Mr. Gresham to Mr.
Partridge.
Department
of State,
Washington, August 24,
1893.
No. 57.]
Sir: I inclose extracts from a dispatch, No. 137,
of the 10th instant, addressed to the Department by Mr. Philip C. Hanna,
United States consul at La Guayra, concerning the difficulties experienced
by American merchant ships, in view of the Venezuelan law which requires
that all ships’ papers shall be deposited with the customs officials of that
Government,
The instructions heretofore sent to your legation during the protracted
discussion of this important question are believed to be sufficient for your
guidance.
It is sincerely hoped, however, that Mr. Hanna’s anticipation of a more
favorable disposition in dealing with the matter at the present time will
prove to be well grounded.
I am, etc.,
[Inclosure in No.
57.—Extract.]
Mr. Hanna to Mr.
Quincy.
Consulate of the United States,
La Guayra, August 10, 1893.
(Received August 19.)
No. 137.]
Sir: I have the honor to call your attention to
a matter which I deem of very great importance to our commercial
relation with Venezuela. There is a Venezuelan law requiring that the
masters of all ships, foreign as well as local, deposit with the
collector of customs, on their arrival at a Venezuelan port, the
original register, the manifest, the crew list, and all ship’s papers of
importance. Paragraph 150 of consular regulations requires that these
papers of American vessels be deposited with the consular officer at
each port which the vessel enters. But in Venezuela no American consul
has possession of the papers of any ship and never has an opportunity to
see such papers until the custom-house officials have cleared the ship
and delivered the papers to the captain. This custom of Venezuelan
authorities always has been a source of very great annoyance to our
ships as well as to the consuls. It is a common occurrence for the
custom-house here to lose some of the ship’s papers, and in some cases
the “register” has been lost. I think that eleven times since I have
been consul in La Guayra American masters have complained to me of the
Venezuelan officials having lost some of their “ship’s papers.”
Another remarkable fact connected with this subject is that nearly all
the trouble we had in Venezuela over our merchant vessels during the
late revolution grew out of the fact that Venezuelan officials held the
papers belonging to our ships, or that they demanded them even when
there was no regularly organized Government to deliver them to. There
was trouble over the papers of almost every merchant ship leaving this
port during the latter part of the revolutionary period, all caused by
having to deposit our ships’ papers in the hands of a foreign Government
who were at war among themselves, and who made all the trouble they
could to foreigners. These people often delayed our ships, which carry
the mails, for hours, in order to allow some of their friends to escape
from the country, in spite of the protest of captains and consul. I
refer you to a serious case, that of the American steamship Venezuela, in port at La Guayra on or about the
22d day of September last. It became necessary to ask assistance of the
United States naval fleet then in port.
[Page 737]
The Mijares case, concerning which the newspapers of the United States
and Europe had so much to say, came near being a much more serious case
than what it was. I devoted my dispatch No. 108 to the subject of
Mijares and the steamship Philadelphia.
I hope, now that this country is in a peaceable state, that the
Government of the United States will see fit to enter into some
satisfactory treaty providing for the deposit of the papers of our
merchant vessels in the hands of our consuls. Unless some remedy is
provided in time of peace we may expect renewed trouble with our ships
in Venezuelan ports just as soon as the next revolution gets well under
way. Foreign merchants are of the opinion that there will be
revolutionary trouble here before many months, and I shall not be
surprised if this country sees another war in less than a year. I
believe there now exists with the present Venezuelan Government a most
friendly feeling toward the United States, and that something might be
done now satisfactory to our commerce and shipping interest.
I have, etc.,
