No. 54.
Mr. Williamson to Mr. Evarts.
Legation op
the United States,
Valparaiso, June 14, 1877.
(Received July 16.)
No. 24.]
Sir: I have the honor to inclose a copy of a
communication received on the 8th instant from the Hon. Jose Alfonso,
minister of foreign relations of Chili.
To enable the Department to more fully understand the communication of Mr.
Alfonso, I will briefly state the particulars in the case of the steamer
Georgia, so far as they are known at the United States Consulate.
The steamer Georgia, Captain Nickerson, owned by the New York Transit
Company, while en route from New York to San
Francisco, Cal., in passing through the Straits of Magellan, ran upon a rock
and sank. This accident occurred near the Chilian settlement at Sandy Point,
(Punta Arenas.)
Captain Nickerson, believing the Georgia to be a total loss, sold her at
public auction to one Jones, for the sum of nine hundred and fifty dollars,
and left for New York. A few days after Captain Nickerson left, the steamer
Wilmington, Captain Holmes, belonging to the Transit Company, arrived at
Sandy Point with men and machinery, for the purpose of raising the wrecked
steamer. Captain Holmes purchased the Georgia back from Jones for the sum of
fifteen thousand dollars, giving an order for the amount on Kendall and
Company, of this city.
This house refused to honor the order of Captain Holmes. Then Jones applied
to the civil court of this province and obtained an order of arrest, to
prevent the steamer Georgia leaving the waters of Chili, and also commenced
suit to obtain back the steamer.
Captain Holmes raised the Georgia and made such repairs as would
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enable him to take her to San
Francisco. Upon hearing of the order of the court detaining the steamer, he
came to this city and applied to the court for authority to bring her to
this port, giving as a reason that it was difficult for him to obtain
provisions for his crew at Sandy Point. This authority was refused him. He
then returned to Sandy Point and, as it appears, left without authority.
The Georgia is detained at Callao, Peru, at the request of the Chilian
Government, and I learn that Mr. Gibbs, oar minister to that republic, has
applied for her release.
I am, &c.,
[Inclosure.]
Señor Alfonso to
Mr. Williamson.
Republic of Chili,
Ministry
of Foreign Relations,
Santiago, May 29,
1877.
Sir: The American steamer Georgia was wrecked a
few months since in passing through the Straits of Magellan. Her remains
having been alienated at a public auction held in Sandy Point; there
have afterward arisen questions, brought before the ordinary courts of
justice, relative to the property in her, or the better right to her
possession. Among others a petition for an embargo upon the vessel,
already put afloat, was presented, which petition was granted. The
tribunal having cognizance of the cause communicated to the governor of
Magallanes the decree granted, in order that the Georgia should not
absent herself, and that functionary, on his part, commissioned an
officer of the army, who, repairing on board of the Georgia, should see
that the aforesaid decree was duly carried out.
In this state of affairs the Georgia, which was lying at some distance
from Sandy Point, aided by another vessel of her own nationality, the
steamer Wilmington, left her anchorage, giving no heed to the earnest
requests of the officer charged with her custody, thus infringing the
decree of embargo. So soon as the superior authorities had knowledge of
this fact, they ordered that if the Georgia should touch in any Chilian
port she should be detained. The Georgia arrived shortly afterward,
accompanied by the Wilmington, at the port of Lota, the maritime
governor of which place had already received the said orders, in
obedience to which that officer determined that a cockswain, in
conjunction with the officer whom the Georgia had violently carried off,
should duly carry out the order of detention.
In Lota the same scene was repeated as in Magellanes. The Georgia paid no
more attention to the two public employés charged with her detention
than to the decree of embargo. She left that port, carrying with her the
two employés.
During her voyage north she put into Mexillones de Bolivia, at which port
she disembarked the officer and cockswain still making use of force.
Thence she steered for Callao, where I have learned an order for her
detention has been granted by the authorities of that republic, at the
requisition of the Chilian consul.
I believe that commentaries upon the facts I have stated are needless,
for they are of such a nature that any argument respecting them would
deprive them of their force. But at the same time I consider it
indispensable to bring them officially to your excellency’s notice,
especially as they concern a vessel covered by the flag of your nation,
which, if it be a guarantee that the persons and interests of Americans
must be respected throughout the world, bears with it likewise the
obligation of observing the respect due to the laws and authorities of
the countries whither commerce or navigation may carry that flag.
Unhappily, this latter has not taken place in the case of the Georgia,
and for this reason it has been necessary to apply to a foreign
authority, soliciting her detention for the purpose of making effective
the responsibilities emanating from the facts hereinbefore detailed.
I avail myself of this opportunity to repeat to your excellency the
sentiment of consideration with which I am, &c.,
