Doc. No. 36.
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afterwards, the powder was forcibly taken for the public service by order of General Christophe, and receipted for by him and General T i p h a n o e — copies of which receipts and of the report and manifest of the general cargo are enclosed. T h e value of the powder was then and there two dollars per pound, (at which price the Government was then purchasing t h e article) making the aggregate sum of $36,157. T h e validity of the claim of Mr. Davies for that sum has been recognised by the Baltimore county court—Where, by judgment on attachment, after satisfactory proof of the claim as herein mentioned, in the year 1813, he recovered the sum of $5,352 39, applicable to this debt, of the effects of Christophe—and is further shown by a certificate of value, in his possession, from a gentle m a n , formerly, and at the time of the seizure of the powder, residing in Hayti. Before and since the above judgment, Mr. Davies has urged his claim on the Haytian Government through various private agencies, but with out effect, though the justice of the claim has not been controverted; as that Government has apparently been astute to see, and been well dis posed to avail of the irresponsibility which its situation has heretofore af forded. It is understood that Mr. Davies is not the only sufferer among the ci t i z e n s of the United States, by the arbitarary and oppressive acts of the Haytian Government and its agents. Other claims, to the; amount of $ 3 0 0 , 0 0 0 or upwards, have heretofore been laid before the E x e c u t i v e of this Government for its interposition, and have from time to time been urged on the Haytian Government through various inofficial agents, but it is understood entirely without success. It is understood that the claims have generally Been eluded by a p r e liminary demand for the recognition of the Haytian Government, which considerations of policy have prevented this Government from conceding. I t is not known whether subsequent events in the history of H a y t i , es pecially its treaties with France and the permanency which the present G o v e r n m e n t has acquired, present, in the view of the E x e c u t i v e , any cause for relaxation in the guarded policy heretofore pursued towards the H a y tians; but, however this may be, it is presumed that this Government, as t h e guardian of the rights of its citizens in their foreign commerce, will n o t permit the line of policy it has seen fit to pursue towards Hayti to o p e r a t e an immunity for outrage, and to shield the Government of that island from the responsibility that is exacted from recognised nations. It appears, moreover, that the present chief of the island, heretofore, whilst a t the head of only one of its then divided independencies, has virtually admitted that the policy dictated to this Government does not constitute a legitimate barrier against reparation for spoliation ; for the archives of your Department show that an inofficial agent of this Government was then received and treated with by him, without a demand for the recog nition by this Government of the sovereignty over which he presided. H e cannot therefore, without a sacrifice of consistency, now insist on this a s a preliminary concession. W h e n considering the large amount of claims on the Haytian G o v e r n m e n t by citizens of the United States growing out of this and similar outrages on the laws of nations, the great oppression and violation of faith characterizing the seizure of and refusal to pay for the property in ques tion, the total disregard of all private appeals for redress, and the j e o p -