Mr. Tassara to Mr. Seward.
The undersigned, minister plenipotentiary of her Catholic Majesty, has the honor to call the attention of the honorable Secretary of State to the case of the Chilian corsair Meteor, now pending in the district court of New York. It is reported from an authentic source, though not official, that judgment will soon [Page 620] be given condemning the vessel for violation of the neutrality laws. At the same time, it seems that the vessel is to be restored to the owners under bond, at their petition, and that experts have already been appointed to appraise it. It is hard to conceive how the court can grant this relief now, when it was refused before the vessel was condemned. The fact is the more strange as the owners have the right of appeal, even after the vessel is condemned. But, aside from this consideration, the anomaly and contradiction of the two parts of the sentence are so glaring that they seem in reality to be two distinct decisions. The condemnation of the vessel naturally infers a confiscation according to law, and that should prevent any kind of release, whether under surety or not. Any other act would annul the judgment, allowing a rupture of neutrality, and would be permitting the acquisition of the thing the law was intended to prevent, as would be the case if the Meteor were permitted to quit this port, with full liberty to arm against a belligerent. Fortunately, if the court has granted the release on bond, the neutrality act empowers the President to act according to the facts and circumstances of the case, as in his good judgment may seem best. It is to be hoped then that, whatever may be the decision of the court, and in spite of efforts to get hold of the Meteor, it will not be given up, or that if it is, it will be under especial bond, with security, that it will not be armed against Spain. This case is so plain, and the conduct of the government of the United States has been so just in the pacific question, that the undersigned does not deem it necessary to make any other protest, but refers to what he has already said on the subject, particularly in his note of the 25th of January of this year.
The undersigned accepts the occasion to renew to the honorable Secretary of State the assurances of his highest consideration.
Hon. William H. Seward, &c.,&c., &c.