Mr. Seward to Mr.
Adams.
No. 1687.]
Department of State, Washington,
February 17, 1866.
Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your
despatch of the 25th of January, No. 1137, together with a copy of a
written circular, addressed to you by Lord Clarendon, in which you are
requested to obtain authority from this government to make known to that
of her Majesty any case in which a vessel or vessels intended for
warlike purposes may be building for the service of the United States in
the private ship-building yards of Great Britain. In reply thereto I
transmit for the information of her Majesty’s government a copy of a
letter of the 15th instant, upon the subject, from the Secretary of the
Navy.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Charles Francis Adams, Esq., &c., &c., &c.
Mr. Welles to Mr. Seward.
Navy Department, Washington,
February 15, 1866.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of your letter of the 10th instant, enclosing a despatch
numbered 1137, from Mr. Adams, United States minister at London,
accompanied by a copy of a circular from Lord Clarendon, asking to
be informed if there are any vessels calculated for war purposes
building in England on account of this government.
In returning Mr. Adams’s despatch I have to state that this
government has had no vessel building within the British dominions,
nor contracted for any to be built, during my administration of the
Navy Department, commencing in March, 1861.
Very respectfully, &c.,
GIDEON WELLES, Secretary of the
Navy.
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State.
