No. 259.
Mr. Evarts
to Mr. Langston.
Department
of State,
Washington, November 7,
1877.
No. 4.]
Sir: I inclose herewith a copy of a letter of the
16th October ultimo, addressed to the Department by A. Nones & Co.,
merchants of New York, in relation to the imposition and collection of a tax
of 1 per cent. on the value of all consignments of merchandise from New York
to Hayti, together with a copy of the formal protest of the merchants in
question against the legality and justice of such imposition.
It appears from the protests of the merchants in question that the charge
referred to is exacted under the guise of consular fees for certifying
invoices. The amount of the charge thus made renders it at once manifest
that such a pretense rests on no just foundation. The fees of a consul of
this government in Hayti for certifying an invoice, no matter what may be
the value of the consignment, is limited to $2.50; while at the rates
exacted by the Haytian consul at New York upon a consignment of $50,000 (not
an unusual occurrence), the consular charge for certifying the invoice would
be $500.
[Page 411]
Such a charge cannot be received otherwise by this government than as the
indirect levying of a discriminating import duty, imposed by Hayti on the
commerce of the United States with that republic, and, as such, being in
direct contravention of the spirit and letter of the treaty of November,
1864, between this government and that of Hayti.
It evinces, moreover, an absence on the part of Hayti of that feeling of
reciprocity in the commercial relations between the two countries which it
has been the special desire of this government to cultivate and encourage as
alike advantageous to both nations, and especially calculated to illustrate
the spirit of friendship which should characterize the relations of two
neighboring republics. You will take an early opportunity to bring the
matter to the attention of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and at the same
time express to the minister the hope indulged by this Department that the
necessary orders will be issued by his government for the discontinuance of
the exaction, and provision made for refunding such amounts as may have been
thus wrongfully collected. And you will, with as little delay as convenient,
report the result of your proceedings to the Department.
I am, &c.,
[Inclosure in No. 4.]
Messrs. A. Nones &
Co. to the Secretary of
State.
New
York, October 16,
1877.
Honorable Sir: As established merchants in this
city, doing business with the republic of Hayti, we have protested
against the imposition of the one per cent. consular fees charged on the
gross amount of invoices shipped by us to the said island of Hayti, and
respectfully inclose a copy of the protest which we have lodged with the
Haytian consul at New York.
Requesting your kind attention to the same, we are,
Your obedient servants,
A. NONES & CO.
Protest.
State of New York,
City and County of New York, ss:
We, the subscribers, A. Nones & Co., of the said city of New
York, merchants, have solemnly protested, and by these presents do
hereby solemnly protest against any and all payment and payments of
money arising from the imposed charge and payment of 1 per cent. on
the gross amount of invoices demanded by the Haytian consul in New
York City aforesaid, on any and all amounts of invoices of goods,
wares, and merchandise already shipped by us, and that may hereafter
be shipped by us here, to Hayti, by any vessels or steamers,
commencing with the shipments made by us on the sixth day of
October, 1877, per American schooner E. A. de Hart, bound hence to
Aux Cayes, Hayti, and duly certified by the Haytian consul in New
York.
We, claiming as the cause of this, our solemn protest, that the said
Haytian consular charge of 1 per cent. on the gross amount of said
invoices shipped to Hayti is excessive, unlawful, improper, and in
direct contravention to the spirit and meaning of treaty
stipulations between the United States of America and the Republic
of Hayti, and that we have already paid and will continue to pay the
amounts exacted of us as aforesaid, only to prevent complications on
the arrival of the goods, wares, and merchandise which we have
shipped and may ship hence to Hayti, within the jurisdiction of said
Haytien Government, and we hereby give public notice for the benefit
and account of whom it may concern, that we shall claim a refund of
any and every excess so paid, over and above a reasonable amount and
charge, for Haytian consular fees, and for the verification of all
invoices by us so shipped as aforesaid to the island of Hayti.
ALEX. NONES,
Of and for the Firm
of A. Nones & Co.
Dated New York,
13th October,
1877.
[Page 412]
United States of America,
State of New York, ss:
By this public instrument be it known to all whom the same doth or
may in anywise concern, that I, Joseph B. Nones, a notary public in
and for the State of New York, by letters patent under the great
seal of the said State, duly commissioned and sworn, dwelling in the
city of New York, do hereby certify that on the day of the date
hereof, before me personally appeared Alexander Nones, to me
personally well known, and known to me to be a copartner of the
within-named firm of A. Nones & Co., known to me to be the same
persons described in, and who executed the annexed instrument of
writing, and acknowledged to me that he had, voluntarily and freely,
executed the same, for the uses and purposes therein stated, as the
proper act and deed of his said firm and of himself as such
copartner.
In testimony whereof, I have subscribed
my name and caused my official notarial seal to be hereunto
affixed the 13th
day of October, in the year one thousand eight hundred and
seventy-seven, in the 102d year of the Independence of the
United States of America.
[
seal.]
J. B.
NONES
,
Notary Public of the State
of New York, 91
Duane
street.
