Mr. Johnson to Mr. Seward
No. 100.]
Legation of the United States,
London,
January 15, 1869.
Sir: My cable dispatches of yesterday and
to-day have advised you that Lord Clarendon and myself have signed a
convention for the settlement by arbitration of the northwest boundary
controversy, and another for the adjustment by commission and
arbitration of the claims controversy, especially including the class
known as the Alabama claims. They were both signed at the foreign office
yesterday, the 14th instant, between two and three o’clock p. m. I
forward them with this dispatch.
The first differs only from the protocol on the same subject, of the 17th
of October last, and the supplement of the 10th of November, in the
insertion of such provisions as became necessary by their conversion
into a convention.
This conversion was done by me under the authority of your cable
dispatches of the 20th of December and 11th of January last. The
provisions referred to are such as have been incorporated in all
previous conventions of the same kind. The only alteration that I
insisted upon in the draught to which your dispatch of the 11th of
January refers, was to strike out the word “either” in the 6th article,
so as to prevent the arbitrator from considering the question submitted
to him in the presence of the agent of one of the governments whilst the
agent of the other was absent. The reason for this change you will
readily appreciate. But for it the arbitrator might act upon statements
or arguments presented by one of the agents, not only without an
opportunity being offered to the other to reply, but without his knowing
what they were. When I explained to Lord Clarendon that this might be
its operation, he readily assented to my suggestion; and the change, as
you will see, was made.
In regard to the claims convention, all that is necessary for me to state
is that it accords exactly with the instructions contained in your cable
dispatch of the 11th of January. That my reading of that dispatch was
correct I was confirmed in by a dispatch from Mr. Thornton, of the same
date, which his lordship was kind enough to let me see.
As this convention does not at all differ from the convention of the 8th
of February, 1853, except that it particularly mentions the Alabama
class of claims as included within its provisions, I take for granted
that it will meet the approval of the President and the Senate.
The operation of the convention of the 8th of February, 1853, was a just
and satisfactory adjustment of all the then existing claims which
[Page 401]
the citizens of either
government had upon the other. As far as an opinion can be formed on
such a subject, in advance, I have no doubt that the Alabama claims will
be realized under this convention.
This government have yielded, in regard to these claims, two grounds
heretofore positively assumed by them. First, during the period that
Lord Russell was in the foreign office, that they would not refer to
arbitration at all our demand in regard to them; and second, during the
administration of that office by Lord Stanley, that they would not so
refer the question of the right of this government to have recognized
the late confederates as belligerents Both questions, by the conventions
just signed, will be before the commissioners, and, on their failure to
agree, before the arbitrator.
I have reason to believe that the abandonment of the grounds originally
taken, to which I have referred, has been owing, in a great measure, to
the growing friendly feeling for the United States, which has been so
strongly exhibited since my arrival in this country. Anticipating that
that would be its effect, I determined to lose no time in cultivating
such a feeling, whilst never forgetting scrupulously to regard the
rights and honor of our country. This has been my sole motive in the
speeches which I have delivered since reaching England.
The existence of such a feeling I also deemed essential to the interest
of both countries.
It is proper that I should add, in conclusion, that both Lord Stanley and
Lord Clarendon yielded a very ready and cheerful assent to our
proposition to submit all the questions involved in the Alabama claims,
not even having expressed a desire during the negotiations to exclude
any one of them; and in this I am satisfied (as they must be) that they
but conformed to the public sentiment of the nation, and to their own
wishes.
I have the honor to remain, with high regard, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.
Convention between Great Britain and the United
States of America for the settlement of all outstanding
claims.—Signed at London, January 14, 1869.
Whereas claims have, at various times since the exchange of the
ratifications of the convention between the United States of America
and Great Britain, signed at London on the 8th of February, 1853,
been made upon the government of the United States on the part of
subjects of her Britannic Majesty, and upon the government of her
Britannic Majesty on the part of citizens of the United States; and
whereas some of such claims are still pending and remain unsettled,
the President of the United States of America, and her Majesty the
Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, being of
opinion that a speedy and equitable settlement of all such claims
will contribute much to the maintenance of the friendly feelings
which subsist between the countries, have resolved to make
arrangements for that purpose by means of a convention, and have
named as their plenipotentiaries to confer and agree thereupon, that
is to say:
The President of the United States of America, Reverdy Johnson, esq.,
envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary from the United
States to her Britannic Majesty;
And her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the right honorable George William Frederick, earl of
Clarendon, Baron Hyde of Hindon, a peer of the United Kingdom, a
member of her Britannic Majesty’s most honorable privy council,
knight of the most noble Order of the Garter, knight Grand Cross of
the most honorable Order of the Bath, her Britannic Majesty’s
principal secretary of state for foreign affairs;
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Who, after having communicated to each other their respective full
powers, found in good and due form, have agreed as follows:
Article I.
