(Inclosure 1.)-Mr. Smith to Mr. Stevenson. 4, Fen Court, Fenchurch Street, January 21, 1840. I BEG leave respectfully to state to your Excellency having recently imported into this port, per British Queen steamship, R. Roberts, New York, one cask, containing rough rice or paddy, and silk manufactured goods, to land which I passed what is termed a sight entry, having deposited with the receiver a sufficient sum to cover the full amount of Customs duty due thereon. The package has been landed and examined upon Custom-House quay (where it still lies), and I have demanded, as per notice (copy inclosed), the delivery thereof, upon the ground that the amount so deposited is more than what is due. The officers demand, however, 2s. 6d. per bushel upon the rough rice, instead of 1d. per quarter, admitting, however, that only the latter rate is due, under the IInd Article of the Convention of Commerce, such being the rate payable upon the like article when imported from the West Coast of Africa, but stating that the Board of Customs have not received proper directions from the Treasury to carry the said Convention into effect. I have refused to pay more than 1d. per quarter duty, and the cask remains upon the quay, the Customs detaining the same. Having imported the cask in question upon the faith of the Convention, and being an American citizen, I respectfully appeal to your Excellency, as the Minister of my country, in order to obtain possession of the goods, and for that purpose solicit your Excellency to take such steps as will cause a copy of the Convention to be transmitted to the Board of Customs, with instructions for them to carry the same into effect. Upon the receipt of such authority, the Customs will, no doubt, deliver the package without further delay, and the British Government cannot, of course, object to govern themselves by a Treaty entered into with the Sovereign by virtue of his prerogative. A. Stevenson, Esq. I have, &c. JUNIUS SMITH. SIE, (Inclosure 2.)-Mr. Smith to Mr. Dickins. 4, Fen Court, Fenchurch Street, January 5, 1841. You having, as the proper officer appointed for the duty, landed and examined [J. S.] 1 cask, containing 9 bushels paddy or rough rice, 2 pieces bandannas, per British Queen, R. Roberts, New York, per sight entry, deposit made of 18s, and the proper duty thereon, in conformity with the IInd Article of the Convention of Commerce between Great Britain and the United States of America, being as follows: On 9 bushels of paddy, 1d. per quarter being the rate pay- I do hereby, as a citizen of the said United States of America, require of you to deliver the said goods, as provided by the 3rd and 4th William IV, cap. 52, sec. 24, the amount deposited being more than the duty due under the aforesaid Convention. I am, &c. JUNIUS SMITH. Mr. Dickins, Landing Waiter, H.M. Customs, (6.)—Mr. Stevenson to Viscount Palmerston. MY LORD, 32, Upper Grosvenor Street, April 5, 1841. Ir becomes my duty to invite your Lordship's attention, and that of Her Majesty's Government, to the claims of American citizens for the remission of duties improperly levied upon certain importations of rough rice into British ports by Her Majesty's officers of Customs, in violation of the existing Commercial Convention between Great Britain and The United States. In doing this, it is proper that I should refer your Lordship to the several communications which I have heretofore had the honour of addressing to you on this subject, under dates of July 18, 1839, January 13, 1840, and the 1st of February last, and also to remind your Lordship that the first case was submitted as far back as February, 1839. Permit me also to observe, that in the last conversation which I had with your Lordship on the subject, I was led to hope that there would have been no longer delay in deciding these claims, but that I should have been honoured with an early and favourable answer. I beg leave, therefore, respectfully to ask your Lordship's attention to the subject, and to be informed when I may expect to receive the final decision of Her Majesty's Government. I avail, &c. Viscount Palmerston, G.C.B. A. STEVENSON. SIR, (7.)-Viscount Palmerston to Mr. Stevenson. Foreign Office, April 7, 1841. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated the 5th instant, calling my attention to the several applications which you have made for the remission of the duties levied in this country on rough rice imported from The United States, and pressing. for the decision of Her Majesty's Government thereupon; and I have to acquaint you that I lost no time in referring your letter to the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury. A. Stevenson, Esq. SIE, I am, &c. PALMERSTON. (8.)-Viscount Palmerston to Mr. Stevenson. Foreign Office, September 1, 1841. WITH reference to your letter of the 5th of April last, and to the several applications which you have made for remission of the duties imposed in this country on a quantity of rough rice, the produce of The United [States], I have the honour to acquaint you, that it was the intention of Her Majesty's present Government, if they had remained in office, to have brought into Parliament a prospective measure upon that subject. I have, &c. A. Stevenson, Esq. PALMERSTON. (9.)-Mr. Stevenson to the Earl of Aberdeen. 