The Department may desire to send to the consul general at Havana the text of
the minister’s communication, and I therefore inclose a copy of the original
in Spanish.
[Translation.]
Ministry of State, Madrid, February 4, 1871.
My Dear Sir: I have received the reports of the
minister for the colonies respecting the note of your excellency dated
16th July last, in which you requested that certain reforms be
introduced in the customs regulations for the island of Cuba, so as to
avoid the injuries of which the captains of North American vessels have
complained, and in answer thereto I have the honor to inform your
excellency that the principal wishes expressed in your above-mentioned
note are fulfilled.
Captains of foreign vessels are no longer required to declare the tonnage
of their vessels in Spanish measure, it being sufficient on the first
voyage for them to make such declaration in conformity with the
builder’s measurement, or according to the
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measurement of the respective nations to which
they belong, being, however, obliged thereafter to show certificates of
the measurement that shall have been used for the collection of tonnage
dues, as laid down in the order of 9th of July last.
Respecting fines inflicted on captains of vessels for informalities in
their manifests, or for not having presented them, in addition to the
cargo list certified by the Spanish consul at the port from whence they
sail, considering that in these omissions there was no intention to
defraud, the said fines have been remitted in those cases in which the
vessels had entered the ports of the island of Cuba since the 19th of
December, 1868, that being the date when the order of the provisional
government of the 11th of November then last past commenced to be in
force.
The evidence hitherto required to exonerate the masters of foreign
merchant vessels having been the occasion of reclamations, the
administration has taken the matter into consideration, and instead of
demanding certificates of the port captains, as heretofore, it is now
ordained that a certificate shall be furnished from the consul at the
port of arrival, showing that, according to the log-book, the vessel had
not before entered a port of the island, the consuls being at liberty to
ask from the captain such other facts as may appear necessary to certify
with exactitude upon the matter. The fines were legally inflicted, and
in remitting them the government has acted in conformity with sentiments
of equity and deference. Your excellency will therefore understand that
captains subjected to fines have the means to exempt themselves from
payment if they fulfill the conditions indicated.
Touching the request to modify the regulations in force, it will be taken
into consideration by the board engaged in the compilation of the new
orders and regulations for the customs of the colonies, which will
endeavor to conciliate as far as possible the interests of legitimate
commerce with those of the public treasury.
I avail myself of this occasion to reiterate to your excellency the
assurances of my most distinguished consideration.
The Minister Plenipotentiary
of the United States.
