Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 8, 1885
Mr. Bayard to Mr. Reed.
Washington, March 10, 1885.
Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your No. 303 of the 5th ultimo, in the matter of customs duties charged at Barcelona on cargoes of old scrap iron and metal shipped to that port by Mr. F. B. Hamel, of Havana, showing the status of the case.
In connection I inclose a copy of a dispatch on the subject from Havana, and of an instruction in reply; you will act on the case according to its merits.
I am, &c.,
Mr. Williams to Mr. Davis.
Havana, January 10, 1885.
Sir: Herewith I beg to transmit the authenticated copy of a declaration and protest, filed under date of the 8th instant, at this office, by Mr. Fernando B. Hamel, against the collection of import duties in the port of Barcelona, Spain, on several shipments made thither by him of old iron and other junk articles from the port of Havana.
Mr. Hamel, who has been for many years favorably known to me, * * * begs to appeal to the Department of State, asking for the exercise of its good offices in his favor through bur minister at Madrid.
The accompanying declaration and protest is so explicit in itself that nothing more remains for me to say than to recommend, most sincerely, the appeal of Mr. Hamel to the kind and friendly consideration of the Department.
I have, &c.,
Consul-General.
Protest of Fernando B. Hamel.
Havana, Cuba.
By this public instrument of declaration and protest be it known and made manifest unto all to whom these presents shall come or may concern, that, on this 8th day of January, A. D. 1885, before me, the undersigned, consul-general of the United States of America for Havana, and the dependencies thereof, personally appeared Fernando B. Hamel, a citizen of the United States, a merchant doing business in this city of Havana, who, being first duly sworn, did declare and state as follows:
That on the 10th day of July, 1883, he shipped by the Spanish bark Concepcion, Sola master, bound to Barcelona, Spain, from this port, an invoice of junk stores, composed of old iron and other metals, and amounting, with charges thereon, to the sum of $5,382.75, Spanish gold, and consigned by him to the firm of Balcells & Subiran, of Barcelona;
That upon the arrival and entry of said shipment at Barcelona, the custom-house authorities levied duties thereon to the amount of $1,282, and collected the same from his correspondents, the said Balcells & Subiran, nothwithstanding the representations made by them to the customs authorities that the collection of said duties was contrary to law and regulations;
That on the 11th of July, 1884, he again shipped by the Spanish bark Concepcion, and consigned to the firm of Civills & Rabell, of Barcelona, another invoice of old iron and metal, amounting, with charges, to $8,282.54, Spanish gold. The vessel arrived at her destination, was discharged, and the goods cleared at the custom-house as free of duty, sold and delivered with that understanding, when it appears that the customs authorities of said port demanded of the said consignees the amount of $3,494.83 as duties thereon, and for the payment of which they were forced to give bond.
This appearer further declares that his correspondents in Barcelona have made repeated representations in his name and interest before the customs authorities of that port, principally to the effect that old metals are not in any sense the production of any country; that in these instances the same proceeded from Cuba, a province of Spain, and were snipped under the Spanish flag, and should not be considered as the production of a foreign country; that the said metals have already, in their original form, and when new, paid the corresponding duties to the customs authorities of Cuba, and now broken up and fit for no purpose but remanufacture into new forms should not again be assessed for customs duties; and further that the collection of such duties upon the. said goods was in direct contravention of the law of June 30, 1883; that his correspondents in Barcelona have also protested before the United States consul at that port, the interest being that of an American citizen against the collection already made of the duties upon the first-mentioned shipment, and demanded the return of the same as illegally collected, and against the pretension and demand of the customs authorities for duties upon the second shipment for which the consignees were forced [Page 702] to give bonds which should be cancelled; but as this appearer is informed and believes such representations have been without any effect.
And this appearer further declares that on the 11th of August, 1884, he shipped an invoice of similar goods, old metals, amounting to $2,438.35, by the Spanish brig Tuya, bound to Barcelona, and consigned to Balcells & Subiran.
That on the 23d October, 1884, he shipped an invoice of old metals, amounting to $10,352.68, by the Spanish bark Mario, bound to Barcelona, and consigned to Civills & Abel; and that on the 5th November, 1884, he made a similar shipment of old metals, amounting to $2,286.51, by the Spanish bark Maipo, bound to Barcelona, and consigned to Balcells & Subiran; and fearing that the customs authorities of Barcelona may have similar pretensions for the payment of duties, and take the same action in these last-mentioned shipments as in the two before-mentioned cases, this appearer hath by these presents publicly and solemnly protested against all and every person and persons whom it doth or may concern, and against all and every matter or thing had and met with as aforesaid whereby and by reason whereof the said appearer already has or hereafter shall appear to have suffered or sustained damages or injury. And doth declare that all losses, damages, costs, charges, and expenses that have happened to said appearer through the action of the custom-house authorities of Barcelona, as hereinbefore set forth, are and ought to be borne by those to whom the same may by right appertain, the same having occurred as before mentioned, and not by or through any insufficiency, default, or neglect of this appeared or of his agents and correspondents; reserving to himself the right to further extend this protest should need and occasion require.
In testimony whereof the said appeared has hereunto subscribed his name, and I, the said consul-general, have granted to him this public instrument under my hand and the seal of the consulate-general to serve and avail him and all others whom it doth or may concern as need and occasion may require.
United States Consul-General.
A true copy.
Consul-General
Mr. Hunter to Mr. Williams.
Washington, February 26, 1885.
Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatch No. 103, forwarding the protest of Mr. Fernando B. Camel against the collection of import duties at Barcelona on shipments of old iron from Havana.
In reply I have to inform you that Mr. Amel’s protest is satisfactory. It remains, however, to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Department—
- (1)
- That Mr. Camel is a citizen, native or naturalized, of the United States.
- (2)
- The claim of Mr. Hamel that junk and scrap metals are the production of no country, and are the remains of articles which, if imported into Cuba, paid duty when first coming in, is sound and equitable. But it should be sustained by affidavits of competent witnesses that the junk did so originate and was broken up into junk in Cuba. It should be made clear that junk from the United States is not imported into Cuba as junk, and thence re-shipped for Spain. The reduced third column duty may make it profitable to make such transshipment. As to this the Department is not informed, scrap metal not being in the Cuban tariff of 1873, the latest the Department possesses.
If the duty on American junk in Cuba be, at the present time, lower than on American junk sent to Spain, then it would pay to re-ship it to Barcelona to be entered on the tree list.
It is understood that Mr. Camel has a branch house in Baltimore, and weekly vessels, owned by the firm, ply between the United States and Cuba.
All the Department desires is to have the bona fides of the transaction established before representations are made to the Spanish Government.
You will examine the case carefully and report the result of your investigation. If Mr. Ames operations are bona fide you should forward such testimony as will establish it and prove his citizenship.
I am, &c.,
Second Assistant Secretary.