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SATURDAY, December 31,1796.
THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE
AND
GAZETTE of the STATE.
FREE DO M of the PRESS and TRIAL ey JURY shall remain inviolate. ConJHtuiion of Georgia.
AUG U S A : Printed by JOHN E. SMI TH, Printer to the Sta t£ ; Ejfays , Articles of Intelligence, Advert itena nts %
&c. will be gratefully received, and every kind of Printing perfomed. [Price Three Dollars per annum.']
authentic.
NOTES
/n Jubport of Ik ir. ApET S official commu
nication to the Secretary oj State.
[Continued frcqi No. 532.]
(No. i.) Vide letter from citizen Ge
net jo Mr. Jefferfon pi'z2d June 1793,
meflage from th* Present, page 15, ot
the original French.
.{No. 2.) Extraft of the Present's
fpecch to the lioufe of representatives, 3d
December, 1793.
As soon as the w ar rn Europe had em
t>! ated thole powers with whom the U
ifired States have the mod extensive rela
tions, there was reason to apprehend that
an extensive intercourse with them might
be interrupted, and our dis; edition ior
peace drawn into question by the fufpi
cjonstoo often entertained by belligerent
rations. It feerrrd therefore to be my
duty, to admonish our citizens of the con
sequences of a contraband trade, and nf
Jmttilc ads to any ot the parties; and to
ci.'tain, by a declaration of the existing
legal Hate of things, an easier admiflion
©t our right to the immunities belonging
to our situation. Under thefc im reffions
the proclamation, winch will be laid be
fore you, was issued.
In this p 'liure of affairs, both new and
delicate, I resolved to adopt general rules,
which should conform to the treaties,
and aflert the priviledges of the United
States. These were reduced into a system,
woiciu will be communicated to you.
Altho’ I have not thought myfelf at ii
bertv to forbid the sale of prizes, permit
ted by our treaty of commerce with France
to be brought into our ports, 1 have not
refufed tocaufe them tube restored when
they were taken within the protedion of
©fir territory, or by vessels commifiioned
©r equipped in a warlike form within the
limits of the United States.
It reds with the wisdom of corigrefs to
cor red, improve or enforce this plan of
pfr tedion; and it will probably be found
eXnertient to extend the legal code, and
the jurifdidion of the courts of the Uni
ted States to many cases, which, tho’ de
pendent on principles already recoguif
ed, demand some iurrher provisions.
Where individuals fnall within the U
nited States array themselves in holiiiity
against any of the powers at war or enter
upon military ex: editions or enterprises
within the jurifdidion of the United States
©r usurp and exercise judicial authority
within the United States, or where the
penalties on violations on the law of na
tions may have been indiftioftly marked,
cr arc inadequate, these offences cannot
receive too early ar.d elefe an attention,
and require prompt and decifivc remedies.
Whatever thole remedies may be, they
will be well adtriniftered by th© judicia
ry, who poffcfs a long eftabifned course
©f invelfigation, efteftual piocefs and
officers in the habit cf executing it.
(No. 3.) The undersigned minuter ple
nipotentiary having complained to the
secretary ot hate that the attorney of the
United States, had caused the privateer
£ i Vengeance to be arrested without an
affidavit or other authentic teflimony;
©n the 1j th August, 179 j l , the secretary
o> Hate font him an aofwer which Mr.
Troup had addreffiid to him in the ab
fcr.ce of Mr. Harrison diftrift attorney
of New-York ; in which is this paffige.
As to the suit against the privateer,
is was commenced by Mr. Harrison ;.s
attorney for tl*- din rift, upon an official
difel ifure to Ij m, by the Spanish coniul
of he evidence which led him to fuppefe
the privateer had been fitted out and
armed within the United States. Mr.
Harrison upon receiving this difclclurc
felt himfelf call' d up nby confiJcrations
which, vs a public effir. , i.e could not
feiui, to proceed against the privateer
under the 3d feftion of the aft of con
gtefs entitled, an aft in addition to the
act for the punithment of certain crimes
against the United States passed jth June
1794.. This feftion works a forfeiture
ot tne privateer, one half to the nfe of
any perlon who shall give information of
the offence, and the other half to the use of
the United States No person having
appeared in quality of informer, to infti
uite the suit, Mr. Hairifon, according
to the course of the common law, filed
an information ir. behalf ol the United
States, solely against the privateer, as
you will perceive by the copy of the in
formation already transmitted to you.
No law of the United States, and no
law or usage of this state required the
information to be founded upon any pre
vious affidavit, or evidence of the truth
of the matters alledgcd in it. The filing
of an information is an aft entirely in
the diferetion of the officer inilrufted by
law with the power of doing it ; and if
he should abuse his power, he Hands up
on the tooting of all public officers who
are guilty of malvejfation in office. In
the present instance, Mr. Hdirifon has
afted from the best of his judgment up
on the duty of his office, atefer officially
obtaining information from a public of
ficer, who conceived himfelf likewise
bound by a lenfe of duty to commu
nicate the information.’*
When the undersigned tninifter pieni -
potentiaty renewed the charge on the 3d
Vendemair, 4th year (24th Sept. 1795)
to the secretary of Hate, and Hill com
plained that an affidavit was not required
to cause a privateer to be arrcHed— -he
expressed himfelf in these words:
“ But I again Tenew the assertion that
an affidavit is not necessary tor ordering
the arrest of a vessel.”
