7006. PRIZES, Consular jurisdiction.—
No particular rules have been established by
the President for the conduct of consuls with
respect to prizes. In one particular case where
a prize is brought into our ports by any of the
belligerent parties, and is reclaimed of the Executive,
the President has hitherto permitted
the consul of the captor to hold the prize until
his determination is known. But in all cases
respecting a neutral nation, their vessels are
placed exactly on the same footing with our
own, entitled to the same remedy from our
courts of justice, and the same protection from
the Executive, as our own vessels in the same
situation. The remedy in the courts of justice,
the only one which they or our own can have
access to, is slower than where it lies with the
Executive, but it is more complete, as damages
can be given by the Court but not by the Executive.—
To Mr. Soderstrom. Washington ed. iv, 83.
(G.
Nov. 1793)
