Showing posts with label William III of the Netherlands. Show all posts
Showing posts with label William III of the Netherlands. Show all posts

Friday, May 29, 2020

Cte. Mejan, Le Consul de France et al to Major-General Benjamin F. Butler, May 12, 1862


NEW ORLEANS, May 12, 1862.
Maj. Gen. B. F. BUTLER, U.S. Army,
Commanding the Department of the Gulf:

GENERAL: It having come to the knowledge of the undersigned that the consulate of His Majesty the King of Netherlands in this city has been forcibly entered by your order by some persons in the uniform of soldiers in the service of the United States Government, the person of the consul subjected to indignity and severe ill-usage and kept prisoner for several hours, it becomes the duty of the undersigned, in view of treaties now existing between the Governments which we represent and that of the United States, to formally protest against such action and against any act authorized by you or any authority of the United States that may be in contravention of such treaties.

We have the honor to be, general, your most obedient servants,

Cte. Mejan, Le Consul de France; Juan Callejon, Consul de España; Jos. Deynoodt, Consul de Belgique; J. H. Eimer, Consul of Austria; A. F. Vails, Vice-Consul of Brazil; R. Iken, Acting Bremen Consul; Rd. Murphy, Acting Consul, Sweden and Norway; H. Klumpp, Acting Consul of Wurtemburg; Henry Frellsen, Consul of Denmark; B. Teryaghi, Vice-Consul of Italy; George Coppell, Her Britannic Majesty's Acting-Consul; J. Kruttschnitt, Acting Consul for Prussia and Hanover; F. W. Freudenthal, Consul of Nassau and Brunswick; N.M. Benachi, Greek Consul; C. Kock, Consul of the City of Hamburg; A. J. Da Silva, Vice-Consul de Portugal; Otto Pressprich, Consul of Russia; A1. Piaget, Consul of Switzerland.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series III, Volume 2 (Serial No. 123), p. 121

Amedée Couturie to Major-General Benjamin F. Butler, May 16, 1862

NEW ORLEANS, May 16, 1862.
Maj. Gen. B. F. BUTLER, U.S. Army,
Commanding Department of the Gulf, at New Orleans:

SIR: Your official communication of the 14th instant I have received, and transmitted literal copies thereof to my Government through the usual channels.

In reading it I cannot but think that you have misunderstood the communication which I had the honor of addressing you on the 10th instant, and to which it purports to be an answer.

My communication recited a series of outrages upon my person, the dignity of consulate office, and of the flag of the Government which I have the honor of representing in this city; and informed you that as those acts would be brought to the knowledge of my Government I desired to know whether they were performed with your sanction or by your order. It has pleased you to say that so far as you can judge I have merited the treatment I have received, even if a little rough. I am therefore to infer that the acts brought to your notice received your sanction.

I shall leave it with my Government to direct my future course in consequence of those acts and to pronounce the use which I have made of my consular flag, and in the meanwhile I have to inform you that I have placed the interests of the subjects of His Majesty the King of the Netherlands, heretofore in my charge, under the charge and keeping of the consul of His Majesty the Emperor of the French in New Orleans. But I must be permitted, referring to my only intercourse with your subordinate and with yourself, to insist upon the fact that none of the property covered by my consular flag was claimed by me as my private property, and that I have never admitted anything in reference thereto.

You will find herewith inclosed a copy of an additional statement of facts, subsequent to my first communication, which statement has also been transmitted to my Government. You will perceive that the property which was removed from my consular office by the armed forces under your command, except the title papers and other objects specified in said additional statement of facts, had been received by me as a deposit from Mr. Edmund J. Forstall, a highly respectable citizen and merchant of New Orleans, for many years known as the agent of the banking-house of Hope & Co., of Amsterdam, for whom he was acting in the premises.

Such being the truth of the facts in reference to said property as represented to, and as believed and acted upon by me, I must and do hereby protest against the removal from my consular office of property belonging to and placed there for account of subjects of His Majesty the King of the Netherlands, against the acts of violence which preceded and the display of force which accompanied such removal, and against the violation of the privileges and immunities with which by the law of nations and the treaties of the United States I was invested in my official character.

I have the honor to be, respectfully, your obedient servant,

AM. COUTURIE,                 
Consul of the Netherlands.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series III, Volume 2 (Serial No. 123), p. 122-3

Amedée Couturie:Statement of Facts: May 13, 1862 — 11 a.m.

