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H UBLICAN (VOL. I.) PLATTSBURGIT, FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 1811. Printed for the Proprietors, iii I.. J. Ifrt/no'n's. XO. IX.) ROBERT SMITH'S ADDRESS, To the People of the United States. \ f Continued. J Ths restrictions of the j5.:iiin and Mi! in decrees had the effect of res- training the Amm^nii merchants fron sending their vessels to France. The interdicti\>n:> in the M stem that has been substituted against th • admissi >n of American products will h.\et:>e effect (if imposing up'>n them ;in e- qiui) restraint. If then, for (hi ev -Ic- ed decrees, nuinicip.il 3:i\vs p'O Ireing the same cninmerci.il effect, h .\ >• be. \ substituted, thj mode only, and iv.t the measure, has undergone an alter- ation. And however true it may be tint the change is lawful iii form, it is nevertheless as true, that it is essen- tially unfriendly, and that it does not at all comport with the ideas in*>p'i>i:d by your letter of the 27th ult. in which you wvre pleased to declare the \ dis- tinctly pronounced intention of his imperial majesty of favoring; the com- mercial relations between France and the £/iii:ed States in all the objects of traffic which shall * evidently proceed from their agriculture or m&nufactn- res.\ If France, by her own acts, has blockaded up her ports against the in- troduction of the products of the Unit- ed States, what motive has this gov- ernment in a discussion with a third power, to insist on the privilege of go- ing to France ? Whence the induce- ment to- ui'g-i the annulment of a blockade of France, when, if annul- led, no American ca> goes could ob- tain a market in any of her ports ? la such a state of things, a bioekadeof the e.):ist'bf France would he to the Unit- ed States as unimportant as would be a blockade of the coast of the Caspian sea. - - The British edicts may be viewed as having a double relation—first, to the wrong done to the United States; second, to the wrong done to France. And it is in the latter relation onlv that France has a right to speak. But whut wrong, it may be asked, can 1 France suffer from British orders which co-operate with her own regu- lations ? However sensible the United States may be to the violation of their ncu- 'tral rights under those ediets, yet, if France herself has by her own acts rendered it a theoretical instead of a practical violation, it is for this gov- ernment to decide on the degree in which sacrifices of any sort may be required by considerations which pe- culiarly and exclusively relate to the United States. Certain it is, that the inducements to such sacrifices are •weakened, as far as France can weak- en them, by having converted the right to be maintained into a naked one, whilst the sacrifices to be made would be substantial and extensive. A hope however is indulged, that your instructions from your govern- ment will soon enable \on to give some satisfactory exp'anations of the measures to which reference has been made, and thut their operation in vir- tue of modifications, which have not yet transpired, will not be as has been herein renresciitd. The President has received with great sati->i.iC'io!i the information, tint theconsnUof France luvebteii here- tofore in the- official and antlioiiscd practice of furuiahing cs-Ttilicatcs of origin to A-neric.au vessels ns well to tin s • di stined io neutral ports, as to tno.se whose so\ereigns arc in alliance M'iih F/Miir-e ; an ! that this praeii<c, sanctioned by the Frcni h tjoveniuiait, did n')'. cea.se in any part of the Unit- ed Mates be fine iTie 1.5th of last mon'h and then oni\ in cm si qurncc of a dis- p i:i:h from the Duke of C nl.itc, he.ir- iin, date the 30 h of August preced- ing. This v,:iti fjction -iri~.es f oni the hope, tlvit similar inf innuiion nun ha\e been r\cn to the Dini.h gov- ernment, . :id !rom n v me of the hap- '.n i-flu n ? . i.'ch suci' a cmintr i- ra'i^n will hi..t had on '.he American property, that had been .seiztd and detained by the privateers of Den- mark, upon the supposition that di. sc certificates of o:igin weie spurious and not authorised by the French gov- ernment. Jt is, nevertheless, to be regretted, that the functionaries of France in Denwask had not nude known to the Danish authorities, du- ring -he occurrence of such