William M. Evarts to John Mercer Langston, November 7, 1877

No. 259. Mr. Evarts to Mr. Langston.

Sir: I inclose herewith a copy of a letter of the 16th October ultimo, addressed to the Department by A. Nones & Co., merchants of New York, in relation to the imposition and collection of a tax of 1 per cent. on the value of all consignments of merchandise from New York to Hayti, together with a copy of the formal protest of the merchants in question against the legality and justice of such imposition.

It appears from the protests of the merchants in question that the charge referred to is exacted under the guise of consular fees for certifying invoices. The amount of the charge thus made renders it at once manifest that such a pretense rests on no just foundation. The fees of a consul of this government in Hayti for certifying an invoice, no matter what may be the value of the consignment, is limited to $2.50; while at the rates exacted by the Haytian consul at New York upon a consignment of $50,000 (not an unusual occurrence), the consular charge for certifying the invoice would be $500.

Such a charge cannot be received otherwise by this government than as the indirect levying of a discriminating import duty, imposed by Hayti on the commerce of the United States with that republic, and, as such, being in direct contravention of the spirit and letter of the treaty of November, 1864, between this government and that of Hayti.

It evinces, moreover, an absence on the part of Hayti of that feeling of reciprocity in the commercial relations between the two countries which it has been the special desire of this government to cultivate and encourage as alike advantageous to both nations, and especially calculated to illustrate the spirit of friendship which should characterize the relations of two neighboring republics. You will take an early opportunity to bring the matter to the attention of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and at the same time express to the minister the hope indulged by this Department that the necessary orders will be issued by his government for the discontinuance of the exaction, and provision made for refunding such amounts as may have been thus wrongfully collected. And you will, with as little delay as convenient, report the result of your proceedings to the Department.

I am, &c.,