Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 4, 1882
No. 288.
Mr. Frelinghuysen to Mr. Hamlin.
Washington, June 14, 1882.
Sir: I inclose herewith for your information, copies of a dispatch and the inclosures that accompany it, No. 1145, dated the 29th ultimo, received from the United States vice-consul-general at Havana, relating to the duties imposed at that port on live fish imported from the coasts of Florida.
You have been already instructed on this subject in dispatch No. 49, of the 27th of March last, from this Department.
I am, &c.,
Mr. Williams to Mr. J. C. Bancroft Davis.
Havana, May 29, 1882. (Received June 7.)
Sir: I beg to inclose herewith copy and translation of a communication dated the 12th instant, received at this office from Messrs. Fogarty & Johnson and others, of Key West, Fla, with copy of my reply thereto, dated 23d instant, in relation to the live fish business that they have been carrying on with this port during the last twenty-five years, and which has recently suffered interruption by the imposition of an import duty by the government of this island.
In presenting this communication to the consideration of the Department I take it that it may not be inopportune if I accompany it with a brief relation of facts partly orally acquired and partly from my own personal knowledge, concerning the fisheries of Florida, and the introduction of their products into the Havana market.
The fisheries of the western coast of that State for several generations prior to its acquisition by the United States from Spain, in 1821, in virtue of the treaty of 1819, had been the principal source of supply of live fish for the inhabitants of Havana.
By that treaty, the live fish brought from Florida was denationalized and became, in consequence, a merchandise of foreign production in Cuba. It was, moreover, excluded from the Havana market by the ancient royal orders of the kings of Spain which excluded all persons from fishing for the purpose of trade but those (matriculados) who had already performed services in their majesties’ ships of war or were inscribed in the lists of the many offices to perform such service when called upon.
Thus by the joint action of the treaty and these royal orders, the people of Florida engaged in the occupation of fishing lost their best market, the inhabitants of the Havana losing at the same time their nearest and most abundant source of fresh fish food.
Surreptitious means, however, were devised for the circumvention of the barrier thus interposed between supply and demand.
Thus, soon after the transfer of Florida, a number of small sloops, called smacks, were fitted out in Mystic and New London, in the State of Connecticut, between parties in Havana and others in those towns for the joint prosecution of this trade.
The modus operandi was thus: They carried two flags, one American and the other Spanish, with corresponding registers and crew-lists; then, after catching on the coast of Florida, under the American flag, their full fares, they would set sail for Havana, where they would enter flying the Spanish flag, reporting from some port of the coast of Cuba to the westward of Havana or from the banks of Yucatan.
Through the influence of the monopolist Don Francisco Marty, into whose hands the trade soon fell, it was in this manner carried on from about the year 1823 to 1856.
In this latter year some of the master fishermen hailing from Mystic determined that they would no longer bring the article for the price Mr. Marty was assigning them, which was only five to six cents per pound, while at the same time it was being retailed from his fish market in this city at thirty to forty cents per pound.
They complained that Mr. Marty from a very poor and obscure position had become a millionaire, due mainly to the monopoly he had acquired over the sale of their merchandise, and what they had obtained from it had scarcely been sufficient to cover their living expenses. Therefore, with the double view of becoming independent of Mr. Marty and of reaping a larger profit out of their business, they proposed to the government—
- 1st.
- That they should be permitted to bring live fish into this port, under the American flag, free of all import duty.
- 2d.
- They would pay on the measured tonnage of their vessel the regular tonnage dues and other customary port charges; and,
- 3d.
- They offered to bind themselves never to sell by the cargo above 11 cents per pound.
General Don José de la Concha y Gutierrez, was then captain-general of the island, and to him the proposition was presented.
Hitherto the government had derived no revenue from the vessels plying this trade, and the fishermen offered to pay tonnage and corresponding port charges, such as interpreter, custom-house entry, captain of the port’s fees, &c.
The people of Havana, under the monopoly of Mr. Marty, were paying exorbitant prices for the article. General Concha favored the proposal, and referred it for examination to the very able economist Don Bonifacio Cortes, then collector of this port, who in turn reported favorably.
Meantime Mr. Marty brought to bear against the measure all the power of his influence, backed by the navy department; but public opinion pronounced itself in its favor, and General Concha, after some months, issued a provisional decree accepting the proposal of the fishermen with the modification of striking out the fixed price [Page 476] proposed, leaving this to be settled by the competition of supply and demand, and fifty-five cargoes were brought in under its provision.
Mr. Marty then appealed to Madrid, and succeeded in obtaining a royal order from Queen Isabel annulling the decree of General Concha, and the trade in consequence was for a while totally stopped.
In consequence, another effort was made on the part of the agent of the fishermen, and after an interval of six months another royal order was obtained granting their petition, and since 1858 to the early part of the present year the trade has been actively prosecuted with profit and advantage to both producers and consumers, until practically prohibited, as the signers of the accompanying communication aver, by the recent order of General Prendergast, the present governor-general of the island.
I have the honor, &c.,
The undersigned, owners of schooners in this port, and which have been engaged for many years in the importation of live fish from Florida to Havana, each one of which paying into the treasury of Cuba more than $200 in gold for tonnage dues, inspection, pilotage, &c., which charges we have always considered excessive, for the reason that no Spanish vessel, no matter how large, pays such heavy dues in the United States.
Lately, by the interference of certain speculators of that city, a new and extra duty has been imposed, which, added to the existing duties, amounts to $2.35 for each 100 pounds, or, in other terms, amounting to the net profit we realize after so much labor during each month.
On and after the 1st day of April, the date of the issue of the said decree, our vessels have been compelled to suspend their voyages on account of the enormous dues thus imposed upon them, and we have in consequence made a representation to the honorable the Secretary of State, who has informed us that he has made a representation of our case to the minister of the United States at the court of Madrid.
Since our vessels have abandoned their regular trips to the port of Havana the price of live fish has been greatly enhanced, the poorer classes can no longer afford to purchase it, and the treasury of the island fails to receive the $200 which each of our twenty-one schooners formerly paid into it every time they entered port, so that it will be perceived that by the above operation our vessels are excluded from the market of Havana, and the treasury loses the usual duties imposed, and the poorer classes of Havana can no longer purchase fish because of the monopoly imposed upon it.
We have lately read the telegram of the minister of ultramar regarding the suppression of the differential duties now ruling, and as we believe that it is not to be supposed that the new duty imposed on the 1st April on live fish can be carried into effect, for the reasons we have already stated herein, and as the measure is readily understood to be both prejudicial to the inhabitants and to the treasury of Cuba, we therefore apply to you in order that you address his excellency the governor-general of the island, soliciting that he shall suspend the enforcement of the new duty imposed on live fish on and after the 1st day of April of the current year until the supreme government of Spain shall decide the question subject of this memorial.
- FOGARTY & JOHNSON.
- ENRIQUE PARODI.
- FERNANDO J. MORENO.
- W. D. CASH.
- JOHN LOWDELN.
- JAMES C. CURTIS.
- THOMAS SHULTZ.
- SAMUEL TILER.
Mr. Williams to Messrs. Fogarty & Johnson and others.
Havana, May 23, 1882.
Gentlemen: Replying to your communication of the 12th instant, I beg to say that the course of procedure prescribed to this consulate-general prevents it, in the absence of instructions from the Department of State at Washington, from initiating negotiations with the governor-general of the island for the introduction of live fish from the coast of Florida for sale in the markets of Havana.
[Page 477]However, with the view of subserving your interests, I send by this week’s mail a translated copy of your communication to the Department, which I respectfully submit for its action.
I remain, &c.,
Vice-Consul-General.