WASHINGTON, _January 7, 1868_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
A Spanish steamer named _Nuestra Señora_ being in the harbor of Port
Royal, S.C., on the 1st of December, 1861, Brigadier General T.W.
Sherman, who was in command of the United States forces there, received
information which he supposed justified him in seizing her, as she was
on her way from Charleston to Havana with insurgent correspondence on
board. The seizure was made accordingly, and during the ensuing spring
the vessel was sent to New York, in order that the legality of the
seizure might be tried.
By a decree of June 20, 1863, Judge Betts ordered the vessel to be
restored, and by a subsequent decree, of October 15, 1863, he referred
the adjustment of damages to amicable negotiations between the two
Governments.
While the proceeding in admiralty was pending, the vessel was appraised
and taken by the Navy Department at the valuation of $28,000, which sum
that Department paid into the Treasury.
As the amount of this valuation can not legally be drawn from the
Treasury without authority from Congress, I recommend an appropriation
for that purpose.
It is proposed to appoint a commissioner on the part of this Government
to adjust, informally in this case, with a similar commissioner on the
part of Spain, the question of damages, the commissioners to name an
arbiter for points upon which they may disagree. When the amount of the
damages shall thus have been ascertained, application will be made to
Congress for a further appropriation toward paying them.