Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the First Session Thirty-ninth Congress
Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams
Sir: I have received from the consulate at Liverpool the despatch of the 18th ultimo, a copy of which I enclose, relating to alleged enlistments of men in England for our military service, and informing me of the circumstances of the detention of the Great Western at that port. I will thank you to apply to Mr. Wilding for copies of the newspaper slips from the Liverpool Journal of Commerce of the 16th ultimo, the Liverpool Daily Courier of the 17th ultimo, the Liverpool Daily Post of the 18th ultimo, and the Liverpool Daily Mercury of the same date, which accompanied his despatch.
Although it seems hardly necessary, I repeat to you what I have written on former occasions, that this government has no knowledge of any design on the part of agents or of officers in its employment, or on the part of other persons, to enlist recruits for the military or naval service of the United States within the jurisdiction of her Britannic Majesty, or in any other foreign state, in contravention of laws prohibiting such enlistment, and that it would disapprove of any such proceedings.
[Page 32]If any person acting without authority in this instance, or in any other, has violated the laws of Great Britain on this subject, he will be left to their penalties. On the other hand, if any undue interference with citizens of the United States shall have occurred prejudicial to their legal rights and interests, you will be pleased to make such protests and reclamations on their behalf as may, in your judgment, be warranted by the facts of the case. .
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Charles Francis Adams, Esq., &c., &c., &c.
Mr. Wilding to Mr. Seward
Sir: I beg to enclose slips from Liverpool papers respecting an alleged enlistment of men for America, and, in doing so, to report such facts as have come to my knowledge.
It appears that about two hundred men did arrive here on Tuesday evening for the pur-. pose of embarking as steerage passengers on board the Great Western for New York; that southern emissaries having got among them, and finding that their passages had been paid by an agent from America, with the view, as alleged, of their being employed in glass-works in New York, persuaded many of them that they were really being enlisted for the army, in consequence of which about fifty refused to embark; about one hundred and forty went on board.
Mr. Hull, the confederate attorney, (no doubt set to work by the rebel agents,) took the matter up warmly and tried to make out a case for the interference of the authorities. He so far succeeded that the collector of customs sent two officers on board the ship and refused to clear her.
Yesterday, at the request of the captain, a police officer was sent on board to question the passengers and bring ashore any who were unwilling to go. Out of the four hundred passengers who were on board, only four could be induced to leave the vessel, nor was the officer able, so far as I can learn, to obtain any evidence whatever of any of them having been enlisted.
Yesterday evening the collector of customs intimated to the agents of the vessel, Messrs. Baring Brothers & Co., that, for all he saw, the vessel might clear this morning. To-day, however, he informs them that he has authority for detaining her longer; he was understood to say he had a telegram from the government ordering the detention, and he has put two officers on board to prevent her sailing. This seems to me a very strong and unwarrantable proceeding upon such evidence as I believe they have.
No complaint or application has been made to me by the master or agents of the vessel, and I have not, therefore, deemed it proper, under the circumstances, to make any representation to or demand any explanation from the authorities, but have informed Mr. Adams of the occurrence.
On inquiry, I find that some time since the passenger-agents of the Great Western received a letter from the owners, Messrs. C. H. Marshall & Co., of New York, advising them that an agreement had been made with a Captain Byrne for the passage of about one hundred persons, more or less, from Liverpool to New York, and instructing them to provide such passages when applied for; at the same time a draught of an agreement to be signed by the passengers before embarking was sent.
This agreement was to the effect that Messrs. Bliss, Ward, and Rosevelt, of New York, on the one part, agree to pay passage of the party of the second part, and provide him with employment for at least one year; and he, on his part, agreed to place himself under their control, and perform such labor as they should require for the time specified, and to repay passage money.
The kind of labor is not stated in the agreement, but it was understood to be to work in glass-works.
I have seen the draught, the style and spelling of which indicate that an illiterate person made it.
The Captain Byrne mentioned in Messrs. Marshall’s letter arrived soon after the letter, and, as I understand, engaged and superintended the embarking of the passengers; butas soon as the stir began he disappeared, and cannot now be found, and it may be that this is known to the authorities, and has emboldened them to take the strong measures they have.
The vessel now lies at anchor in the river, with four hundred passengers on board, and a fair wind blowing.
