ous other islands, we have only a small boat, with four
men and an inspector, to oppose to the whole confederacy of smugglers
and pirates."[99]

To cap the climax, the government officials were so negligent that
Secretary Crawford, in 1820, confessed to Congress that "it appears,
from an examination of the records of this office, that no particular
instructions have ever been given, by the Secretary of the Treasury,
under the original or supplementary acts prohibiting the introduction of
slaves into the United States."[100] Beside this inactivity, the
government was criminally negligent in not prosecuting and punishing
offenders when captured. Urgent appeals for instruction from prosecuting
attorneys were too often received in official silence; complaints as to
the violation of law by State officers went unheeded;[101] informers
were unprotected and sometimes driven from home.[102] Indeed, the most
severe comment on the whole period is the report, January 7, 1819, of
the Register of the Treasury, who, after the wholesale and open
violation of the Act of 1807, reported, in response to a request from
the House, "that it doth not appear, from an examination of the records
of this office, and particularly of the accounts (to the date of their
last settlement) of the collectors of the customs, and of the several
marshals of the United States, that any forfeitures had been incurred
under the said act."[103]

63. ~Typical Cases.~ At this date (January 7, 1819), however, certain
cases were stated to be pending, a history of which will fitly conclude
this discussion. In 1818 three American schooners sailed from the United
States to Havana; on June 2 they started back with cargoes aggregating
one hundred and seven slaves. The schooner "Constitution" was captured
by one of Andrew Jackson's officers under the guns of Fort Barancas. The
"Louisa" and "Marino" were captured by Lieutenant McKeever of the United
States Navy. The three vessels were duly proceeded against at Mobile,
and the case began slowly to drag along. The slaves, instead of being
put under the care of the zealous marshal of the district, were placed
in the hands of three bondsmen, friends of the judge. The marshal
notified the government of this irregularity, but apparently received no
answer. In 1822 the three vessels were condemned as forfeited, but the
court "reserved" for future order the distribution of the slaves.
Nothing whatever either then or later was done