Mr. McMath to Mr. Seward.
Sir: I have the honor to inform you that the light-house constructed by order of his Majesty the Sultan on Cape Spartel, at the entrance of the Straits of Gibraltar from the Atlantic ocean, will be illuminated on the 30th day of the present month, or the 31st day of October. For location, description, &c., see enclosure No. 1. The agents of foreign powers residing here agreed, on the 1st instant, to illuminate the light-house on the 30th instant, but inasmuch as the Moorish minister is unable to give me sixty days’ notice in advance of illuminating the same, as required by me in a note to him under date of the 4th of Feb* ruary last, by reason of the action of those agents fixing a shorter time, I gave him notice of a formal protest for all damages which might occur to our ship ping on the coast of Morocco within the period of sixty days from the 1st instant, arising from the illumination of said light-house, and of which light our masters of vessels would be ignorant, in consequence of the shortness of the notice. The time is sufficient for all the European governments, because of their nearness to this country, but, as I informed the Moorish minister last February, I required sixty days’ notice, because of our great distance from this country and the length of time it would require me to inform my government of the establishment of said light. Some time since the majority of my colleagues gave to their governments what they call a preliminary notice, “that the light would be fixed during the month of September.” I received no such notice, neither from them nor the Moorish minister, and I am informed by the consul general of [Page 433] Sweden that he received no such notice, and we, above all others, should have had ample notice, because our governments are further off than any others taking part in the maintenance of the light. Upon learning from the Moorish minister the difficulty he was in with respect to my demand, some of my colleagues, and particularly the ministers of France, England, and Spain, have written to their governments, informing them that I had heretofore required of this government sixty days’ notice, and from the fact that preliminary notices had been published in their respective countries that the light would be fixed during the month of September, they had named the last day of the month for illuminating, in pursuance of the preliminary notice before given, but, if instructed by their governments, they would not illuminate until the 31st day of October, which would, as they claim, but I deny, be equivalent to sixty days’ notice to me from the Moorish minister. Wherefore, I am compelled to give the notice to the department in a conditional form, in order that notice, by publication, (if such be the rule of the department,) may be given at the earliest moment. My reason for requiring sixty days’ notice from this government will become apparent to the department when it is considered that, from the peculiar location of the Cape Spartel light, it might unsuspectingly be taken, by masters of vessels approaching the western entrance of the Straits of Gibraltar from the Atlantic, for the Cape Trafalgar light, on the coast of Spain, and masters would, in the absence of notice of the existence of the Cape Spartel light, bear south with their vessels, at the time believing that the Cape Spartel light was the Trafalgar light, and the result would inevitably be destruction of life and property on the Morocco coast. Hence I believed duty required me in the interest of navigation to demand ample notice, so that the department could give all interested due notice of the light on Cape Spartel. If any damage shall be done to our shipping within sixty days by reason of said light, I will make formal protest against this government, and leave the department, after being fully informed thereof, to determine what further steps shall be taken. In a legal point of view, the foreign agents, although instructed to take part in the control, &c., of the light-house, have no right to fix the time of illuminating the same, without first obtaining the consent of the Moorish government, and this they did not get, or, at least, on the 18th instant the Moorish minister informed them he could not consent to the 30th of September, because he wished to give me sixty days’ notice. The Sultan now proposes a new article to the treaty, which will give him the right to levy light-house dues on all ships visiting his ports, but, at the same time, each signing power is asked to pay a fixed sum annually for keeping up the light. We have intimated to the Moorish minister that we will not agree to double duties. He will shortly visit the Sultan to confer with him on this subject. The greater part of my colleagues will also visit the Sultan within a month, as they are required by their governments to go to the court at least once in each year. I think some time will elapse before we will all be ready to arrange definitely the form of the treaty; where there are so many parties to consult, delays must necessarily occur. A part of my colleagues who have been authorized to take part in the control of the light-house have received from their governments letters plenipotentiary; and others, being at first authorized in the same manner that I have been by your despatch, No. 12, dated 27th June last, have written to their governments for full powers also, to put them on an equality in this respect with the agents of France, Spain, Italy, and Portugal. I submit to the department whether it would not, in view of the fact that all of my colleagues will receive full powers, be as well for me to be in possession of the same from my government. Her Britannic Majesty’s minister resident received instructions of the tenor of my own, but has written to his government for “letters patent,” in order that he may be on a perfect equality with others. In my opinion an agreement simply would have been quite sufficient between this government [Page 434] and the several powers taking part, but it appears that the minister for France has been required to take a more formal step, and other agents are willing to follow the example.
I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, &c., &c., &c.