Very respectfully I am, sir, your obedient servant,
The alleged recruiting for the federal army.
This matter is still under investigation by the police authorities. On Wednesday night upwards of fifty of the men who had declined to go in the Great Western when she left the dock were accommodated in the workhouse; and yesterday a large number of them thronged the entrance to the office of Messrs. Hull & Stone, in Cook street.
Yesterday eight of the young men who had been brought here from Ashton-under-Lyne and Stalybridge were selected from the others, and with the two young men who came from London, and who, as already stated, called at the police office and made a statement regarding the manner in which they alleged they had been entrapped, were taken to the office of Messrs. Fletcher & Hull, and there made affidavits in accordance with the statements given.
In the course of the forenoon Captain Cunningham, commander of the Great Western, applied at the police office for officers to go on board that ship and take off those persons who. wished to leave, as he was anxious his vessel should sail. Detective Inspector Carlisle and Mr. Dalgleish (chief constable of Ashton-under-Lyne) accordingly went on board with Captain Cunningham. The passengers, to the number of between four and five hundred, nearly all young men, were mustered and asked if they wished to go to New York in the ship or to go ashore. All, with the exception of four, (who belong to Ashton, and say they were engaged by Mr. Hugh Shaw, who examined their teeth,) answered that they would go in the ship. The four young fellows who wished to leave were allowed to do so. Of those on board, it is stated that from one hundred and fifty to two hundred have been brought from different parts of Lancashire, and engaged to work in the “extensive glass manufactory.” The remainder consist of young Irishmen and Germans, but the police have no information to show that they have been induced by false pretences to cross the Atlantic. Shaw and one or two other parties who are alleged to have taken an active part in the shipment, on observing Inspector Carlisle and Mr. Dalgleish on board the ship, took the best possible means to hide themselves from the view of the officers of the law. It is stated that a German, dressed in a kind of military uniform, was on board and appeared to exercise considerable authority over the passengers. He was assisted by a person styled by the passengers as “sergeant.” Many of the men on board called out loudly that they were determined to go to New York or some other place than Lancashire, as they had been starving while in their own towns.
It is an important fact to note that of all the men to whom the police spoke while on board not one has a passage ticket. This of itself is a violation of the passenger act.
We have already intimated that the young fellows were in a destitute and half-starved condition. Yesterday Mr. Hull provided them with refreshments, and, with the assistance of a few friends on ‘Change, raised sufficient funds to send back those who had been brought from Ashton and Stalybridge. Last evening fifty-three of them were accordingly sent off by the 6.45 train from Lime Street Station, in charge of Mr. Dalgleish.
We understand that the town clerk and his deputy are engaged investigating the law on the subject, and that the matter is likely to come before the magistrates to-day.
Alleged kidnapping for the federal army.
The excitement caused by the importation into Liverpool of a number of youths from the manufacturing districts, who, it was alleged, were to be deported to New York, for the purpose of joining the federal army, continued yesterday, and speculation was rife as to what would be the upshot of the affair. Upwards of fifty of the men had been accommodated with beds at the Brownlow-hill workhouse, and in the morning were again taken to the police office. Inspector Carlisle was engaged again yesterday in investigating the matter. Eight men who had been brought from Ashton and Staleybridge by the Shaws were selected, and they made affidavits in regard to the affair at Mr. Hull’s office. The two young men named Fenton and Whillock, who had been brought from London, and who state that one of the men who engaged them promised that they should have lieutenants’ commissions in the federal army, have also made affidavits. These young men are highly intelligent persons, and give a very straightforward and consistent statement of their engagement in London and the subsequent proceedings of the agents, and there can be little doubt but their evidence will greatly assist the authorities in getting up the ease for the prosecution, should a prosecution be determined upon. It seems that shortly after the London contingent had left the metropolis the secret as to the ultimate destination of the young men got out, and Fenton and Whillock, on their arrival in Liverpool, received telegrams from their friends warning them not to proceed to New York, as it was believed that the parties who engaged them intended to get them to enlist in the federal army.