The high contracting parties agree that all claims on the part of
citizens of the United States upon the government of her Britannic
Majesty, including the so-called Alabama claims, and all claims on
the part of subjects of “her Britannic Majesty upon the government
of the United States, which may have been presented to either
government for its interposition with the other since the 26th, of
July, 1853, the day of the exchange of the ratifications of the
convention concluded between the United States of America and Great
Britain, at London, on the 8th of February, 1853, and which yet
remain unsettled; as well as any other such claims which may be
presented within the time specified in article III of this
convention, whether or not arising out of the late civil war in the
United States, shall be referred to four commissioners, to be
appointed in the following manner, that is to say: two commissioners
shall be named by the President of the United States, by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate, and two by her Britannic
Majesty. In case of the death, absence, or incapacity of any
commissioner, or in the event of any commissioner omitting or
declining or ceasing to act as such, the President of the United
States or her Britannic Majesty as the case may be, shall forthwith
name another person to act as commissioner in the place or stead of
the commissioner originally named.
The commisisioners so named shall meet at Washington at the earliest
convenient period after they shall have been respectively named, and
shall, before proceeding to any business, make and subscribe a
solemn declaration that they will impartially and carefully examine
and decide, to the best of their judgment, and according to justice
and equity, without fear, favor, or affection to their own country,
upon all such claims as shall be laid before them on the part of the
governments of the United States and of her Britannic Majesty,
respectively; and such declaration shall be entered on the record of
their proceedings.
The commissioners shall then, and before proceeding to any other
business, name some person to act as an abitrator or umpire, to
whose final decision shall be referred any claim upon which they may
not be able to come to a decision. If they should not be able to
agree upon an arbitrator or umpire, the commissioners on either side
shall name a person as arbitrator or umpire; and in each and every
case in which the commissioners may not be able to come to a
decision, the commissioners shall determine by lot which of the two
persons so named shall be the arbitrator or umpire in that
particular case. The person or persons so to be chosen as arbitrator
or umpire shall, before proceeding to act as such in any case, make
and subscribe a solemn declaration, in a form similar to that made
and subscribed by the commissioners, which shall be entered on the
record of their proceedings. In the event of the death, absence, or
incapacity of such person or persons, or of his or their omitting,
or declining, or ceasing to act as such arbitrator or umpire,
another person shall be named, in the same manner as the person
originally named, to act as arbitrator or umpire in his place and
stead, and shall make and subscribe such declaration as
aforesaid.
Article II.
The commissioners shall then forthwith proceed to the investigation
of the claims which shall be presented to their notice. They shall
investigate and decide upon such claims in such order and in such
manner as they may think proper, but upon such evidence or
information only as shall be furnished by or on behalf their
respective governments. The official correspondence which has taken
place between the two governments respecting any claims shall be
laid before the commissioners, and they shall, moreover, be bound to
receive and peruse all other written documents or statements which
may be presented to them by or on behalf of the respective
governments in support of or in answer to any claim, and to hear, if
required, one person on each side on behalf of each government, as
counsel or agent for such government, on each and every separate
claim. Should they fail to decide by a majority upon any individual
claim, they shall call to their assistance the arbitrator or umpire
whom they may have agreed upon, or who may be determined by lot, as
the case may be; and such arbitrator or umpire, after having
examined the official correspondence which has taken place between
the two governments, and the evidence adduced for and against the
claim, and after having heard, if required, one person on each side
as aforesaid, and consulted with the commissioners, shall decide
thereupon finally and without appeal.
Nevertheless, if the commissioners, or any two of them, shall think
it desirable that a sovereign or head of a friendly state should be
arbitrator or umpire in case of any claim, the commissioners shall
report to that effect to their respective governments, who shall
therenpon, within six months, agree upon some sovereign or head of a
friendly state, who shall be invited to decide upon such claim, and
before whom shall be laid the official correspondence which has
taken place between the two governments, and the other written
documents or statements which may have been presented to the
commissioners in respect of such claims.
[Page 403]
The decision of the commissioners, and of the arbitrator or umpire,
shall be given upon each claim in writing, and shall be signed by
them respectively, and dated.
In the event of a decision involving the question of compensation to
be paid, being arrived at by a special arbitrator or umpire, the
amount of such compensation shall be referred back to the
commissioners for adjudication; and in the event of their not being
able to come to a decision, it shall then be decided by the
arbitrator or umpire appointed by them, or who shall have been
determined by lot.
It shall be competent for each government to name one person to
attend the commissioners as agent on its behalf, to present and
support claims on its behalf, and to answer claims made upon it, and
to represent it generally in all matters connected with the
investigation and decision thereof.
The President of the United States of America, and her Majesty the
Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, hereby
solemnly and sincerely engage to consider the decision of the
commissioners, or of the arbitrator or umpire, as the case may be,
as absolutely final and conclusive upon each of such claims decided
upon by him or them respectively, and to give full effect to such
decision, without any objection or delay whatsoever.
It is agreed that no claim arising out of any transaction of a date
prior to the 26th of July, 1853, the day of the exchange of the
ratifications of the convention of the 8th of February, 1853, shall
be admissible under this convention.
Article III.
Every claim shall be presented to the commissioners within six months
from the day of their first meeting, unless in any case where
reasons for delay shall be established to the satisfaction of the
commissioners, or of the arbitrator or umpire in the event of the
commissioners differing in opinion thereupon; and then and in any
such case the period for presenting the claim may be extended to any
time not exceeding three months longer.
