Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 1, 1873

No. 163.
Mr. Davis to General Schenck.

Department of State,
Washington, May 20, 1873.

No. 386.]

Sir: Referring to your No. 395, of the 29th ultimo, in which you state that Lord Granville had, on that day, informed you that he had considered, and was prepared to assent to, your suggestion made in accordance with an instruction of this Department that the protocol reciting the several acts of legislation which have been passed to carry out the provisions of Articles XVIII to XXV, and of Article XXX of the treaty of May 8, 1871, should be signed at Washington, I have now to state that subsequent to the receipt of your dispatch, Sir Edward Thornton informed Mr. Fish verbally that he was instructed by Lord Granville to propose that the protocol in question should be signed at London, and showed him his instructions to that effect. Mr. Fish told him that the instructions were not in harmony with the information received at the Department from you, and that he must await further intelligence from you before deciding upon Lord Granville’s proposition. The Department is at a loss to understand the reasons for making a change, of which you do not appear to have been informed.

I am, &c.,

J. C. B. DAVIS,
Acting Secretary.