Yesterday forenoon Captain Cunningham, the commander of the Great Western, called at [Page 34] the detective office, and stated that he wished the polxice to accompany him on board the vessel for the purpose of taking off about 150 of the passengers. He also stated that he was desirous that the matter should be settled as quickly as possible, as he was anxious that his vessel should proceed to sea without loss of time. Subsequently Inspector Carlisle and Mr. Dalgleish, chief constable of Ashton, went on board the Great Western along with Captain Cunningham. The passengers, numbering between 400 and 500, were mustered on deck by Captain Cunningham. They were chiefly very young men. About 200 of them had been brought from the manufacturing districts on the pretence of going to New York to work in the “glass-works,” while the remainder of them were chiefly Irish and German emigrants, but nearly the whole of them were capable of handling a musket. The “emigrants” were asked, in the presence of the officers, whether they were willing to go to New York or wished to be put on shore; and all of them, with the exception of four, said they were desirous of proceeding to New York. The four dissentients came from Ashton, and were examined by Hugh Shaw to see whether they had good teeth. It is conjectured that since the affair has been made public those who have the conducting of the arrangements have brought some influence to bear upon those on board the vessel in order to make them remain. If this be so, it would account for the change which has taken place in the intentions of some of the party, there being between 40.0 and 500 young rnen still on board, who must know by this time the object of their “friends” who are so anxious to decoy them across the Atlantic. One individual, a German, who was on board the vessel, and who wore some sort of a uniform, seemed to take a lively interest in the emigrants, and seemed to possess a con- . siderable influence over a number of them. Another person from Staleybridge, who was addressed by some of the men as the “sergeant,” evidently had some power over the Lancashire portion of the passengers, and told the officers that they were determined to go to America or some other country,’ and not to be left destitute in England any longer; while another of the emigrants told Mr. Dalgleish that “he was not going back to be put in jail to pick oakum.”
The Shaws and some of the other prime movers in the matter, when they saw Messrs. Carlisle and Dalgleish on board the ship, got out of the way as soon as possible.
It is a remarkable fact, and will no doubt form an important element in any future proceedings that may be taken, that not one of the men to whom the officers spoke on board was furnished with a passage ticket. This is in itself a breach of the passenger act, and subjects either the captain or the owner of the vessel to a penalty.
The authorities were in a difficulty as to what they should do with those who had refused to proceed in the vessel. The men were all in a destitute condition, and had no means of reaching their native towns. Mr. Hull went on ‘Change yesterday, and with the assistance of some benevolent gentlemen soon raised a sufficient sum to send back fifty-three of the men to Ashton and Staleybridge. They were accompanied to the station by Inspector Carlisle and Mr. Dalgleish. Before their departure some of the men expressed their warm thanks for the interest that had been taken in their behalf in Liverpool; while the whole body seemed delighted at having escaped from an expedition which seemed likely to end in their leaving their bones on the field in battles which have yet to be fought in the southern States of America.
Eight men who came from London are yet in Liverpool in an utterly destitute state, and any pecuniary aid from those who pity their helpless condition will be thankfully received.
We understand that the town clerk is investigating the affair, and it is likely that some application will be made to Mr. Raffles to-day at the police court.
The Great Western is still detained in the river by the authorities.
Apprehension of a federal recruiting agent.
The federals seem to have begun recruiting in Ireland again. One of their agents has just been arrested in Athlone. ‘He is a man named Murphy, a native of Dublin, but for years resident in America; and the charge against him is an attempt to enlist four soldiers of the 25th regiment. He met them in a public house, and soon got into their good graces by paying for drink. After some time he introduced politics, and abused the English government, spoke of the probabilities of a rising of the patriots in this country, when Ireland would have her own again; and America was willing to assist her in the struggle, and thought that Irishmen ought to aid his adopted country in the present war. He then asked one of the soldiers in a whisper if he was Irish and a Roman Catholic. The soldier, a man from Galway, replied in the affirmative. He then asked him if he was willing to take service under the American flag, promising him, if he got nine others to go along with him, a liberal bounty and commission for himself. Four of the party seemingly assented, when an oath was attempted to be administered. In the mean time one of the soldiers, having left the house while these proceedings were going on, informed the police, and the prisoner was taken into custody. Murphy has been committed for trial. He is about sixty years of age, of military appearance, with gray beard and moustache. In his portmanteau were found a number of printed papers relating to military matters. He had ten sovereigns and some silver in his purse, and a letter telling him where to look for money if he should require it.