THE "PRINCE OF WALES." MR. HORNBY, British Commissioner: THIS claim arises out of the fact of the Collector of the Port of Astoria having served a notice on the Captain of the Hudson's Bay Company's steamer "Prince of Wales," to the the effect "that the Company were not authorized to use the said steamer for the purpose of either carrying freight or passengers on the Colombia River; and that if they did so, the Collector would seize and confiscate the vessel." The occasion of this notice was the offer made by an officer of the Hudson's Bay Company to convey Judge Storey, of The United States' Court, to Fort Vancouver; and although this gentleman represented to the Collector of Customs the impropriety of the view he had taken of the law, the latter persisted in the interruption thus offered to the trade of the Hudson's Bay Company. Under fear of this threat the Hudson's Bay Company did discontinue their ordinary trading operations, so far as respected the carrying and earning of freight, &c., until an answer was received from Washington to their representations upon the subject. In this answer Mr. Webster repudiated the interpretation put upon the Treaty by the Collector, and the trade was resumed. The Company now claim compensation for the injury done them by this interruption of trade from the month of August, 1850, until April, 1852, which they assess, as they allege, at the very disproportionate and inadequate sum of $10,000. That Mr. Webster was right in considering the view taken of the law by the Collector as erroneous, is clear from a consideration of the words of the Treaty between Great Britain and The United States of 1846, which are as explcit on this subject as can well be. By the second article it is declared, that "from the point at which the 49th parallel of north latitude shall be found to intersect the great northern branch of the Columbia River, the navigation of the said branch shall be free and open to the Hudson's Bay Company, and to all British subjects trading with the same, to the point where the said branch meets the main stream of the Columbia, and thence down the said stream to the ocean, with free access into and through the said river or rivers, it being understood that all the usual porterages along the line thus described shall in like manner be free and open." Without, therefore, the term "navigation" is to be used in a very restricted and unusual sense, it implies the liberty of earning freight on the Columbia River as well as passing up and down it in a pleasure-yacht. The second paragraph, however, of the same Article sets the matter entirely at rest and beyond all dispute. It says, "In navigating the said river or rivers, British subjects, with their goods and produce, shall be treated on the same footing as citizens of The United States," and no one certainly ever disputed the right or liberty of a United States' citizen earning freight on the river. Indisputable as the fact is thus proved to be, that the Collector was wrong in giving the notice before alluded to, the alleged damages are too remote for me to be able to assess them with any degree of certainty or fairness. Moreover, the mere threat of the Collector, made without authority and unjustified by any reasonable interpretation of the law, might and ought to have been disregarded. If the Collector had seized the vessel, either he or his Government would then have been answerable for the damage occasioned to the Company by such a proceeding. Under the present circumstances, however, I do not feel myself justified in doing more than simply disallowing the claim upon the grounds above stated. ORDER OF THE COMMISSIONERS AND THE UMPIRE AS TO THE RATE OF EXCHANGE APPLICABLE TO THE AWARDS MADE BY THEM. THE Commissioners, by and with the concurrence of the Umpire, hereby establish the relative rate of payments of the awards made by them in the currency of the respective countries of The United States and Great Britain, at four doilars and eighty-four cents to the pound sterling. RECAPITULATION. Awards of Moneys made under the Convention for the adjust ment of Claims of February 8, 1853, on behalf of British Claimants against The United States' Government. Names of Parties. Amounts awarded. Thomas Rider 625 00 The "Frances and Eliza," Christopher Richardson owner 34,227 00 Ship" Albion," John Lidgett owner 20,000 09 Steamer "Beaver," Hudson's Bay Company 1,000 00 Great Western Steam Ship Company 13,500 00 The "James Mitchell," Francis Ashley and als. owners 20,000 00 6,000 00 Brig "Lady Shaw Stewart," George Buckham owner 6,000 00 61,689 54 Messrs. McCalmont and Greaves 11,733 58 Andrew Mitchell 20,602 65 Hudson's Bay Company (claim for return of duties) Or, at the relative value of exchange, as established by the Commissioners, to (£57,252 13s. 4d.) fifty-seven thousand two hundred and fiftytwo pounds thirteen shillings and fourpence. CONVENTION WITH THE UNITED STATES 483 RECAPITULATION. Awards of Moneys made under the Convention for the adjustment of Claims of February 8, 1853, on behalf of The United States' Claimants against the British Government. Names of Parties. Amounts awarded. N. L. Rogers and Brothers Barque "Jones," P. J. Farnham and Co. owners 66 The Guly Son," Fuller and Delano owners Brig "Creole," Edward Lockett and als. owners Brig "Douglas," Amos Frazar owner Schooner "Caroline Knight," George W. Knight and als. owners "The Tigris" and "Seamew," Messrs. Brookhouse and Schooner "Washington" 3,000 00 Brig "Enterprize," Joseph W. Neal and als. owners 49,000 00 Schooner "Hermosa," New Orleans Insurance Company and als.. 16,000 00 Amounting in all to the sum of $329,734 18 Or, at the relative value of exchange, as established by the Commissioners, to (£68,131 Os. 74d) sixty-eight thousand one hundred and thirty one pounds seven and one half-pence sterling. |