Mr. Harvey to Mr. Seward.
Sir: The accompanying letter from the United States consul at Fayal has just been received, and the facts which he mentions have been confirmed by other information. Letters and telegrams from different sources and [Page 301] places notify me that several suspicious steamers have recently appeared in the waters between the Azores islands and this coast. Renewed destruction of commerce is to be feared.
At this time I have no means at hand to afford protection except such as the good will of this government may provide in a case of extreme emergency. Our special agent in the Algarve district, which, with its indentations and inlets, is well adapted for the concealment of pirates, is vigilant and energetic, and keeps me fully informed upon the matters confided to his agency.
It is of material importance that a war steamer of superior speed and sufficient armament should have her headquarters at this port, and that her movements should be governed by the necessities of circumstances as they may arise.
The United States steamer St. Louis sailed from here yesterday, but, as her commander did not communicate his purpose to me, I know nothing of his intentions except from common rumor. Had I been notified in proper time I should certainly have advised against the departure of the ship in view of the information now communicated. The public interests must suffer in the future, as they have seriously suffered in the past, so long as the commanders of the ships-of-war which are detailed for duty in these waters have unlimited discretion to regulate their movements without regard to the views of, and without seeking the information that may be possessed by, ministers and others who are charged with grave and important responsibilities, I beg leave to say that, without a hearty co-operation between the civil and naval officers abroad, our exposed commerce cannot be even indifferently protected, and that such a cooperation is not practicable until the orders of naval commanders are so shaped as to require this concert of action.
And while upon this subject, I venture to suggest the necessity of explicit instructions being given by the proper department to the effect that the intended movements of our ships-of-war shall not be made known except to such persons as may be entitled to have that knowledge officially. Premature publicity of our plans has operated injuriously in several instances which have fallen under my immediate observation, and I have found myself vexatiously embarrassed and thwarted by the publication of reports by telegraph and through the newspapers of matters which have been regarded as confidential.
The insurgents keep an agent at Paris, whose special and exclusive business it is to ascertain the proposed cruises of our ships-of-war and the movements of the commercial marine. That information has been employed frequently to our injury, and I fear it has happened that thoughtless indiscretion upon the part of officers of the United States navy has been more useful to the public enemy than the best efforts of their regular agency at Paris.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State.