outrages on the American , trade, the error of cl:n3un,ing, s illegitimate, rmtheniie documents, which had beui lawfully issued by the accredited iigenti, of his imperial nvj sty. I have the honor to b^ R-n. R. bMirri. Gen. Turfeau, &c. 8'h. It is within the recollect*on of the American people, that the mem- bers of congress, during the last ses- sion, were much embarrassed, as to the course most proper to be taken with respect to our foreign relations, and that their einbairjssrnen's pro- ceeded principally from the defect in the communications to them as to the views of the Emperor of the French. To supply this defect was the great desideratum. At a critical period of their perplexities, fi;eaniwil at Nor folk of an envoy extraordinary from France was. announced. Immedi- ately thertron, all their proceedings touching our foreign relations wtre suspended. Their measures, ;is a- vowed by themselves, and as-expect- ed by the nation, were then to be .sha- ped according to the information, that might be receded by Mr. Se-rurier, especially, as he necessarily must have left France lo ;g after the all-important first day of November. Upon his ar- rival at Washingui), and tnirnediute- Iv after he had b-. en accredited, know- ing, as I did, the impatience of con- gress, and of ihe coiintrvnuTi, I [c.-t no time in having a conference u ith him. This conference I coueliekd by stating ih it I would take the liber- ty of addressing to him a no'e pro- pounding the several o.nefio'.s, that I h..d just had the ho.j*r of putting to him in conversation, and that thus by his answer I should be •• nabled to layfrom before the President u idi the utmost precision his communications to me. I accordingly immediately prrpured the following draught of a letter, and considering the President's sanction a matter of course, 1 hud it in due otfi- ci tl form copied by the appropriate, clerk, ii >t waiting on the President wi'h it, and after having reported to Iiim vcrl>aily the rwiiiilt of the confer- ence, I wa.i, to my astonishment, to'd by him that it would not be expedi- ent to send to Mr. Serrurier any such note. His deportment throughout this interview evinced a high dearie of disquietude, which occasionally betrayed liiiu into fretful exi-k II tving in view no'liing but the dig- ni:\ p oi'the govei nmtiit, and the pros- )><•'itv of the co'l'.itr_\, and overlook- i ig lii-^ previ-,hiu ss, I entreated hint, but in a m inner the it o<t delicate, not t<t ui.hiiold from congress any inf'ir- motion (ii .t mignt be useful to them at so liTmu unions a juncture. The f blowing is a co[iy of the K t- ter f had prepared, as proper, in my opinion, to b.. 1 sent to Mr. SLmirier. It needs no comment. Department of State, Feb. 20,181!. si j?—D sirous of laying before the President with 'he utmost precision the substance of our conference if ths day, and knowing that verbal co.uuiunie.uions are not unfreqnrnily inisiind-.trst;»;>d, I consider it jimp, r to propose to you in a written f'lnn the questions, which I had the honor of submitting to you in conversation, n.i'ivly : ]st. \V*crc the Berlin and Mil in decie -s revoked i'i whole or in part on i he fist d.iy of last November? Or have they at any t me posterior to that d ly been >-o revoked ? Or, have you injtntrtimis from \ our vovt rn- ment to gi\ e to this government any assurance or expl inati in in relation to th* revocation or modification of these d:-'\r ? aiil. D > the existing decrees of Fran.-e admit i*Ho French ports with or wi.hout licences Americm vessels 1 iden wiih the produce of the Uu'vcd JSti.es, and under what regulations and conditions ? 3d. D:J they admit into French ports with or without licences Amer- ic.e.i vessels laden with articles nwt the jtrodtue of the f/niled States, and un- der what regulations and conditions \? 4th. Do th-v permit American ves- sels with or without licences to return f.om Fonvje to the i/iiited States, and upoi' what terms ar;d conditions ? 5th. Is the importation into France of any articles the produce ofthe U- nitcd States absolnielv prohibited, and if so, wiiat are the articles so pro- hibited, and especially arc toLacco and cotton ? fi.h. Have yon instfuctiom from your government to give to this gov- ernment i-.ny assurance or explanation in relation to the American vessels and cargoes seized under the Rum- bouillet decree ? I have the honor to he, &<-. R. SMITH. 