NEW ORLEANS, May 13, 1862—11 a.m.

A statement of the facts that occurred after I took down the consular flag:

Having hauled down the flag of the Netherlands and left the premises, I paused for a moment in front of the building, which was surrounded by a great crowd of citizens of this place. I noticed that the inside and outside of the consular office were occupied by armed soldiers.

Passing by at 9 o'clock and again at midnight I noticed armed sentinels pacing all around the building; which was then closed. On the following day, being Sunday, the 11th instant, or thereabout, a party of armed soldiers, commanded by officers in uniform with side-arms, reached the consular office, which they entered. At the same time a certain number of drays and wagons arrived in front of the consular office, and the articles hereinafter recited were removed from the vault of my consulate, placed on the sidewalk, thence upon the vehicles, carted off, and removed in presence of a large crowd of citizens. The articles removed by the military force are the following:

No. 1.—One hundred and sixty kegs containing each $5,000, being in all $800,000, Mexican silver dollars, which were deposited with me, as consul of the Netherlands, on the 12th day of April last, by Edmund J. Forstall, esq., a prominent merchant and citizen of this city, acting as agent of Messrs. Hope & Co., of Amsterdam, by virtue of an act of procuration which he then communicated to me. Said specie I was to keep and promised to keep in pledge for account of said firm and hold subject to their order. The above facts were afterward communicated by me to the minister of foreign affairs at The Hague, with a request that he would be pleased to transmit the information of the same to Messrs. Hope & Co.

No. 2.—One tin box (to which we gave the name of a bank box of this city), locked, containing, first, ten bonds of the consolidated debt of the city of New Orleans for $1,000 each, the nominal value of which is $10,000; second, eight bonds of the city of Mobile of the value of $1,000 each, the nominal value of which is $8,000. Said eighteen bonds were deposited with me on the 12th day of April last by Edmund J. Forstall, esq., in the capacity above recited as the property of Messrs. Hope & Co.; third, divers papers, being titles and deeds, my consular commission from His Majesty the King of the Netherlands, and exequatur from the President of the United States.

No. 3.—Six other tin boxes marked with my name, “Amedée Couturie,” containing private deeds, silverware, &c., which boxes are the property of divers persons for whom I am agent.

No. 4.—Two or more tin boxes, the property of the Hope Insurance Company, of this city, which occupied a portion of the premises in which my consulate was located.

Since the removal of the articles herein recited from the vault of the consulate the doors of the same have been closed and locked and armed sentinels continue to be placed at the entrance of and around the building. The coin and other articles above enumerated have been deposited, to the best of my knowledge, either in the mint or customhouse in this city, both public edifices, being occupied by the U.S. military.

AM. COUTURIE,                 
Consul of the Netherlands.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series III, Volume 2 (Serial No. 123), p. 123-4

Thursday, May 28, 2020

William H. Seward to Theodorus Marinus Roest van Limburg, June 5, 1862

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,            
Washington, June 5, 1862.
Mr. ROEST VAN LIMBURG, &c.:

SIR: In regard to the papers which you informally left with me yesterday while waiting for the instructions of your Government, I have the honor to say that the President deeply regrets the conflict between the military authorities and the consulate of the Netherlands which occurred at New Orleans just at the moment when preparations were being made for the restoration of order and the renewal of commerce.

The statements of the transaction which have been received show that Major-General Butler was informed that a very large sum of money belonging to insurgent enemies was lying secreted in a certain liquor store in the city, and he very properly sent a military guard to search the premises indicated. The general says that it was reported to him that Mr. Couturie, who was found there, denied all knowledge of any such deposits, and claimed that all the property in the building belonged to himself personally. These reported assertions of Mr. Couturie of course determined the general to proceed with the search. Mr. Couturie at this stage of the matter avowed himself to be the consul of the Netherlands, and pointed at the flag which he had raised over the door. He withheld all explanation, however, concerning the property for which search had been ordered, and protested against any examination whatever of the premises on the ground of the immunities of the consulate. He was thereupon detained; the keys of a vault were taken from his person; the vault was opened and there was found therein $800,000 in specie and $18,000 of bonds or evidences of debt, certain dies and plates of the Citizens' Bank, the consular commission, and exequatur, and various title deeds and other private papers. All the property and papers thus taken were removed and placed for safe-keeping in the U.S. mint, and the transaction was reported by Major-General Butler to the Secretary of War.

