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não chega o Sr. Bryan, Ministro ha pouco nomeado, que talvez traga instrucções especiaes a esse respeito.

Aproveito esta occasião para reiterar a Vossa Excellencia as seguranças da minha mais alta consideração.

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Despacho de navios Americanos em Buenos Aires. Exigencia do Consul Geral a respeito da matricula da equipagem

N. 8

Nota da Legação Americana ao Governo Brasileiro

Legation of the United States - Petropolis, January 17, 1898.

Mr. Minister-I am directed by my Government to bring to Your Excellency's attention, that the Brazilian Consul General at Buenos Aires, acting, as he claims, under a new Consular regulation, requires that the original of a Ship's Articles be presented to be certified to, and affixed by him to the ship's manifest, before he will issue a bill of health for such ship.

He exacted this, in October last, from Captain Heningway, of the United States Bark « Antioch » who had requested a bill of health that he might clear for Rio de Janeiro in ballast.

Such a requirement seems so at variance with the general international practice, as approved by common custom and authorized by usual treaty provisions, that I apprehend there must be some misunderstanding or misinformation concerning it.

The laws, regulations and practice of the United States, and in fact of most other countries, require their respective Consuls to retain

possession of a ship's papers while in a foreign port until the ship is ready to sail therefrom. I find also that such is the plain requirement of the Brazilian Law, as published in Decree n. 4968 of May 24, 1872. It would, therefore, be impossible for a Master of a Brazilian vessel, in a foreign port, to comply with such a demand as this made by the Brazilian Consul at Buenos Aires; and certainly the spirit of friendly reciprocity, so uniformly practiced by Brazil, must cause her to respect the reasonable regulations of other Govermments, since she herself prescribes the same regulations for her own officials.

It is the usual practice, instead of demanding the originals, to accept copies of the ship's articles, which, certified to under the official seal of the Consul of the ship's nationality, should be evidence most satisfactory and conclusive.

I therefore pray Your Excellency to give the subject such investigation as it deserves, and if such requirements are arbitrarily made by the Brazilian Consul General at Buenos Aires, I trust you will conclude that it is altogether too severe an application of Brazilian Consular regulations, and will instruct him to henceforth modify them accordingly.

As fully and concisely setting forth the views of the Department of State upon the whole question and expressing its reasonable request in the premises, I enclose herewith a copy of its instructions to this Legation, n. 82 of December 3rd ultimo, and venture to express the hope that, for the reasons therein given, Your Excellency will enable me to transmit the early information to my Government that a certified copy of the ship's articles will here after meet the requirements of Brazilian Consuls at all ports, as it now does at many.

I improve the occasion, Mr. Minister, to renew, with pleasure, the assurance of my high consideration.

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Cópia a que se refere a nota precedente

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(Copy) — Department of State.- Washington, December 3, 1897. No 82.

Edwin H. Conger, Esquire.

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Petropolis.

Sir: I enclose copy of a despatch from our Minister to the Argentine Republic, reporting that the Brazilian Consul General at Buenos Aires declined to furnish the captain of the United States bark << Antioch » with a bill of health, to enable him to clear his vessel for Rio de Janeiro, unless he presented the original of the ship's articles to him for certification, and to be by him affixed to the manifest.

As the ship's articles were, in accordance with the laws and consular regulations of the United States, deposited in the hands of our consular officer at Buenos Aires, and could not lawfully be restored by him to the captain, until the latter had presented his manifest, bill of health, duly certified by the Brazilian Consular officer, and clearance papers from the Argentine authorities, the captain offered to furnish the Brazilian official with a certified copy of them. This he declined to receive. To prevent detention of the ship, our Minister advised the captain and the Vice Consul of the United States to present the original to the Consul General, who attached the document, together with his certificate as to its « genuiness », to the ship's manifest by a card.

The ship's articles or shipping articles are defined as containing all the conditions of the contract with the crew as to service, pay, voyage and all other things, and in accordance with paragraph 194 of the United States Consular Regulations, must be produced by the master to any consular officer of the United States, whenever the latter may think it necessary to the discharge of his duty toward any seaman. They are needed by the consular officer in the case of a dispute between the master and seaman, and on many other occasions. The crew-list, shipping articles and register constitute «the ship's papers», and are regarded by

international custom, sanctioned expressly or impliedly by most modern commercial and consular treaties, as the national papers of the ship, the originais of which should always be in the custody of the master at sea, and in that of the consular officer of the nation in a foreign port.

As above stated, the laws of the United States require, under a penalty of $500, every master of a United States vessel which sails from a port of the United States, on his arrival at a foreign port, to deposit his register, his sea-letter and Mediterranean passport, if he has any, with the consular officer of the United States at the port. Paragraph 175 of our Consular Regulations adds that «It is usual also to deposit with the consular officer the crew-list, and shipping articles, and these documents, together with the register are generally described as the <ship's papers».

Article XXXI of the treaty of 1828 between the United States and Brazil (which was abrogated in 1841) indicates that the Brazilian laws, like our own, contemplated that the ship's papers, as national papers of the vessels, must be in the hands of either the master or the Consul.

It provides that the consuls shall have power to require the assistance of the national authorities for the arrest of deserters, «proving by an exhibition of the registers «of the vessel, or ship's roll or other public documents that those men were part of said crews». The ship's articles form a part of this evidence. In the case under consideration, they could not have been presented to the Argentine authorities by our consular officer, if they had been in the hands of a Brazilian official.

Moreover, the strenght of their evidence as «national papers» is impaired when they bear a certification of their «genuiness>> from the official of a foreign nation.

There has been at times an effort on the part of certain of the South American Republics to require the master of a foreign vessel to deposit the ship's papers with the port authorities, instead of with the consul of his nation. This contention has been uniformily resisted by the United States, as well as by other Governments, on the ground of its inconvenience, its inconsistence with the spirit of international law and

with the express or implied stipulations of treaties. Columbia and Venezuela both receded from their position.

The Department will be glad to have you present its views on this subject to the Government of Brazil pointing out the inconvenience, if not impropriety, of the course pursued by its officer, which it trusts will be abandoned.

Respectfully yours

ALVEY A. ADEE,

Acting Secretary.

Traducção

Legação dos Estados Unidos - Petropolis, 17 de janeiro de 1838.

Senhor Ministro — Tenho instrucções do meu Governo para trazer á attenção de Vossa Excellencia que o Consul Geral do Brazil em Buenos Aires procedendo, como pretende, segundo um novo regulamento consular, exige que o original de um dos papeis do navio (a ships articles) lhe seja apresentado no original para ser certificado e ligado por elle no manifesto do navio antes de se lhe dar a carta de saude.

Elle exigiu isso em outubro ultimo do capitão Hemingway da barca Antioch dos Estados Unidos, que lhe tinha pedido carta de saude afim de partir para o Rio de Janeiro em lastro.

Essa exigencia parece differir tanto da geral pratica internacional, como tem sido approvada pelo uso commum e autorisada por usuaes disposições de tratados, que presumo haver algum engano ou inexacta informação.

As leis, os regulamentos e a pratica dos Estados Unidos e, com effeito, da maior parte dos outros paizes exigem que os seus respectivos Consules retenham em seu poder os papeis de um navio, durante a sua estada em porto estrangeiro, até estar prompto para sahir. Tambem vejo que tal é a clara exigencia da lei brazileira, constante do decreto n. 4968 de 24 de maio de 1872.

Não poderia, portanto, o capitão de um navio brazileiro em porto estrangeiro conformar-se com uma exigencia como essa do Consul do

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