3/r. Serrurier, &c. Oth. In my letter to Mr. Erskine, of April 17,1809, Mr. Madi.onpro- po.;e-!, and, contrary to mr ideaa of proprkty, in.isted on iusertiii;^ the fol- lowing paragraph, viz. \Bat I have it in express cVm'gc the President to state, th \t while he forbears to insist on a further pun- ishment of the ofl ndii>g offiiii-, he is nut the less sensible ofthe j\is',i ••{; and utility of such an example, nor the less persuaded that it would best comport with what is due from his Biitunnio majesty to his own honor.\ To this paragraph I hud two objec- tions : 1st. It is not reconcilable to that dignified (leoricii which the comity of governments in iheir intercourse with each other ought to observe. 2d. As in a eusc of individuals, so in a case of nations-, u herein u repara- tion may be tendered for an aggravat- ed iiiiuit, the jjaity insulted cannot consistently ;irer|-t a rrp ir rion in s.\ f - i v faction, ,md in tl.c v!tti. p I'tier m-• »t that. MIHI repar;i\ioii is not .>-. '-.HI I M - toty as in honor it \U^lit : \ b> . Sncli an acccpt'iitee would neecssiniv HI- ply, tint ih- pii.silliininiite (t 11 •• • •: j> ir- t v ins'ilti d Ind, :ront a (irea.i < t i f .:»- flic, di'-i|i->si d him to yield to wts.it hii logic at the same time told Inci w ,n not nn adcrjuaie .tton ment. 10 h. 1>> my let. r »u G<n\ Clai- borne of October j\th. 1310, order- ing him to tnke ))•.,session MI'IUC p.irr < f West Fiorul.1 c.luiniet! l></ the Unitrd States, he was aiulioiiii'd to call io> his aid the rt ( .r«ilar army ;md the nholc militia force ofthe neighboring trrri- toiies. To this oider Mr. M.idiii ;i annexed, with his own pen, the fullo--- ing restrictive qu.il-iicatiou, viz. '• Should, however, any pnrticub.r place however .small, rt main in |>os- session of a Spanish lo-ee, v«u wi!| not proceed to employ for re against it, but you will make inumdi-ite i\p;>rt thereof to this dt p trtment.\ The idea ofthe whole military for rn ofthe f/nited States being in full .march, and suddenly halting at the first appearance of a Spanish b;u r oi1t-t, or of their being restrained from ta- king possession ot the full extent of what Mr. Madison himself considered our legitimate cfoim, was, to mv mind so humiliating, that I really could nt,t disguise my opinion ofthe restriction under the musk of Glacial reverence. llih. In the month of December, next after my accession to the Dsrpart- ment of State, I discovered thai sev- eral American citizens, claimants un. der the 7th •trltclt; of the Bri.ish trea- ty, had in vain presented for payment their respective claims. To my sur* prise, I found th it there was not with- i.i mv control any money for the dis- charge of these just claims ; and, with equal surprise, I iWRertained at the treasure, that Mr. Erving our agent at Lo.idon had retained in his hands, as a commission of 2 1-2 per cent, the sum of 22.392 doils. and that this sum, thus retained, was the vcrv mo- ney that had been paid by the Bitish government in trust, for the idtntical American citizens, whose claims ha;! thus in vain been presented for pay- ment. Neither in the Department of state, nor in any other department of the government, was there to be found any record, or, indeed, any trace whatever of a letter of any kind au- thorising Mr. Erung to retain time suiTi ofmont-y. No eirciim-.tan.~e t••* relation to it wns within the recollec- tion of any of the. clerks. To n.e predecessor m otFice I then report;d From him, however, I could obtain no explanation. I nevertheless, stal- ed to him, that the claim of Mr. Krv- inp;, ;ih it appeared on the books of t-.w- Treasury, was utterly inadmissible. 1st. I3ecansi*, being a:i officer i\itha Jixed annual compensation, he couh) not with propriety receive an txt,... emolument; and, especially, for the same services for which the sia'o'iii)- ed compensate >n was ullowed. .;'!. lieeauic the money, retained liv Iiim, was not the property of th.- Jiii'.ul States was merely in the hasm . i,r ;i.i-j government, in trust lor cert., n . ;:i- zens of the Suited Slates. wir».,: ci.iims under the UritU!i iu.i'y \;-.r.\ been duly sanctioned. Mr. M. JIIVJII, barely remarkiii:;- that he hul n > knowledge or rtc,j'lee(ir:» of ; : nv c' the circumstances of this uif ilr, to^L
