2 86 H. L. Janes Roca as an escape from his " precarious position " was really (as he puts it) " evasive " ; for Captain Bullock could not properly claim the legal privilege of modifying the manifest presented. The law in question, he goes on to say, applied only to the person " who had presented said manifest of cargo ", permitting this individual to correct a mistake that had inadvertently crept into the paper, but not giving such permission to a person who, like Captain Bullock, did not present any manifest of cargo at all, and " committed a deliberate error for the purpose of defrauding the royal revenues by making a declaration in ballast when such was not the fact." This argument comes forward rather tardily, but Pezuela evidently cherished the hope that Roca's suggestion viewed in this light might gain a superior force, evidencing the eagerness of the Spanish offi- cials to render every aid to the American merchants in finding a way through the labyrinth of Spanish law to a method of escaping the heavy penalty that was impending. The Washington despatches dated ;Iay 7 and June 7 fix the crux of the difficulty in this fashion :' The successful issue of the negotiation regarding the affair of the Black Warrior, torpified at present by this circumstance [the difficulty of reconciling the conflicting statements of the officials of the two nations ir Havana], depends solely for us on the possibility of demonstrating the palpable and complete inexactitude of the assertion" of Mr. Robertson. Cueto was not slow in detecting the weak point in the governor's defense. With the record of the period before us, we can appreciate the force of added pressure which despatches of the above nature from Washington must have had on Pezuela, who through Roca had been fully advised on February 28 of the steps that had been taken that day in the matter of the seizure of the cotton aboard the Amer- ican steamer. Every bit of evidence goes to establish the belief that Her Catholic Majesty's representative in the " ever most faithful City of Havana " was not at that time unwilling to avail himself of the administrative privilege of prevarication. With the above facts clearly established, the suspicion gains strength that Havana was trying to make our consul a scapegoat for Spanish aims. It was felt in Spanish official circles that some- thing must be done to correct the impression that Robertson's official reports were giving. Pezuela, pressed hard for facts, maintained that " our government should protest immediately against the asscr- ' Cueto to Pezuela, May 7, 1854.
- That is, that the vessel and cargo had been seized by the authorities of
Havana before the much-discussed legal period of twelve hours had run.
