Mr. Seward to Lord Lyons.
My Lord: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the note which your lordship addressed to me on the 15th instant, and which discusses questions that arise out of the capture of the Granite City and the Tampico.
That the government of the captor may, in some cases, previous to condemnation, appropriate to itself the vessel before formal condemnation, holding itself responsible for the full value, if final condemnation shall not pass, is a well-settled principle of admiralty law, practiced upon by all nations. That in the absence of any recognized rule determining the circumstances under which captured vessels may be so appropriated, each State may, within certain limits, fix a rule by its own legislation, seems also to be admitted; for that is the course which Great Britain has adopted. The Constitution of the United States expressly confers upon Congress power to legislate in such cases. Congress has exercised this power. The question which her Majesty’s government have raised, namely, whether in this act, so construed as to apply to vessels of neutral States, Congress has infringed on the law of nations, has been submitted by this department to the Attorney General of the United States, who is the legal adviser of the government. Your lordship’s note will be placed in his hands, and when I shall receive his opinion I shall be enabled to take the President’s instructions for a resolution of the subject.
Your lordship’s note further presents as an abuse of belligerant power an alleged practice, on the part of the naval officers of the United States, of detaining whole crews of captured vessels for a considerable period, and the capture of the Tampico is reported as a case in which this abuse was committed. I freely admit the principle of law upon which your lordship insists. I shall again call the attention of the Secretary of the Navy, with a view to enforcing this principle, if further instruction be necessary.
I have, however, to remark, in connexion with this point, that there has been, and there yet continues, a comprehensive and systematic attempt in Great Britain to violate the blockade of the insurrectionary ports, in derogation of the neutrality proclaimed by her Majesty’s government, that very many vessels, issuing from ports in various parts of the British-dominions, are constantly and indefatigably engaged in this undertaking, with all the advantages of large capital, great skill, and the cover of national neutrality. When one of their vessels is captured, her master and owners habitually make complaints to their government, which experience has proved in many cases exaggerated, and in some absolutely false. When the complaints are presented to this department, it requires some time to obtain such accurate reports, upon official investigation, as will enable the executive government to decide, advisedly, upon the merit of the complaints. These facts are stated, not for the purpose of claiming an exemption from a just liability of the government, or to excuse it from making the most prompt and searching inquiry, but simply to show that, while the case is under examination here, it will be unsafe to assume the interested statements of captured parties as conclusive. I am sure that her Majesty’s government are content to abide by the laws of nations in regard to these frequent and embarrassing complaints. I should be doing great injustice to your lordship, if I were not to confess that, personally, you have conducted them, on your side, with great courtesy and kindness. I am sure, also, that it has been the endeavor of this government to reciprocate these good and friendly dispositions. I am not aware of any one important point in regard to the exercise of belligerent right of capture, in which full and yet precise instructions have not been given by the Secretary of the Navy, nor of any well-established case of departure from these [Page 679] instructions in which a proper remedy has not been applied. But the unsatisfactory condition of the correspondence between us, on this subject, has now attracted the special attention of this department; and I have the pleasure to say that, hereafter, there will be renewed efforts to guard against a necessity for complaints, so far as possible, and to examine them when made, and apply the proper remedies when established. I have no doubt that, on the part of your government, there will be practiced a due caution in weighing the complaints before presenting them, and in considering the answers to them, and so the President trusts that further embarrassments and complications will be avoided.
I have the honor to be, with high consideration, your lordship’s obedient servant,
Right Hon. Lord Lyons.