After the affair had thus been ended the consul made written protests, in which he insisted that his detention and the search were illegal, and that the specie and bonds were lawful deposits belonging to Hope & Co., subjects of the King of the Netherlands, and an agent of Hope & Co. has also protested to the same effect and demanded that the specie and bonds shall be delivered to them. The consul further denied that he had at any time claimed that the specie and bonds were his own. Major-General Butler still insists that the deposits were fraudulent and treasonable and were made with the connivance of the consul.

The President does not doubt that in view of the military necessity which manifestly existed for the most vigorous and energetic proceedings in restoring law, order, and peace to a city that had been for fifteen months the scene of insurrection, anarchy, and ruin, and in the absence of all lawful civil authority there, the consul of the Netherlands ought, in the first instance, to have submitted to the general the explanations which he afterward made in his protest, with the evidences which he possessed to show that the deposits were legitimate. If he had done this and then referred Major-General Butler to yourself, or to this Government, the President now thinks that it would have been the duty of the general to have awaited special instructions from the Secretary of War. The consul, however, preferred to stand silent and to insist on official immunities, the extent of which he certainly misunderstood when he assumed that his flag or the consular occupancy of the premises entitled him, in a time of public danger, to an exemption from making any exhibition of suspected property on the premises or any explanation concerning it.

Nevertheless, this error of the consul was altogether insufficient to justify what afterward occurred.

It appears beyond dispute that the person of the consul was unnecessarily and rudely searched; that certain papers which incontestably were archives of the consulate were seized and removed, and that they are still withheld from him, and that he was not only denied the privilege of conferring with a friendly colleague, but was addressed in very discourteous and disrespectful language.

In these proceedings the military agents assumed functions which belong exclusively to the Department of State, acting under the directions of the President. This conduct was a violation of the law of nations and of the comity due from this country to a friendly sovereign State. This Government disapproves of these proceedings, and also of the sanction which was given to them by Major-General Butler, and expresses its regret that the misconduct thus censured has occurred.

The President has already appointed a military Governor for the State of Louisiana, who has been instructed to pay due respect to all consular rights and privileges; and a commissioner will at once proceed to New Orleans to investigate the transaction which has been detailed, and take evidence concerning the title of the specie and bonds and other property in question, with a view to a disposition of the same, according to international law and justice. You are invited to designate any proper person to join such commissioner and attend his investigations. This Government holds itself responsible for the money and the bonds in question, and to deliver them up to the consul or to Hope & Co. if they shall appear to belong to them. The consular commission and exequatur, together with all the private papers, will be immediately returned to Mr. Couturie, and he will be allowed to renew and, for the present, to exercise his official functions. Should the facts, when ascertained, justify a representation to you of misconduct on his part it will in due time be made, with the confidence that the subject will receive just consideration by a Government with which the United States have lived in amity for so many years.

I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to you, sir, the assurance of my high consideration.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series III, Volume 2 (Serial No. 123), p. 132-3

Theodorus Marinus Roest van Limburg to William H. Seward, June 6, 1862

LEGATION OF THE NETHERLANDS,                
Washington, June 6, 1862.
Hon. Mr. SEWARD,
Secretary of State of the United States of America:

SIR: I have had the honor to receive your note, dated yesterday, through which you have been pleased to inform me that the President deeply regrets the conflict which has occurred at New Orleans between the military authorities and the consul of the Netherlands. It is with a real satisfaction, which accords fully with what I was to expect from the high sense of justice of the President and of the Government of the United States, that I have seen, in the course of the note, that they view the conduct of the aforesaid authorities as a violation of the law of nations; that they disapprove of it; that they disapprove of the sanction which was given to it by Major-General Butler.

After having thanked the President and the Government of the United States therefor, I must permit myself to remark, Mr. Secretary of State, that a circumstance which, from, the inception, the consul of the Netherlands is reproached with, must evidently be attributed to a want of clearness in the statement made by Major-General Butler.

