Mr. Wood to Mr. Boernstein.
Sir: I have received your note of the 10th instant, enclosing the letter of C. Gottfried Kohler, of the firm of T. M. de Müller, at Altenburg, Saxony, requesting information in relation to the Sophie, a Bremen ship, “bound from Matamoras to Bremen, with one hundred and fifty bales of cotton on board, sent by a brother of the said Kohler, an alleged citizen of the United States, residing at Houston, Texas, and which ship was said to have been captured by a Danish cruiser on the 19th April last.”
In reply, I learn that said ship has been condemned, and all the cargo, excepting two hundred bales of cotton. You do not say in your note which of the brothers owned the cotton. If it belonged to the German American, the invoice, I suppose, would show that fact; and if he has not renounced or forfeited his American citizenship, I should not apprehend any difficulty in the case. He, of course, must show his citizenship, and show his right to the property so captured, to avail himself of the provisions of international law in such cases; and our courts have held that proof of ownership should accompany the goods seized. At all events, there must be unquestionable evidence to whom the property seized belonged.
I remain, sir, your obedient servant,
Henry Bounstein, Esq., United States Consul, Bremen.