvenience or restraint than may be requisite to insure compliance with the promulgated rules and laws of Colombia in this regard.

You will at the same time impress upon the Colombian Government the necessity of clearly making known its requirements, in order that the officers of Colombia may properly do their duty, and that the shipping of a friendly neighbor may not be annoyed and interfered with as a consequence of the contradictory interpretation of the laws of Colombia which is admitted to have been made by its agents.

I append for your information copy of a letter addressed by the Department to Messrs. Foster & Co., of New York, the complainants in the case of alleged seizure of the Julian, together with the annexed translation of the Colombian laws on the subject prepared by Mr. Vifquain.

I am, etc.,

JAMES G. BLAINE.

[Inclosure in No. 48.1

Mr. Adce to Messrs. Foster & Co.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, March 3, 1890.

GENTLEMEN: Referring to your previous correspondence with this Department relative to trade with the San Blas coast of the Isthmus of Panama, I have the pleasure to transmit herewith for your information a translation of the laws, decrees, and regulations of the Republic of Colombia applicable to such traffic, as collected by the consul of the United States at Colon.

It appears from these extracts that the port of San Blas is not mentioned as a port of entry (puerto habilitado) or as a free port, although, being within the limits of the State of Panama and distant only about 150 nautical miles by water from Colon, it would appear to be, as claimed, a dependency of that port comprehended within the free zone of the Isthmus of Panama,

By article 16 of the fiscal code, the following are declared ports of entry on the Atlantic coast of Colombia, to wit: Carthagena, Sabanilla, Colon, Santa Martha, and Rio Hacha. The following on the Atlantic coast, are declared by article 17 of the fiscal code to be free ports, to wit: Colon, Boca del Toro, Chagres, and Puerto Bello, all within the lines of the State of Panama, and, in addition to these, the ports of the archipelago of San Andreas, in the Atlantic, which belong to the State of Bolivar.

The only point upon which the report of the consul is not clear is as to whether San Blas is comprised within the free zone of the Isthmus of Panama. But, as San Blas is not habilitado, the obligation to enter at some port legally open to foreign vessels before proceeding to San Blas appears to be certain.

In addition to Mr. Vifquain's the report, the Department is in receipt of very full dispatches on the subject from our minister at Bogota. Mr. Abbott's careful examination of the Colombian statutes on the subject, made, as he reports, under good legal advice, leads him to the same conclusions as Mr. Vifquain has reached, that nothing is found that gives a colorable right to carry on direct traffic with the San Blas coast. The laws are general and apply as much to Colombians as to foreigners. In fact, his latest dispatch, dated the 1st ultimo, refers to the reported detention of a Colombian schooner engaged in illicit trade.

Mr. Abbott and Mr. Vifquain agree in declaring that no American vessel has been seized. Orders were given by the Colombian minister of finance to permit the Julian and Willie, or two schooners which are supposed to be the ones named, to proceed on their voyage to San Blas after entry and payment of duties at Carthagena. Mr. Abbott remarks that "there seems to be no direct provision of law authorizing, in terms, a foreign vessel to enter Carthagena, pay her duties, and proceed to the San Blas coast, nor is there any prohibition of such act. The laws imply it, however; the foreign minister asserts it."

The definite statement made to Mr. Abbott by the minister of finance is as follows: "The boat should be dispatched for importation (import entry?) to Carthagena and subsequently to San Blas for comercio costanero." There appears, therefore, to be no trace of any law or regulation authorizing the issue of a license for direct trade of a foreign vessel with San Blas or for a coasting license between a free port and San Blas. Any action to the contrary by the Colombian consul at New York, or by any official in Colon, appears to have been without legal warrant, and steps have been taken by the Colombian Government to instruct those agents as to their proper duty. Mr. Abbott does not apprehend any difficulty in relieving from penalty any vessels which may have been found to have engaged in prohibited trade on the San Blas coast under clearances or licenses which, although invalid, may have been procured in good faith by the masters from the agents of the Colombian Government. I am, etc.,

ALVEY A. ADEE.

[Inclosure.]

LAWS REGULATING COMMERCE IN COLOMBIAN WATERS.

[Translated and transmitted by Consul Vifquain, of Colon, February 3, 1890.]

Decree No. 638 of 1883, relating to formalities for the commerce of Panama and Colon and other ports of the Republic.

The President of the United States of Colombia, by virtue, etc., decrees: ARTICLE 1. The importation of foreign goods into the free zone of the Isthmus of Panama can only be done at the ports of Colon, on the Atlantic, and Panama, on the Pacific.

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