32, Upper Grosvenor Street, September 28, 1841. THE Undersigned, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States of America, has the honour to represent to the Earl of Aberdeen, Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, that, on the 15th day of February, 1839, he had the honour of addressing to Lord Viscount Palmerston, Her Majesty's late Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, an official application on behalf of Mr. Junius Smith, a citizen of The United States, residing in London, for the remission of certain duties alleged to have been improperly levied by Her Majesty's officers of the Customs, upon a cargo of American rice, or paddy, imported into the port of London from the State of South Carolina, under the existing commercial convention between Great Britain and The Taited States. By reference to the files of his department, Lord Aberdeen will perceive that 4 other notes were addressed by the Undersigned to Lord Palmerston; under dates of the 18th July, 1839, the 13th January, 1840, the 1st February, 1841, and the 5th April, 1841, in which the subject was earnestly pressed upon the consideration of Her Majesty's Government, and its decision invoked. That in the note of the 1st of February (to which he begs leave particularly to call Lord Aberdeen's attention), a second case was presented, and the whole subject examined and discussed. It is proper, also, to say, that the Undersigned had been led confidently to anticipate a favourable decision of these cases before the retirement of the late ministry from power, and of which his Government were repeatedly advised. In this expectation, however, he has been disappointed, as will appear from an official note of Lord Palmerston's, under date of the 1st instant, in which it was announced that no decision had been made, but that it was the intention of Her Majesty's Government, if they had remained in office, to have brought into Parliament a prospective measure on the subject. Now in relation to further legislation by Parliament, the Undersigned begs leave respectfully to suggest to Lord Aberdeen, that under the provisions of the Convention between the 2 countries and the British statutes, he presumes the present cases will be found to be embraced, and that no legislative action will be necessary to enable Her Majesty's Government to give the relief which is asked for. Such, it is believed, has been the practice of the Government in relation to other articles of American produce, and especially that of bees-wax, as Lord Aberdeen will see by reference to several cases heretofore submitted by the Undersigned to Her Majesty's Government, and especially the one of December, 1838, where the principle was settled, and a lower duty directed to be substituted for the higher one, which had been levied by the officers of Her Majesty's Customs. The Undersigned therefore deems it his duty to take an early opportunity of inviting the attention of the Earl of Aberdeen to the subject, and expressing a confident hope that suitable steps will be taken by Her Majesty's Government for the final disposition of the whole matter. The extraordinary delay which has taken place in relation to these cases, and the injuries and embarrassments which have resulted, as well to the individual applicants as other American citizens concerned in the rice trade, will best explain the earnestness with which the subject has been so repeatedly pressed by the Undersigned upon the consideration of Her Majesty's Government. The Undersigned, &c. The Earl of Aberdeen, K.T. A. STEVENSON. (10). The Earl of Aberdeen to Mr. Stevenson. Foreign Office, October 20, 1841. THE Undersigned, Her Britannic Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, has the honour to acknowledge the receipt of the note of Mr. Stevenson, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States of America, dated the 28th ultimo, on the subject of Mr. Stevenson's previous applications to Her Majesty's Government, for the remission of duties said to have been improperly levied, by the officers of Her Majesty's Customs, upon certain cargoes of rough rice, imported into the Port of London from The United States. The Undersigned lost no time in referring Mr. Stevenson's note to the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury. Mr. Stevenson is aware that the late Board of Treasury and Board of Trade took a different view of the construction of the IInd Article of the Convention between Great Britain and The United States, of the 3rd of July, 1815, as bearing upon this question, from that which Mr. Stevenson takes, and upon which Mr. Stevenson founds his application for the low rate of duty in favour of American rice; but Her Majesty's Government are ready to alter the Customs law, so as to make it, with regard to the future, conformable to the view taken by Mr. Stevenson; and, consequently, as soon as circumstances will permit, they will propose to Parliament that the duties on rice, imported from the United States of America and from the Western Coast of Africa, shall be equalized. In the meantime, in order to accelerate the desired object, and having no doubt that Parliament will sanction the measure, Her Majesty's Government have directed the Commissioners of Customs to admit rough rice, imported from The United States, on which duty has not already been charged, at the same low rate of duty as that brought from the Western Coast of Africa, subject to future confirmation by Parliament; the parties importing being required to enter into the usual obligation to abide by the decision of Parliament. The Undersigned trusts that this measure will be satisfactory to the Government of The United States. A. Stevenson, Esq. The Undersigned, &c. ABERDEEN. (11.)-Mr. Stevenson to the Earl of Aberdeen. 32, Upper Grosvenor Street, October 21, 1841. The Undersigned, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from The United States, has the honour to acknowledge the receipt of the note of Lord Aberdeen, Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, under date of the 20th instant, communicating the decision of Her Majesty's Government upon the |