What is the law, what is the usage,
which establishes the prosecution for re
parationof an off nee, before it be afeer
tained that it has been committed; and
what certainty then lir.d the attorney ?
His opinion S Upon whar is it founded ?
The. complaint of ihe Spanish agent,
since there was not a single affidavit.
Now, fir, upon mere fufpicimis which
the eiffemy interest will not fail always
to bring forward, the French privateers
are to be fubjefted to feizurc! vSuch a
measure tends to nothing less than <0 pa
ralize the 17th article ot our treaty.
The secretary of Hate, in reply, sent
to the undersigned minilfer plenipoten
tiary, the copy of a letter from Mr.
Harrison, of the 3d Oftober, 1795, vX
which is this rcmaikable ( adage : In
this whole bufmefs, however, 1 have un
doubtedly afted fiom my own opinion,
founded u, on such evidence as came to
my knowledge ; and as in fimi’ar cases,
I must neceflarily, in the firft infrance,
be unacquainted with the opinions end
convictions of others, I know of no c
ther rule by which I can be guided, un
lcfs when I am honoured with the direc
tions of the chief executive magiflraie.”
The secretary of state thus closes his
letter of the 16‘h of Oftober covering
that of Mr. Harrison
“ You wiil perceive that whatever
may be the events of the suits pending
in court concerning her (the ptivate-t)
and her prize, the public officer, Mr.
Harrison, is sup orted in his proceedings
by the laws and ulages of his cour.tr},
noon such evidence and information as
in the case referred to were pro meed. ’
(No. 4} In virtue of th*s law the tri
bunals were only authmifed to decide
on cases in which the neutrality of the
United Stares fhal! have been
ted. Yet these tribunals conceived t!* y
Lad aright to pronounce u;cn pr;z'S
made by the French, in almost an ir.de
►-1 j j.»- manner. Ir the »fFair of Gla.s a..
GioUs "giitut the Uiip Betty, the. —cci-
ft* * ' v> • ••* *
G RORGI A.
fion of which has been printed, the fa
preme court pronounced that the tribu
nals could decide whether a prize be
longed to enemies or toheutrals. In the
case of Jooft Janfon against the Dutch
ship Vrouw Catharina Magdelena, it was
decided that the naturalization granted
in the territories of France to American
citizens, during thC war, could not give
them the right either of serving or of
commanding on board of French priva
teers ; that the prizes made by such, al
thougrt legally eommiffioned, were not
valid ; n diftinftion is eftablilhed b- tween
a legal and an illegal privateer; it was
judg id that they had a right to pronounce
on the legality, and consequently on the
validity of the prizes; it was finally de
cided, that a prize made a! sea with the
atfiftance of an illegal privateer, was void
and should b* restored.
It was according to these firft decisions
of the supreme court that the Jiftrift at
torney of Virginia wrote officially, on
the 28th March 1794, to the vice con
fiilat Norfolk— ** No veffcl can be con
demned as prize but in diftrift courts,
which are the proper admiralties of the
United States.” The enemies of France
undcrftjod, or did not underitand this
mode; but they availed themselves of
ir; and in order to cause French priva
reers to be arrelled, tlry lud recourfc to
the law of jth June 1794. '•
At this p-riod, ho ' «ver, the law had
put into the hands of government a luf
ficient pq,wrr for preventing the arming
and equipping of privateers in the ports
of the United States. By the letter of
the secretary of the treafurv, of the 4th
of August 1793* the cotleftors of the
customs were authorized, and even re
quired to visit, in the ftnftcft manner,
not 011'y all privateers, but all vefT-lscn
.ering or going out of American ports.
The law of sth June authorized the pre
tident to support the exercise of these
funftions force.
they did not ncgleft to visit, with the
greatest rignr, all French vessels, priva
teers and others, during their continu
ance in the ports of the United States,
and at their departure. They did not
quit thefc ports but under the eyes and
with the express permilfion of the officers
of the government, for it had forbidden
the coilcftors to clear them, if they com
mitted the lead violation on the neutrali
ty qf the United Spates, in which case
they might be fei/.ed and confifcated.
Yet, whether they had entered the ports
of the United Stares armed, and also went
out armed ; or had since b;en armed for
war, in French ports, fcarcejy did one ot
their prizes enter but (he was arlclled by
order of the federal court.
