No. 333.
Mr. Hunter
to Mr. Hoppin.
Department
of State,
Washington, October 20,
1881.
No. 248.]Sir: I forward herewith, for your information,
copies of the inclosed correspondence relative to the delivery of American
ships’ papers into the control of the customs authorities at Sierra Leone,
and have to request that you will make the necessary inquiry at the foreign
office, touching the subject, with a view, if possible, of having the
objectionable practice, herein complained of, should it not be founded upon
any local law, discontinued in respect to our ships. In case such delivery
should be, however, in accordance with any local provision, it would be
desirable to obtain an equitable modification thereof more in keeping with
the general rule in such matters.
I am, &c.,
W. HUNTER,
Acting
Secretary.
[Inclosure 1 in No. 248.]
Messrs. Yates &
Porterfield to Mr. Blaine.
New
York, October 18,
1881.
Dear Sir: The captains of our vessels in the
African trade are frequently troubled by a demand from the several petty
officers of customs at various trading ports along the west coast of
Africa, from Sierra Leone to the river Gaboon, where there are no
American consuls or commercial agents, for the delivery of their
registers and crew-lists, not only for inspection but to be taken on
shore from the ship. As these vessels lie in an open roadstead a long
way from shore, and the demand often comes from parties who appear to be
irresponsible, it is a source of annoyance, uneasiness, and delay in
recovering them when the ship is ready to sail. What we desire to know
is whether the captains will be justified in refusing to allow their
registers and crew-lists to go out of their possession unless to a
representative of the American Government:
We have a ship sailing on Saturday next, and shall be very glad to
receive such information as you may be pleased to give us on the subject
so that we may instruct our captain what course he ought to pursue.
In case the captain is obliged to give up his papers to a representative
of a foreign government, is not he entitled to a receipt for same?
If this communication should have been addressed to the Secretary of the
Treasury, will you please forward it?
We are, &c.,
[Inclosure 2 in No. 248.]
Mr. Hunter to
Messrs. Yates &
Porterfield.
Department of State,
Washington, October 20,
1881.
Gentlemen: Your letter of the 18th instant has
been received. It represents that masters of vessels on the west coast
of Africa are required by customs officers at certain ports, from Sierra
Leone to the river Gaboon, to deliver to them their register and crew
lists, which are taken ashore to the serious inconvenience of such
masters. You consequently ask whether captains in your service would be
justified in refusing to comply with a demand for their ship’s papers to
go out of their possession.
In reply I have to state that if the requirement of the custom-house
officers referred
[Page 548]
to is
authorized by the local law, it must be complied with until the law
shall have been repealed. This Department is not informed as to the law
on the subject at the ports to which you advert. It seems reasonable,
however, that the officer who takes the papers of a vessel should give a
receipt for them, but unless he should be required by law to take that
course, it may be regarded as optional with him. As you speak of Sierra
Leone as one of the ports where the objectionable practice of which you
complain exists, the minister of the United States at London has been
instructed to make inquiry upon the subject and to request that, if the
step should not be sanctioned by law, orders may be given for it to be
discontinued, at least in respect to American vessels.
I am, &c.,
W. HUNTER,
Acting
Secretary.
