part to secure that unity of action and feeling so essential to all military combinations. This must in a great measure result from your own good sense and judgment; but in connexion with the subject, I am directed to refer you to an extract of the instructions of the Navy Department to Commodore Shubrick of August 17, 1847, and to paragraphs 24, 25, and 26, Army Regulations, (edition of 1825,) copies of which are herewith enclosed to you, and which have been received and made obligatory upon the army and navy by the orders of the President, through the Navy and War Departments. When on board of any armed vessel, your command will be as passengers, not marines; but the most perfect discipline will still be kept up; and in the event of the ship finding herself in action, you and your command will not fail to show yourselves at least as efficient as any equal number of marines whatever. You will continue to render your reports the same as though you were still on shore, reporting those left at La Paz as on detached service. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, W. T SHERMAN, Acting Assistant Adjutant General. Lieut. Col. BURTON. HEADQUARTERS TENTH MILITARY DEPARTMENT, Monterey, California, October 20, 1847. SIR: Your letter of the 5th instant, transmitting the proceedings of the military comission in session at Los Angeles, has been received; and in answer to your inquiries as to the powers of a military commission, I am directed by Colonel Mason to say that the court of military commission is a novel one, created by General Scott in his orders No. 20, dated Tampico, February 19, 1847. This order sets forth the necessity for such a tribunal, and is so clear and logical as to leave no doubt as to its character and powers. The commission is strictly military in its composition, in its form of trial, mode of passing sentence and executing punishments, and has powers to try in any enemy's country for atrocities beyond reach of the rules and articles of war, which in the United States would be punished by the ordinary or civil courts of the land. The second paragraph of the above mentioned order enumerates many crimes, by way of illustrating this class, over which the commission have jurisdiction; but these are not all, as the first paragraph in general terms embraces all crimes of magnitude not otherwise provided for. In awarding sentence, the commission is not required to follow the statutes of any one State, but is merely required not to exceed in severity "the punishment for like cases in any one of the States of the United States of America." This you see is a limit, not a rule, although it seems the commission at Los Angeles has governed its proceedings by the statutes of New York, and awarded to private John Smith, 1st dragoons, a sentence of imprisonment in a State prison, when, strictly speaking, there is not such a thing within thousands of miles. This would completely defeat the ends of justice, and shield from punishment many who richly deserve it. The commission should try a prisoner by the laws of warthe unwritten supplemental code, as it is termed by General Scott-and not by the statutes of any particular State, and should merely limit the amount of punishment by that which would be inflicted for a like offence in any one of the States of the Union: for instance, when the civil statute would imprison a person for five years, the commission would sentence him to confinement for a period not exceeding five years, leaving to the revenue officer to select the place of confinement. I send herewith certified extracts from the statutes of Missouri, and digest of the laws of Texas, defining and punishing the crime of burglary. These are the only law books I have access to, that treat of the subject; and I also regret that it is not in my power to send you the proceedings of other military commissions that would serve as precedents to yours, and show the custom in like cases. A Vera Cruz newspaper received here some time ago, but not on hand now, contained the order promulgating the proceedings of a military commission that had tried two persons-one a negro, citizen of the United States-for having committed a rape upon a Mexican woman; he was sentenced to be hung, and was accordingly executed by order of General Scott: the other a volunteer soldier, for having committed theft, in taking by force from a woman a comb and ten dollars, for which he was sentenced to one month's imprisonment. This was ordered to be carried into effect at the castle of St. Juan de Uloa. No particular statutes seem to have been followed, and the commission awarded sentences just in themselves, and such as could be executed. It is conceived advisable for all military courts and commissions to aim at substantial justice, avoiding as much as possible learned technicalities and distinctions. Theft and larceny are the same in substance, although, for convenience, lawyers have adopted the latter, dividing it into grand and petit. This distinction is not made by General Scott, as he seems to have aimed at crimes by the names by which they are known to the world at large. The charges against Stokely have not, therefore, been changed. The negro boy, Pete Beggs, is certainly amenable to martial law, and should be tried, unless some pledge has been made him to induce him to confess against his accomplices, or unless Captain Smith prefers to punish the boy himself, to the satisfaction of the gentleman he robbed; otherwise you will please prefer proper charges against him, and cause him to be arraigned before the commission. I cannot see, by the laws before quoted, that any distinction is made between a slave and a free person in punishment for burglary or larceny; but in the State of Texas, for grand larceny (stealing above the value of twenty dollars) the statute prescribes a punishment of thirty-nine lashes on the bare back, and imprisonment not exceeding five years. I send you back the proceedings of the commission, that the sentence awarded private Smith may be reconsidered, and that it may resume the business that still remains before it. I have the honor to be, your most obedient servant, W. T. SHERMAN, First Lieutenant 3d Artillery, A. A. A. General. Assistant Surgeon J. S. GRIFFIN, Judge Advocate, Military Commission, Los Angeles, California. HEADQUARTERS TENTH MILITARY DEPARTMENT, Monterey, California, October 20, 1847. SIR: I am directed by Colonel Mason to call your attention to General Orders Nos. 16 and 17, of 1847, copies of which you will receive from Los Angeles. These authorize you to accept the services of individual volunteers, so as to increase the strength of your company to one hundred privates. Those whom you enlist should be enrolled for "during the war with Mexico," and their names, with the appropriate dates and remarks, entered upon the next muster rolls of your company. Volunteers so enrolled will be entitled to the same pay, allowances, bounties, and pensions, as are provided for those already in service. I have the honor to be, your obedient servant, W. T. SHERMAN, First Lieutenant 3d Artillery, A. A. A. General. Captain F. J. LIPPETT, Commanding, Santa Barbara, California. HEADQUARTERS TENTH MILITARY DEPARTMENT, Monterey, California, October 21, 1847. MAJOR: Your letter of the 17th, addressed to Lieutenant Sherman, acting assistant adjutant general, has been received; the man you speak of as having stabbed the mate of the ship Vesper, must be turned over to the alcalde for trial. It will never do to let such atrocious crimes be committed on board of ships in the California ports and go unpunished, because there happens to be no higher courts than those of the alcaldes in the country; but I learn from good authority that the alcaldes have always tried such cases, and where the laws punished with death, the governor either sent the case to Mexico for final orders, or ordered the execution himself. This case, of course, is not punishable with death, and it will be very proper for the alcalde to try it; and if the man is found guilty, he should receive a sentence proportionate to his guilt. