TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
Amsterdam, December 25th, 1781.
Sir,
There has appeared an ulterior declaration, in addition to the ordinances of the 30th of April and the 3d of November, concerning the navigation and the maritime commerce of the subjects of Prussia during the present war.
"The ordinances, which the King has caused to be published of the 30th of April and 3d of November of this year, have, in truth, already prescribed to the subjects of his Majesty, the manner in which they ought, for their greatest safety, to direct their navigation and their commerce; nevertheless, as several doubts have arisen in this regard, his Majesty, in order to obviate them, and to direct his subjects who trade by sea, has thought fit to establish, ordain, and declare, as follows.
"Article i. It cannot be doubted, and it is understood, that the Prussian vessels, which have put to sea before the publication of the ordinance of the 3d of November, and which, by consequence, could not be furnished with passports expedited by the Minister of foreign affairs, which are therein prescribed, cannot be taken or molested, by reason of the want of such passports, but that the passports heretofore in use, which they have taken at their departure, ought to have, until their return, their force and value, and to procure them, until that time, a sufficient security. To remove, however, still more effectually, all difficulties, which might exist in this regard, the obligation to furnish themselves with immediate passports from Berlin, is not to commence until after the 1st of January, 1782, to the end that every one may have time to take his measures in consequence.
"Art. ii. It is repeated and ordained, that small vessels, which do not carry more than fifty lasts, as well as those which navigate only in the Baltic Sea, and in the North Sea, and which do not pass the Channel, which separates France and England, are not obliged, at least if they do not themselves think it proper, to take passports from Berlin; but to gain time, it is permitted to them to take them as heretofore, at their convenience, from the Admiralties, the Chambers of War, and of the Domains of each Province, and from the magistrates of the cities. In consequence of which, it is ordained to these Colleges in the most express manner, not to grant these passports but to the real and actual subjects of the King, with the greatest precaution, providing carefully against all abuses which may be made of them, and observing strictly the ordinances published upon this object. The end which his Majesty proposed to himself in publishing the declaration of the 3d of November, has been, and is, singly, to procure to Prussian vessels, which navigate beyond the Channel in the ocean or the Atlantic Sea, and which carry their commerce into these distant seas and regions, a safety so much the greater against all prejudicial accidents, in causing to be expedited to them passports by his Minister of Foreign Affairs, who, by his knowledge of the state of public affairs, is the most in a condition to take the necessary precautions.
"Art. iii. The navigators, not being able to send to Berlin complete bills of lading of the cargoes of their vessels, before they are entirely loaded, there is not required of those who have occasion for immediate passports of the Court, any other thing, except that they produce certificates, and general attestations from the Admiralties, the Chambers of Domains, or the magistrates of the cities, concerning the property of the vessel, and when the passport should express also the cargo, concerning the quality of the cargo, that is to say, in what it consists; which is sufficient to judge, whether the merchandises are lawful, and whether the passports requested can be granted. The bills of lading, and complete and specific attestations of the quantity of each merchandise may be expedited as heretofore, in the usual manner, to places where the loading is made by the Admiralties, the Chambers of Finances, or the magistrates of the cities.
"Art. iv. In the ordinance of the 30th of April, his Majesty has been pleased, to encourage his subjects to the national commerce, to advise them to engage in maritime commerce as much as possible upon their own account, and with their own merchandises; and it has been established in consequence, in the declaration of the 3d of November, that to obtain passports from the Court, it was necessary to prove, by requisite certificates, that the owners both of the vessel and the cargo were Prussian subjects; nevertheless, all this was done properly in the form of advice, and to render them so much the more attentive to the precautions which they ought to take; it is not, for this the less free and lawful to the subjects of the King, who have obtained requisite passports, to transport also in their vessels, in conformity to the ordinance of the 30th of April, to places and ports which are not besieged, nor close blocked, merchandises and effects belonging to foreign nations, and even to belligerent nations, provided that these merchandises are of the nature of those, which, according to the 2d article of the declaration of the 30th of April, and conformably to the customs and rights of nations, are permitted and not of contraband; his Majesty will not fail to protect them, in such cases according to the principles which he has adopted and established in this regard with other powers, allies, and friends, and he has judged necessary to declare all which goes before, for preventing all abusive interpretation of the declaration of the 3d of November.
"Art. v. The captains and commanders of Prussian vessels ought, when they arrive in ports or places, where reside consuls of the King, to present to them their passports, and demand of them attestations, which certify that their vessels are still furnished with passports expedited to them.