According to your note, he says, “that he had been informed that a very considerable sum, belonging to insurgent enemies, was secreted in a certain liquor store of the city;” whereupon, you observe, “that he sent, very properly, a military guard to make searches at the place indicated.” But it appears to be proven that the money and articles in question were not by any means in this liquor store, but in a very different place in the city. If, therefore, Mr. Couturie was accosted in the aforesaid liquor store, his commercial establishment, he might have said, with truth, that all that was in that store was his personal property. There would, therefore, be want of clearness on the part of Major-General Butler in making the declaration of Mr. Couturie bear upon the kegs, &c. Upon other allegations of Major-General Butler, differing (contrary to) from the allegations of the consul, I would not desire more than yourself, Mr. Secretary of State, to express an opinion.. Major-General Butler makes a very serious charge against the consul, which involves a proceeding deserving a removal from office of the one or the other; that of the consul if he has in reality received, “with connivance,” as Major-General Butler pretends (alleges), a “fraudulent” deposit; that of Major-General Butler if he fails to prove that charge. For to take from one his honor is no less culpable than to take from him his property, his life. Let the Government of the United States, Mr. Secretary of State, in order to throw light upon its information or knowledge, have the affair examined and investigated (“investigate the transaction which has been detailed”) before it pronounces between the accuser and the accused. This could not be impugned by me; but that I appoint some one to take part, to assist, in this species of inquest, which, by the proceedings themselves of the military authorities, can no longer take place upon a state of things untouched--the kegs and the boxes having been carried off without any seals, having been, as it appears, opened by Major-General Butler. This I could not do without granting, in some measure, a bill of indemnity to that which has occurred. It is what I could not take upon myself without receiving upon that point the instructions of the Government of the King. There are, besides, in this affair circumstances which strike me. It seems to me that when the question relates to “fraudulent deposit,” to “connivance” in acts of high treason, one should not impute, as Major-General Butler does; one should rather accuse. One should not limit himself to seize upon the proofs; it would also be natural to make sure of the accused persons; and notwithstanding the consul, to whom they impute so serious an act, was under arrest but during a few hours, during the searches made in his vault, whilst the agent of the house of Hope & Co., who, if the consul be guilty, must be so at least as much so as him, has not been, to my knowledge, arrested. These are circumstances, Mr. Secretary of State, which seem to me of a nature to cause one to rather presume the innocence of the agent of the house of Hope & Co. and of the consul of the Netherlands than to indicate that they are believed really guilty. You should not, therefore, be surprised that I recoil from the supposition of culpability, and that as for myself I could not consider the deposit otherwise than as legitimate until the contrary be proven. It is for Major-General Butler to prove what he alleges; ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat (the burden of proof lies upon him who asserts, not upon him who denies), say the Pandects. It is not for me, it is not for our consul, to prove that he is innocent. Prima facie, the money delivered by the Citizens' Bank to the agent of the house of Hope & Co., to be transmitted to that house or to be deposited with the consul of the Netherlands; is a legitimate money, legitimately transferred.

I could not, without having-received (obtained) the orders of the Government of the King, participate in any manner in an investigation which would tend to investigate that which I could not put in doubt—the good faith of the agent of the house of Hope & Co., the moral impossibility that that honorable house should lend itself to any culpable underplot, the good faith of the consul of the Netherlands.

Quilibet præsumitur justus, donec probatur contrarium (everyone is to be presumed honest until the contrary is proven), saith the ancient and universal rule of justice, and this rule is true especially when it applies to persons such as those as are in question here.

Consequently, while awaiting the orders of the Government of the King, I reserve all the rights and all the demands (claims) which may be based, either by the Royal Government or by the Netherlands consul or by individuals, upon the seizure of values, titles, or papers deposited at the consulate of the Netherlands at New Orleans, and more especially upon the reprehensible and censured manner in which this seizure has been made. But if on the one hand, Mr. Secretary of State, I must reserve, in their entireness, all the demands which the Government of the King, the consul of the Netherlands, and the persons interested might hereafter have to sustain, on the other hand I am happy to give you the assurance that the Government of the King, upon an eventual representation on your part against the conduct of the consul at New Orleans, will receive it with all the consideration and will right it with all the promptness which the excellent relations which for so many years have existed between the two countries may lead to expect from the Government of the august sovereign who maintains, and will ever maintain, the motto, Justitia regnorum fundamentum (Justice is the foundation of kingdoms).

I have the honor, Mr. Secretary of State, to request you to be pleased, at an early day, to acknowledge the receipt of this note from me, and I avail myself of this new opportunity to reiterate to you the assurances of my high consideration.

ROEST VAN LIMBURG.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series III, Volume 2 (Serial No. 123), p. 133-5