Mr. Frelinghuysen to
Mr. Hamlin.
Department
of State,
Washington, April 21,
1882.
Sir: With reference to previous instructions sent
you on the subject of the collection by Spanish consuls residing within the
territory of the United States of certain fees on the bulk of cargoes of
goods and wares shipped from this country to Spanish ports, I herewith
transmit, for your further information and for action similar to that which
you shall have taken in like
[Page 468]
cargo
shipped from this port, per American schooner Ida A. Payne, to Mayaguez,
Porto Rico. I have had served upon the Spanish consul my protest, and
ordered a copy to be forwarded to your good self.
I may state here that an analogous case would be the instruction from the
Department of State of these United States to their consuls at Cuba and
Porto Rico “to impose and collect a tax of ten cents for every 2,000 pounds
of sugar, or other products, including the packages in which packed,
exported from those islands and shipped to and cleared for a port in these
United States.”
I am, &c.,
[Appendix to inclosure 1.]
To whom it may concern:
I hereby protest against the payment of an impost exacted by the Spanish
consul at New York on the cargo consisting of goods, the product of
these United States of America, shipped by me on board the British brig
Zebenia, J. E. Merriam, master, bound for Arroyo, Puerto Rico, of ten
cents for each and every 1,000 kilograms weight of said cargo, amounting
to $21, and paid under compulsion on the ground that no foreign consul
has the right to levy and collect a tax on goods shipped from the United
States of America to the country or a colony under the government he
represents, and being also liable to loss from peril of the seas before
arrival at their destination.
Done and protested at the city of New York, in the county and State
of New York, this 14th day of April, A. D. 1882, before me.
In testimony whereof as well the said Henry Beste as I, Edwin F.
Corey, a notary public in and for the State of New York, by letters
patent under the great seal of State, duly commissioned and sworn,
have hereunto subscribed these presents, and I have caused my
official seal to be hereunto affixed.
[
seal.]
EDWIN F.
COREY,
Notary
Public.
State of New York,
City and County of New York, ss:
I, Edwin F. Corey, a public notary, duly commissioned and sworn, do
certify the foregoing to be a true and exact copy of an original
protest on record in my office.
Witness my hand and official seal this 14th day of
April, A. D. 1882.
[
seal.]
EDWIN F.
COREY,
Notary Public, 54 Wall Street, New York.
[Inclosure 2 in No. 56]
Mr. Beste to Mr.
Hunter.
New
York, January 31,
1882.
Sir: I beg to inform the honorable Department
that I have been compelled to pay to the vice-consul of Spain at
Machias, Me., a Mr. I. Sargent, a fee or, better said, an “impost” of
ten cents for every kilo (about 2 pounds) on the weight of a cargo white
pine lumber bought and shipped for my account, on board the American
(United States) schooner Helen I. Holway, ———— Thompson, master, at
Machias, Me., and bound for Arroyo, Puerto Rico, a Spanish colony, an
act which I consider not only unjust, but also against international
laws, for reason that a consul holding an exequatur from his government
cannot levy and collect a tax on goods of American production and
growth, and shipped in American bottoms from this country, before they
have been landed in a Spanish port, on the road to which they may
perish.
Furthermore, the consul is exempt from taxation, although his office is
made one of “gain and profit” to his government.
If authorized by his government, it becomes more irksome, this impost, in
the face of the great consideration granted by the authorities of these
United States in allowing goods being shipped and laden on board of
vessels under the Spanish flag without imposing the differential duty,
enjoyed in the home country, formerly collected here, and which law, I
have been given to understand, has not been repealed.
I remain, &c.,