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Major HARDIE, R. B. MASON, Colonel 1st Dragoons, commanding. Commanding, San Francisco, California. HEADQUARTERS TENTH MILITARY DEPARTMENT, Monterey, California, October 14, 1847. CAPTAIN: Lieutenant Halleck has laid before me your letter of the 8th instant, asking to be relieved from the duties of collector, &c. The President has assigned these duties to the officers of the army and navy, and you will see by the instructions that go up by this mail, that I am in for it here, as well as yourself at San Francisco. Major Hardie must give you all the assistance that his command can afford, and aid you in the discharge of these duties. The instructions make you and himself the joint collectors. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, R. B. MASON, Colonel 1st Dragoons, Governor of California. Captain J. L. FOLSOM, Assistant Quartermaster, San Francisco. HEADQUARTERS TENTH MILITARY DEPARTMENT, Monterey, California, October 14, 1847. I have received your communication of the 8th instant, relating to the seizure of the goods and boats of W. H. Leidsdorff. I have referred the subject to Commodore Shubrick, who thinks that the boats and goods were very properly seized, and are clearly a good prize; but that the matter should not be pushed if Captain Leidsdorff can make it appear as no doubt he can, by the evidence of Mr. Smith, to whom he refers-that he bought the goods just as the ship was getting under way, and that he took them with the understanding and expressed intention of paying the duties on shore. The commodore nor myself does not suppose for a moment that Mr. Leidsdorff intended to avoid the payment of the duties, but, from the loose manner in which Mr. Richardson performed the duties, presume that Mr. Leidsdorff was not at the moment aware, or did not at the time think, of the necessity of having the collector's permit to land the goods, and that they and the boats would be liable to seizure and confiscation without it. You have acted very properly in seizing the goods, and in referring the matter here. If Mr. Leidsdorff shows, by Mr. Smith, that he took the goods from the ship under the circumstances above stated, and with the understanding with the captain, that he, Leidsdorff, was to pay the duties on shore, you are authorized to restore the goods and boats upon the duties being paid. This evidence is required, not because either the commodore or myself doubt the word of Mr. Leidsdorff, but because it is thought best not to let this matter pass by in a manner so as to suffer it hereafter to be brought up as a precedent. So much of the instructions relating to the customs, revenue, &c., (fresh ones go up by the mail which takes this,) as it is necessary for ship-masters and merchants to know, had better be published, and that will take from all the plea of not knowing what is made obligatory on them, as well as the officers of the customs. I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, R. B. MASON, Captain J. L. FOLSOM, CIRCULAR. HEADQUARTERS TENTH MILITARY DEPARTMENT, SIR: After a full and free consultation with Commodore Shubrick, and with his full concurrence touching the subject, I transmit herewith to you, for your guidance and government, printed instructions recently received from the War and Navy Departments, relative to the customs and collection of duties in the ports of Mexico and California, by which you will find that these duties are to be performed by army and naval officers. It has been deemed most to the interest of the United States, by their present authorities in California, that the rates of duties directed to be collected in the ports of New Mexico should not go into effect in this Territory; therefore there will be no change made in the rate or scale of duties as established by Commodore Shubrick in his instructions to the different collectors, dated September 15, 1847. They will be collected and reported to the departinent in the manner prescribed by the said printed instructions, but are to be disbursed, as heretofore, by order of the governor, on account of the civil government here. As no fees are to be charged for boarding vessels, for clearances, &c., it has been deemed proper to increase the tonnage duties from ten to fifteen cents per ton, in lieu thereof. The quartermaster at your port, or any other officer you may choose to direct, will perform the duties of custom house officer, under your authority and direction, as directed by the printed instructions transmitted herewith, you receiving the amount of duties due, as ascertained by the quartermaster or other officer to whom you may have assigned the custom-house duties, and yourself paying it over to the disbursing officer, as the aforesaid printed instructions require. Some erasures and interlineations are made in the printed instructions, beginning at page 9, so as to make them the better conform to the policy to be pursued in California ports. Articles 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, and 15, in the instructions of the 15th of September last, are either annulled or provided for by the printed instructions. You will take all proper measures to guard the revenue against frauds: for instance, you may prohibit the landing of any article before sunrise or after sunset; you may put a lock or seal upon the hatches and bulkheads at night, so as to prevent any access to the cargo, &c., &c. Should the lock or seals be broken, you may impose a penalty of one dollar per ton, registry measurement, upon the vessel, &c., &c. When persons are called in to appraise the cargo, or any part thereof that may be landed, the expense of the appraisement shall be paid, onehalf out of the revenue, and the other by the captain of the vessel, the supercargo, consignee, or owner, as the case may be. No freight, box, package, goods, wares, or merchandise, will be permitted to go on board of any ship or vessel after her clearance has been endorsed and signed on the manifest of her outward cargo. (See article 18, printed instructions.) Any box, package, goods, wares, or mer |