The Portland Gazette

Spanish Claims.—A writer in the New York Commercial Advertiser has made some sensible remarks upon the claims under the Florida treaty. His object is to show that erroneous impressions have gone abroad, both as to the amount and nature of the claims. By the report of the Secretary of State last May, to the Senate of the United States, it appears that there were 142 claims of specific amounts or supported by documents; amounting in the whole to $7,429,530. It has been said that there are seven hundred other claims, which on the average of the former $52,321, would swell the sum to about $46,000,000. This is shown to be an erroneous basis of calculation.

Among the 142 claims, are included nearly all the heaviest pretensions of the claimants; such as W. D. Robinson's for $564,000, R. D. Meade's for $400,000, the owners of ship Tyre, of Providence $400,000, and many others, from one to three hundred thousand dollars; any average therefore, founded on such large claims is thought to be absurd. It is believed that even of this number of 142 claims, some may be much curtailed and some totally rejected.

The next ground is that many of the claims arise on illegal voyages, and will therefore be rejected, and in many cases a great reduction will be made, growing out of the character of the charges, which could not be sustained in a court of justice; for instance a vessel and cargo cost $9000 outfit, she is captured, carried into a spanish port and condemned. A claim is exhibited for the original cost of vessel and cargo and damages; under the latter head are charged all the profits that might have been made upon her outward cargo in her first port of discharge. and upon the cargo taken in, at this port and delivered at a second port in Europe, and finally what the whole would have produced, if the vessel had safely returned to the United States; interest is likewise added to the account to the time when the claim was forwarded to the department of state, making in the whole a claim of $36,000. It is from such facts. that the writer infers that some heavy deductions will be made from the claims.

The treaty provides only for claims 1st, arising from maritime spoliations and seizures of American property in spanish ports, on illegal pretexts—2d, on account of the suspension of deposit [New Orleans]—and 3d by reason of contracts made by our citizens with the spanish government, and which contracts had been violated.

From his reasoning the writer draws the conclusion that $5,000,000 will very nearly cover all the just and equitable claims of our citizens.