178 The Frederick Gerring, Jr. 



bar to intervention, the loss of the appeal through the limitation 

 which expired during and on account of these friendly negotia- 

 tions. 



Under all these circumstances, and in view of the hardship 

 of the case to Captain Morris, my Government cherishes the be- 

 lief that Her Majesty's Government will not be disposed to urge 

 this point, but should it be insisted upon, my Government would 

 meet it on its merits by the considerations that the seizure of the 

 vessel was an act of supreme administrative authority, which in 

 itself gave ground of diplomatic intervention, since the seizure 

 in such case of United States vessels on the high seas cannot be 

 defended by the judgment of municipal courts; and that, though 

 a sale pursuant to a decree in admiralty may be sufficient, under 

 some circumstances, to protect the title of the purchaser of the 

 vessel condemned and sold, yet if there was a want of jurisdic- 

 tion there is a perfect claim for restitution or indemnity; that, 

 in case of a seizure on the high seas, the British courts have, it is 

 submitted, no jurisdiction whatever; and therefore the party whose 

 property is seized is under no obligation to prosecute an appeal to 

 higher courts, unless he deem it for his own interest to do so; and 

 in the present case it would not be reasonable to expect an Ameri- 

 can citizen to incur the cost, and be subject to the delay which 

 would be caused by appealing to a court sitting on the other side 

 of the Atlantic. 



Captain Doran. the master of the Gerring, testifies that the 

 schooner was built in 1870, and the amount of the damages, by 

 footing the items is — for the vessel, $3,000, and 134 barrels 

 of mackerel at $5 to $10 per barrel. Captain Morris states, how- 

 ever, that the mackerel were worth in Gloucester, at the time of 

 the capture, $13.50 to $14.00 per barrel, and that they have not been 

 as low as $5.00 per barrel for twenty years ; and — the amount stated 

 in his behalf, covering all his damages, is mentioned at $11,549.11. 



The amount is not large, yet to Captain Morris the loss is 

 serious, and the question is important from its nature. It has been 

 much agitated, and the prejudicial effects on the popular imagina- 

 tion of the agitation of questions of this character cannot be meas- 

 ured by the amount involved. It is believed that Her Majesty's 

 Government will not fail to appreciate the wishes and efforts of 

 the Department of State to avoid these consequences by an ar- 

 rangement mutually satisfactory to both parties. 



