Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the Second Session Thirty-eighth Congress, Part I
Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward.
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith, out of the regular course, a copy of the Morning Post, of this day, containing the official regulations upon foreign commerce recently established by an act of the rebel congress.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.
The Confederate States.
Official regulations to carry into effect the act “to impose regulations upon the foreign commerce of the Confederate States, to provide for the public defence,” approved February 6, 1864.
I. AS TO THE SEA.
1. The owners of any vessel intending to sail from a coniederate port with a cargo consisting in whole or part of cotton, tobacco, military and naval stores, sugar, molasses, or rice, shall, before the lading on board of any of such articles, file with the collector of the port from which the vessel is to sail a copy of her register, with a declaration of the names of the owners and officers thereof, the place of their birth, and of their residence for the preceding year, together with the port or place to which the said vessel proposes to sail. The said declaration shall also set forth the quantity and value, in confederate currency, of the cargo proposed to be taken out, as also the consent of the said owners that one-half [Page 609] of the tonnage of the said vessel may be employed by the confederate government for its own use, both on the outward and homeward voyage, at the rate of freight hereinafter mentioned. The collector shall submit a statement as to the owners and officers to the military commandant of the port, and if he shall not object to their loyalty, or to the sailing of the vessel for reasons of military necessity, the collector shall grant a permit for the lading of the said vessel, one-half for account of the owners, and one-half for account of the Confederate States.
2. Before the said lading shall be completed, the owners of the vessel shall execute to the Confederate States a bond in double the value of the vessel, with security deemed adequate by the collector, conditioned that she will pursue the voyage designated, and that she will return with reasonable despatch to a confederate port after her outward cargo shall be discharged, with a cargo, consisting one-half of articles not prohibited by the laws of the confederate government, and the other half of such articles as the government shall offer for shipment from such port, at the rate of freight hereinafter mentioned.
3. Each shipper of any portion of the cargo proposed to be laden on board the said vessel shall, before the lading thereof, make application to the collector for a permit to lade the same, which application shall declare the articles to be shipped, and the quantity and value thereof in confederate currency, the port of destination, and the name of the consignee. A permit shall then be granted by the collector if the application is deemed satisfactory. The lading shall be had under the inspection of a revenue officer, who shall be charged with the duty of seeing that the goods laden conform to the permit.
4. Before the completion of the lading on board or the granting a clearance, each shipper of any portion of the cargo shall execute and deliver to the collector a bond to the Confederate States, in double the value of his shipment in confederate money, with security deemed adequate by the collector, with condition that at least one-half the net proceeds of said shipment shall be invested in goods or articles not prohibited by law, and that the said goods or articles shall be shipped by the same, or some other vessel, to the Confederate States within sixty days from the unlading of said cargo, or that the said half of the net proceeds shall be paid in coin or sterling exchange to the proper agent of the Confederate States, to be reimbursed to the shipper by the delivery to him of cotton at the port of departure in the Confederate States, at the rate of 10d. sterling per pound for middling uplands.
5. The freight to be paid by the Confederate States on all cotton and tobacco shipped from a confederate port shall be 5d. sterling per pound, payable on delivery at the port of destination, in coin or sterling exchange. Return freight shall be at the rate of £25 per ton, payable on its delivery in the confederate port, in cotton at 10d. sterling per pound for middling uplands, and at a proportionate price for cotton of other qualities. In calculating the ton of freight by weight, 2,240 pounds shall be allowed; by measure, 40 cubic feet shall be allowed.
6. If the outward-bound vessel shall consent, at the request of the government, to take two-thirds her cargo for account of the Confederate States, the outward freight shall be 6d. sterling per pound; and whenever the government is not prepared to fill up any portion of the tonnage reserved for its use at the time at which any vessel may be made ready to sail, the owners may fill up the same on their own account; but no vessel shall, without consent of the government, sail on her outward voyage until one-third of her cargo shall be laden for the use of the government.
7. The rates of freight for articles other than cotton and tobacco shall be adjusted at the same relative rate, and be payable in the same way.
8. The government reserves the right to limit or prohibit the shipment of rosin, turpentine, or any manufacture thereof, whenever deemed dangerons to its own shipment.
[Page 610]9. Upon the completion of the lading of the vessel, and before receiving her clearance, there shall be delivered to the collector, in addition to the usual mani fest, another setting forth the names, ages, and description of her officers and crew, and of every passenger intending to sail in her. The said last-mentioned manifest shall be delivered to the commandant of the port, who shall thereupon cause the entire vessel to be searched, and if satisfied that the parties on board are persons who may safely be permitted to leave the confederacy, and that the passengers have the proper passports, he shall certify the same on the manifest, and return the same to the collector, whereupon, and not before, a clearance shall be granted to the vessel, and she shall be permitted to sail.
10. The owners of each vessel, and of each portion of a cargo sailing from a confederate port, shall be allowed to take up their respective bonds, by producing to the collector the certificate of the proper agent of the confederate government at the port of delivery, setting forth the particulars showing that the said party has complied with the obligation of the said bond, so far as the same was practicable, and the collector, upon being duly satisfied, shall be authorized to surrender the said bonds.
11. Nothing in these regulations shall be so construed as to conflict with the proviso of the law which declares “that nothing in this act shall be construed to prohibit the Confederate States, or any of them, from exporting any of the articles herein enumerated on their own account;” nor shall a bond be required of a State in any case.
12. The penalties of all bonds executed in conformity with these regulations shall be recovered in full on proof of breach of the conditions of the bond, (and without proof, any damage suffered by the Confederate States in consequence of such breach,) and all bonds shall be executed in such force as to give effect to this regulation.
13. Vessels sent into the confederacy for the purpose of exporting cotton received in payment of any confederate bond or obligation shall be subject to these regulations only so far as relates to such portion of the tonnage, if any, as may remain vacant after the lading of the cotton received in payment as aforesaid.
14. The regulations for overland commerce with neutral countries will be issued separately within a few days.
Approved:
C. G. MEMMINGER, Secretary of Treasury.
JAMES A. SEDDON, Secretary of War.