Viscount Treilhard to Mr. Seward.
Sir: The minister of the Emperor has called the attention of your excellency, by a note of the date of August 14, to the correspondence which was just exchanged between the administration of the consulate of France at New Orleans and the quartermaster general of the department of the Gulf, about the carrying into execution of the order No. 105, directed against the subscribers to the loan opened by the municipality of New Orleans. A recent communication from Mr. Fauconnet apprises me that Major General Banks has thrown off, on the 7th of August, an order requiring immediate payment on the part of all persons who fall under the blow of the penalty, and notably from certain French houses, which are designated by name.
Without wishing to enter here upon a fresh discussion of the ground even of this affair, or to recall arguments previously put forward by the legation of the Emperor against a measure by which inoffensive neutrals find themselves struck, and all whose rights to ultimate reimbursement remain, moreover, reserved, I shall content myself with asking from your excellency whether, in the actual condition of things, and in consideration even of eventual reservations, mentioned in the note of the 25th of March, of this year, in favor of foreign interests, so seriously compromised, the government of the United States would not judge fit to suspend all ulterior action until the time when it shall have been decided by authority competent and designated ad hoc, as to the lawfulness of a measure the arbitrary character of which could not be misunderstood.
Please accept the renewed assurances of my high consideration.
For the minister and the first secretary of legation,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State.