Sivut kuvina
PDF
ePub

Sixteen francs for codfish exported either directly from the fisheries or from the stores in France to European countries and foreign states on the coasts of the Mediterranean, with the exception of Algeria and Sardinia.

Sixteen francs for the importation of codfish to the colonies and French establishments in America, India, and the west coast of Africa, or to other trans-Atlantic countries, when the fish are exported from French ports without having been stored there.

Twelve francs for codfish exported either direct from the fisheries or from French ports to Algeria and Sardinia.

In 1887 the vessels equipped for the cod fisheries brought into France 569,155 metric quintals, as follows:

[blocks in formation]

According to the returns of the French customs, the amount of codfish imported into Bordeaux in 1897 was 391,371 metric quintals, and the codfish exported from Bordeaux amounted to 170,543 metric quintals.

The exportation of codfish receiving bounties in 1897 was as follows:

Kilograms. 7,656, 725 19,095, 019

From the fisheries....

From the French ports......

Total.......

or 267,517 metric quintals.

26, 751, 744

French vessels equipped for the fisheries may withdraw from the bonded warehouses, that is free of duty, the provisions and other things destined for their victualing. With regard to tobacco, the amount allowed is limited to 40 kilograms per ship. The State tobacco factories also sell them tobacco, cigars, and cigarettes at reduced prices. The embarkation of salt meats and butter as provisions gives a right to repayment of the salt tax, and refined or raw sugars put on board for the same use are rated as goods "admitted temporarily."

French salt employed on board is exempt from consumption tax, while as to foreign salt, it is only exempted from customs duty on condition of its being used at sea for salting cod fished off Iceland or the Doggerbank.

In addition to the bounties mentioned above, 20 francs per 100 kilograms are paid for cod roes caught by and brought to France by French vessels. The amount of codfish brought to Bordeaux in 1897 by French ships from the Great Newfoundland Bank was 346,969 metric quintals.

The codfish on arrival at Bordeaux is washed and afterwards dried, either in ovens or by the sun. The codfish prepared in Bordeaux is much less salt and hard than that prepared elsewhere, and can not be exported to distant countries in the same way. It only competes, therefore, with foreign codfish in Europe and the Mediterranean.

APPENDIX G.

REGISTRY OF SPECIAL CLASSES OF VESSELS.

The following appendix contains information in regard to the registry of special classes of vessels referred to in the foregoing text:

1. BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

EXECUTIVE ORDER.

In the exercise of the power conferred upon him by the joint resolution of Congress, approved by the President July 7, 1898, entitled "Joint resolution to provide for annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United States," the President of the United States hereby directs that the issue of registers to vessels by the authorities of Hawaii entitling such vessels to all the rights and privileges of Hawaiian vessels in the ports of nations or upon the high seas, shall hereafter cease.

In witness whereof I have caused the seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed.

WASHINGTON, September 18, 1899.

[SEAL.]

By the President:

WILLIAM MCKINLEY,

ALVEY A. ADEE, Acting Secretary of State,

2. OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL.

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D. C., September 12, 1899. SIR: Your letters of August 5 and August 9, with their inclosures, relative to the issuance of Hawaiian registers to vessels, are at hand.

The decision of the supreme court of the Hawaiian Islands, a copy of which you send, determines, in relation to applications for writ of mandamus to compel the issuance of Hawaiian registers to certain vessels, that the Hawaiian register laws are a part of the municipal legislation of those islands remaining in force by the terms of the resolution of annexation, and that Congress manifested no particular intention to abrogate the Hawaiian registration laws immediately upon annexation, but manifested a general intention to continue those laws. The said applications were, however, by this opinion denied upon other grounds, but the cases have been reopened for the determination of a certain question of fact not material to the present inquiry. Nevertheless, the question of law now before us was definitely ruled by that opinion, and since the Treasury Department has taken the ground that vessels should not be authorized to receive Hawaiian registers and fly the Hawaiian ́flag after July 7, 1898, you suggest that the only remedy for the situation is an executive order suspending the issuance of Hawaiian registers, as a recent executive order suspended the holding of a general election in the islands provided for under the Hawaiian constitution; and you request my opinion as to the legality of such an order of the President, to be procured and issued at your instance, under the resolution of Congress for the annexation of Hawaii.

