Document: Complaint of Fiscal van Tienhoven against the ship New Amsterdam for smuggling

Cornelis van Tienhoven, fiscal ex officio, plaintiff against Pieter Dircksz, skipper of the ship N. Amsterdam, the plaintiff presented the adjoined charge.

The defendant, being present, requested a copy of the charge, and said further that the Jew, who had shipped the tobacco, told him, “Send your boat and the load the tobacco; I have spoken with Arien van Tienhoven about it.” Ady ut supra.

Copy

To the honorable lord director general and councilors of New Netherland residing at Fort Amsterdam.

Demonstrates with all due [ ] Cornelis van Tienhoven, fiscal [ ] how yesterday, very early, while taking a walk or stroll on the street along die East River, he saw that the boatswain and other sailors had come ashore with the boat of the ship de Waterhont, and at an unusual place had loaded the boat with tobacco without previously having received a permit of consent according to the regulations and customs of the land, upon which the quantity and quality of the goods must appear, and be recorded on the manifest, and the duty paid; none of which was done, but rather was brought on board by the sailors and loaded in the ship’s hold, whereby the honorable Company would be significantly deprived of its perquisites. It is for this reason that I have summoned the skipper Pieter Dircksz before your honors, and at once request that since he has acted or has allowed to happen, contrary to the general contracts granted by the Company to skippers sailing to New Netherland (notwithstanding express verbal warnings made to him), in the receipt of eleven barrels of undeclared tobacco, and smuggled by a Jew, which in any case the skippers are bound by contract not to allow acceptance or receipt of any merchandise in their ship before and until the same has been marked with the Company’s mark in the Company’s warehouse, duty has been paid, and letters of consent from the owner have been shown; the which not having been done, and whereas the country is spacious, many goods would be allowed to be smuggled without know-ledge of the fiscal, in like manner during the night or at other unseasonable times, and it is suspected that already more goods have been brought aboard the aforesaid ship than is stated on the manifest; as a result the fiscal requests that the ship be unloaded, and the skipper, serving as security for his crew with regard to smuggling, to be condemned to pay a fine of 200 Flemish pounds for the benefit of the lord fiscal. (Was signed:) Cor. van Tienhoven; (in the margin:) Dated 14 December 1655, New Amsterdam.