Mr. Mercier to Mr. Seward.
Sir: I have received the note which your excellency has done me the honor to address to me on the 3d of this month, in answer to the communication of the Legation of the Emperor, dated the 29th of August, and I have given a careful examination to the report of General Butler in relation to the complaints of Messrs. Rochereau & Co., Jeannet, Quertier & Co., bankers, and Lewis & Co., merchants of New Orleans, against the fine which had been imposed upon them by the General Order No. 55, of the one-fourth of the amount of their subscription to the loan issued by the committee called that of public safety, and guaranteed by the city.
I deem it my duty to bring, without delay, this affair to the knowledge of the government of the Emperor; but, while asking its instructions, I would attach the greatest value (consideration) in being able to announce to it that the Federal government has, in its justice, taken the necessary measures in order that the French residents, who are actually subjected in New Orleans to a system (rule) of exception, may have an efficacious security, under the form of a legal recourse, against acts similar to those upon which I have already so often had occasion to call the attention of your excellency.
It has never been my intention to endeavor to shield from a legitimate penalty those of my countrymen who might have incurred it by failing in their duties to neutrality, but these duties, however well defined theoretically they may be, may receive in practice different interpretations: thus, for example, I could not admit that the sale of merchandise, or that the subscription to a loan, issued by a municipal authority in the regular discharge of its duties, could prima [Page 820] facie be considered as acts of hostility against a government, because the merchandise honestly sold, or the sums innocently subscribed, shall have been, at a later period, employed for a culpable purpose. While supposing that acts of this nature should be sufficient to rouse the suspicions of a military commandant placed in difficult circumstances, they could not, in equity, involve a condemnation, except after having undergone the examination of a judicial authority.
It does not belong to me to characterize the rule (law) which General Butler has thought proper to impose to (upon) the city of New Orleans, but it suffices to prove that that rule admits of charge of accusation; that it encourages them even on the part of slaves; that it imputes crime to family or private relations, as it appears from the papers which your excellency has done me the honor to communicate to me; that it recognizes in the military authority the right of deciding proprio motû, and without appeal, upon penalties such as imprisonment, confiscation and hard labor. It suffices, I say, to prove these facts, in order to show the necessity of finding some guarantee which shall place neutrals under shelter of the abuses which they may enchain; and I cannot doubt that your excellency, after the numerous evidences which you have given me of your liberal intentions in reference to (towards) foreigners, will consent to provoke (dictate) some measure which may answer to the wishes which my government would not fail to express under like circumstances.
I seize this opportunity, sir, to renew to your excellency the assurances of my high consideration.
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State.