The proceedings were inftifuted and
pnrfued without any of the forms for pro
tecting citizens. As the undersigned mi
nister plenipotentiary has said, the asser
tion of a-i enemy of the republic was luf
ficient for causing a prize to be seized,
often the rivatcer which had brought her
in, and sometimes for the tfrrcft ot her
captain no proof was required from the
enemy confui who instigated the arrest--
he was not obliged to give feenrirv for
the damageswhich might relult from the
procedure, if it ’ere unfounded the captain
was not allowed to remain in poffcfiion «>t
his property, on giving fccuriry lor its
valu<- ; the p iz»s wr' rot vil; cd —the y
limply placed them in the hands ol the
officers ot juflice- rareb were rh-y per
mitted to b’ fold---and thrn rh" faie whs
made with fio-vuefi., and r.;»r till the on
s nt of the two part es was obtained, in
fi !'•, wh- n modi delay a-id ex, "i.le, nor
withlraading the fhifisofa cratyv i.h:ca
perv, the c m iaints , rove.i n fhu'gthey
advanerd, the rizes were adjudged to
the but rtiafei mdcmaiicatior*
[Voi. XI. No. if4.J
far damage* and losses occasioned by th|nl
feizurc. ,u
The underlined minister
tiary knows bar two affairs, that ot mJI
Nojlru Stnora del Cannot, at RhQs4e*lft»^|'
and, and that of Ja Princeffe des Ailurits# M
at New-York, where fccurity was given L
to the party complaining, and where dj**§|
mages and tntereUs were allowed to tbs { u
captors—‘yet the tribunals have always aMtH
lowed damages to the captured,
they have declared the prizes illegal, Tld|iff
lead pretext was fufficient to obtain fros\H
a tribunal the arred of a prize—if wHf/j|
fufficient to alledge that the private^htmfl
taken one or tW(A:apnon, one or twer.ba|lirnn
rets ot powder, opened some port, hotft# AJ
in the territory ot the United States* ; .ffl
In the affair of the two prises 6(th&u j
French privateer lesCitoyens deMarfcftsfrl
lr, which entered the port of Phi{jjtdeU|)l
phia, armed and conrmiffioned, rep*ire4Ej
in the fame port,' and sent out und#K ttMttl
eyes of the government, the only
in quedion was, that some port-holes iteM’lfi
pretended to have been o,»ened in the re&tJfl
(el alter her departure from PhiladelphU'jfafl
the cjutt of Charledon was of opinionTlH
that the holes had been opened, and cooZQj
donned the two prizes. The fupcnofMl
courts did not adopt this opinion, anfll
tin tirlt sentence was reversed—hot attoH
how long a time, .how much care, fiwfl
ligue, pain and expense ? ■
In the affnr ot the Princeffe des
rics, at Ne v. Y rk, as will be fecn herkffl
atter, only two cannon and a score
tulees were in quedion behold whOT^H
called an armament, behold how
are abused ! H
Prizes have been arretted under tfUlfl
more frivolous pretexts. The (hivarteitl
la Parifienue had infringed a revenue UwS
ot the United States, (he was lieized inM
condemned by the diltrirt court. Thtyfl
tribunal doubtless agreeable to rales pre-in
feribed by the law, had reltored this vefliSf
to her owners, on making them pay heffl
value. The privateer, atter having ckHg
rented the sentence of the court, wer.t ou»B ;
and made two confjderfthle prizes—omM
was sent into Charledon and the othefiilA
to Savannah. They were both arredetH
at the indance of the Eoglilh conftfliM
under the pretext that the tribunal hadflg
adHd illegally, by redoring the confifcilß
ed privateer— that notwithdandhig rhill
redirution and the payment of her
to the treafurcr, (he had always remained®!
the property of the United Statesj a«fl
could not make any lawlul prize. TK|V :
ridiculous assertion was seriously
in the diitritt and circuit courts, and jH
the supreme court of the United
at tire close of the proceedings, whioflU
laitcd near two years, thh prizes were adflf|
judged to the captors, but without
mg them damages.
In like manner have been treatetf’fjlH
rich and numerous prizes of the
privateers la Merc Michelle, la BrutUfffq
ie General Leveaux, et 1c Vengeur. ThJm
captors
C /urt ~ at’-i have not obtained damagclaß||
Were it nt-ceffarv to cite here ail
■■''xatrous proceedings commenced agatflflH
Fr iicn veffe.s, tne underfrgned mini feHlg
pi'-.ni -otvntiary, would >hlig-'d to
a volume. He himfeif with rrdqHß
ing to -vi.a: be has juit said, the
the Vengeance and »bat ot tlie Caffiusa.
AJrr ni the Ven? fence. f
At th'* beginr.iug o; 1794-. trie precfcH ■
c~fT r .>* lie Underlined cur nge i thrc.vp®H
of. a J) .rad. , a French Galliot,
particul.r until m for St. D-mingo. f®|||
oi.i-.-red him to go to NT-w York
I-I.iut, to take fame powder which w;HH
at Sa. dv Hook on board the fngktt
.v r:!i!a i-e r belonging to th. rcpttbojfl
•*. ! v Hh made part ' f her
ana u carry t.iem to general JLcvOwi^
’ S