Under these circumstances, therefore, the question is fairly a legal question and one arising in the administration of your Department. It is obviously a question of high importance and demands careful consideration from the legal standpoint as well as from the standpoint of wise governmental policy.

The decision of the supreme court of Hawaii is based upon the views of Chancellor Kent (3 Com., p. 149), who says "The registry is not a document required by the law of nations as expressive of a ship's national character. The registry acts are to be construed as forms of local or municipal institutions for the purposes of public policy." But it is evident that while Chancellor Kent finds the source of registration in municipal law and not in the law of nations, the character of registration as a governmental act is national and expresses sovereignty. The issuance of registry to vessels entitling them to carry national colors is an act of sovereignty, although the register itself is not a document required by the law of nations as indicative of a ship's national character; for this can be shown in other ways, as, for instance, by a consular certificate attached to the bill of sale of a vessel to an American citizen. This is evidence of a national character and entitles the vessel under the consular regulations to the protection of the flag. Sea letters are also at times evidence of the national character of a vessel, and a bill of sale also is such evidence. Chancellor Kent says, as chief justice of the supreme court of New York, in the case of Barker v. Phoenix Insurance Company (8 Johns., 307, 319), referring to two kinds of American vessels, the one registered and the other unregistered and carrying a sea letter or an official certificate of ownership: "But, in reference to the law of nations and to security upon the high seas, both species of vessels were equally entitled to protection as American property."

While thus there are other documents which impress national character upon a vessel, the register is the usual and most complete evidence of such character, and the fullest charter of the rights dependent thereon.

It is to be noted in passing that the Hawaiian register is, by the terms of the Hawaiian law, even more clearly an international document than the American register (sec. 1000-1008, Civil Laws of the Hawaiian Islands, 1897, c. 69, Registry of Foreign Vessels, p. 412).

Beyond question a vessel's register announces nationality and registration laws, though municipal in origin, or even in character (in the terminology of classification of different branches of the law), assert necessarily and before anything else the sovereignty of the government by which they are enacted and enforced. Therefore, Chancellor Kent's statement in the Commentaries, supra, is to be taken as meaning that the law of nations recognizes various ways of holding out a ship's national character, and does not require the peculiar form known as a register, but it is not to be taken as meaning that registration is a matter merely of local law, and does not affect, or is not affected by, matters beyond the local domain. Now, the joint resolution of Congress for the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands provides generally that "the municipal legislations of the islands inconsistent with this joint resolution

*

*

*

*

*

not

shall remain in force until the Congress of the United States shall otherwise determine." And by the preamble to the resolution the absolute and unreserved cession of all rights of sovereignty of whatsoever kind by the Hawaiian Government to the United States is evidenced.

Again, although there is a Hawaiian Government, the continuation under the terms of the resolution of a government long existing there as an independent autonomythe language and the spirit of the resolution necessarily require the extinction of Hawaiian nationality and sovereignty-the two very things above all others which the register of a vessel expresses.

In my opinion, therefore, the Hawaiian authorities can not in any way certify to the Hawaiian character of a vessel, for the Hawaiian national character can no longer be attributed to vessels owned by inhabitants of the islands. Under the law of nations, vessels bearing any form of certificate of Hawaiian national character at the time of annexation must look to the United States for protection on the high seas and in foreign ports. Their national character has become American.

