CO885-(10-11) — Page 287

1120.

། ། ། །

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 885

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- | COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

MY LORD DUKE,

No. 234.

(ST. HELENA.)

QUEEN'S ADVOCATE to COLONIAL OFFICE.

Doctors' Commons, February 10, 1864.

I AM honoured with your Grace's commands signified in Sir F. Rogers' letter of the 30th January ultimo, stating that your Grace has had under consideration the Law Officer's Report of the 19th January* respecting the construction of a treaty with the United States of America for the suppression of the Slave Trade dated 7th April 1862, and of an Act of Parliament passed to carry that treaty into execution, 25 & 26 Vict. c. 40. B. 16.

That your Grace understands from that Report that if a vessel sailing without flag or papers is captured by one of Her Majesty's cruizers, and condemned as a slaver by a competent court, subjects of the United States found in the captured ship ought, in virtue of the 16th section of the above Act, to be conveyed within the jurisdiction of the nation to which such vessel may belong. That your Grace is desirous of giving such instructions to the Governors of Colonies as may ensure, if possible, the punish- ment of persons thus taken in the Act of slave trading and that your Grace would be glad to be informed for the guidance of Colonial Authorities what indications of nationality will for the above-mentioned Act and treaty be sufficient to show the nation to which the vessel belongs, and to justify the conveyance of American subjects within the jurisdiction of that nation.

In obedience to your Grace's commands, I have taken this question into considera tion, and have the honour to

Report

That your Grace has rightly understood the purport of the opinion of the Law Officers. That in the case of a vessel seized without flag or papers the decision as to the state to which she belongs, can only be founded on probabilities; perhaps, however, they may be such as to enable persons of nautical skill and experience to form an opinion for instance, the build of the vessel, the materials of which she is built, the materials of the sails, whether cotton or otherwise, the cargo, if any, besides the slaves, would, I presume, be circumstances likely to assist a person of nautical experience in forming a conclusion as to the nationality of the ship; and in such a case as this credible report must also be taken into account. I cannot suggest any other circum- stances, though probably others would suggest themselves to the seizor.

I have, &c. (Signed) ROBERT PHILLIMORE.

His Graco the Duke of Newcastle, K.G.,

&o.

&c.

&c.

• No. 226.

0 16278.-05.

25.-2/86.

¡