It is not necessary now to consider what all the consequences of this view may be and what form of certificate of American national character may properly be issued to vessels belonging to Hawaiians, pending Congressional action, although there appears to be authority under the consular regulations for giving such vessels the protection of our flag. With due respect to the judgments of the supreme court of Hawaii, I am unable to admit that a Hawaiian registry can now be issued to a vessel and the flag of Hawaii, the usual token of registration, be flown by her; for, although the Hawaiian registry law is conceded to be a municipal law (in its origin, as indicated, but by no means merely a municipal law in its field of operation and effects), its application since annexation is totally inconsistent with that portion of the resolution by which the Hawaiian Government ceded absolutely and without reservation all rights of sovereignty of whatsoever kind to the United States. By the very language of the resolution municipal legislation inconsistent with the resolution shall not remain in force, and upon these views I am constrained to hold that the registration laws of Hawaii have been abrogated as a necessary consequence of annexation.

It therefore follows that, in my opinion, an order of the Executive suspending the issuance of Hawaiian registers would be a legal exercise of power under the resolution of Congress for the annexation of Hawaii.

Very respectfully,

The SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.

[blocks in formation]

3. LIST OF HAWAIIAN REGISTERED VESSELS, JUNE 30, 1899.

[blocks in formation]

3. LIST OF HAWAIIAN REGISTERED VESSELS, JUNE 30, 1899-Continued.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

CHAP. XVII.-AN ACT relating to the recording, registering, and enrolling of ships or vessels in the district of Orleans.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That any ship or vessel possessed of and sailing under a Spanish or French register, and belonging, on the twentieth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and three, and continuing to belong wholly to any citizen or citizens of the United States, then residing within the territories ceded to the United States, by the treaty of the thirtieth of April, one thousand eight hundred and three, between the United States and the French Republic, or to any person or persons being, on the said thirtieth day of April, an inhabitant or inhabitants of the said ceded territories, and who continue to reside therein, and of which the master is a citizen of the United States, or an inhabitant as aforesaid, may be registered, enrolled, and licensed in the manner prescribed by law; and being so registered, enrolled, or licensed, shall be denominated and deemed a ship or vessel of the United States, and entitled to the benefits granted by any law of the United States to ships or vessels thereof: Provided, That it shall be lawful for the collector to whom application shall be made for a certificate of registry, enrollment, or license for such ship or vessel by any citizen or inhabitant as aforesaid, to make such variations in the forms of the oaths, certificates, and licenses as shall render them applicable to the

cases herein intended to be provided for: And provided also, That every such inhabitant applying as aforesaid shall, prior to his being entitled to receive such certificate of registry, enrollment, or license, deposit with the collector, the register and other papers under which such ship or vessel had been navigated; and also take and subscribe before the collector (who is hereby authorized to administer the same) the following oath: I, A. B., do swear (or affirm) that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the United States of America, and that I do entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to every foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty whatever, and particularly to the king of Spain and the French Republic. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the inhabitants of the said ceded territory who were residents thereof on the thirtieth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and three, who shall take the oath aforesaid, and who continue to reside therein, or citizens of the United States residents of said ceded territory, shall be entitled to all the benefits and privileges of owning ships or vessels of the United States, to all intents and purposes, as if they were resident citizens of the United States. Approved, February 25, 1804. (Stat. L. 2, pp. 259 and 260.)

[U. S. Stat. L., vol. 15, p. 240, Chap. CCLXXIII. July 27, 1868.]

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized to make and prescribe such regulations as he may deem expedient for the nationalization of all vessels owned by actual residents of said ceded territory on and since the twentieth day of June, anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, and which shall continue to have been so owned up to the date of such nationalization, and that from any deputy collector of customs upon whom there has been, or shall hereafter be, conferred any of the powers of a collector under and by virtue of the twenty-ninth section of the "Act further to prevent smuggling, and for other purposes," approved July eighteen, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, the Secretary of the Treasury shall have power to require bonds in favor of the United States in such amount as the said Secretary shall prescribe for the faithful discharge of official duties by such deputy.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]
« EdellinenJatka »