The commissioners shall be bound to examine and decide upon every
claim within two years from the day of their first meeting. It shall
be competent for the commissioners, or for the arbitrator or umpire,
if they differ, to decide in each case whether any claim has or has
not been duly made, preferred, or laid before them, either wholly or
to any and what extent, according to the true intent and meaning of
this convention.
Article IV.
All sums of money which may be awarded by the commissioners, or by
the arbitrator or umpire, on account of any claim, shall be paid in
coin or its equivalent by the one government or the other, as the
case may be, within eighteen months after the date of the decision,
without interest.
Article V.
The high contracting parties engage to consider the result of the
proceedings of this commission as a full and final settlement of
every claim upon either government arising out of any transaction of
a date prior to the exchange of the ratifications of the present
convention; and further engage that every such claim, whether or not
the same may have been presented to the notice of, made, preferred,
or laid before the said commission, shall, from and after the
conclusion of the proceedings of the said commission, be considered
and treated as finally settled and barred, and thenceforth
inadmissible.
Article VI.
The commissioners, and the arbitrator or umpire appointed by them,
shall keep an accurate record and correct minutes or notes of all
their proceedings, with the dates thereof, and shall appoint and
employ clerks or other persons to assist them in the transaction of
the business which may come before them.
The secretary shall be appointed by the Secretary of State of the
United States and by her Britannic Majesty’s representative at
Washington, jointly.
Each government shall pay the salaries of its own commissioners. All
other expenses, and the contingent expenses of the commission,
including the salary of the secretary, shall be defrayed in moieties
by the two parties.
Article VII.
The present convention shall be ratified by the President of the
United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate
thereof, and by her Britannic Majesty; and the ratifications shall
be exchanged at London as soon as may be within twelve months from
the date hereof.
[Page 404]
In witness whereof, the respective plenipotentiaries have signed the
same, and have affixed thereto their respective seals.
Done at
London, the fourteenth day of January, in the year
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
sixty-nine.
[seal.] REVERDY JOHNSON.
[seal.]
CLARENDON.
Convention between the United States of America
and her Majesty, for referring to arbitration the water boundary
under article I of the treaty of June 15, 1846.—Signed at London, January 14, 1869.
The United States of America and her Majesty the Queen of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, being desirous to close all
further discussion with regard to the true direction of the line of
water boundary between their respective possessions, as laid down in
article I of the treaty concluded between them on the 15th of June,
1846, have resolved to conclude a treaty for this purpose, and have
named as their plenipotentiaries, that is to say: The President of
the United States of America, Reverdy Johnson, esquire, envoy
extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary from the United States to
her Britannic Majesty; and her Majesty the Queen of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Right Honorable George
William Frederick, Earl of Clarendon, Baron Hyde of Hindon, a peer
of the United Kingdom, a member, of her Britannic Majesty’s most
honorable privy council, knight of the most noble Order of the
Garter, knight Grand Cross of the most honorable Order of the Bath,
her Britannic Majesty’s principal secretary of state for foreign
affairs; who, after having communicated to each other their
respective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed as
follows:
Article I.
Whereas it was stipulated by article I of the treaty concluded at
Washington, on the 15th of June, 1846, between the United States of
America and her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, that the line of boundary between the
territories of the United States and those of her Britannic Majesty,
from the point on the 49th parallel of north latitude, up to which
it had already been ascertained, should be continued westward along
the said parallel of north latitude “to the middle of the channel
which separates the continent from Vancouver’s island, and thence
southerly through the middle of the said channel, and of Fuca’s
straits, to the Pacific ocean;” and whereas the commissioners
appointed by the two high contracting parties to mark out that
portion of the boundary which runs southerly through the middle of
the channel aforesaid, have not been able to determine which is the
true line contemplated by the treaty;
The two high contracting parties agree to refer to the President of
the Swiss confederation to determine the line which, according to
the terms of the aforesaid treaty, runs southerly through the middle
of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver’s
island, and of Fuca’s straits, to the Pacific ocean.
Article II.
If the referee should be unable to ascertain and determine the
precise line intended by the words of the treaty, it is agreed that
it shall be left to him to determine upon some line which, in his
opinion, will furnish an equitable solution of the difficulty, and
will be the nearest approximation that can be made to an accurate
construction of the words of the treaty.
Article III.
It is agreed that the referee shall be at liberty to call for the
production of, and to consult, all the correspondence which has
taken place between the American and British governments on the
matter at issue, and to weigh the testimony of the American and
British negotiators of the treaty, as recorded in that
correspondence, as to their intentions in framing the article in
question; and the referee shall further be at liberty to call for
the reports and correspondence, together with any documents, maps,
or surveys bearing on the same, which have emanated from or were
considered by the commissioners who have recently been employed by
the two governments to endeavor to ascertain the line of boundary as
contemplated by the treaty, and to consider all evidence that either
of the high contracting parties may produce. But the referee shall
not depart from the true meaning of the article as it stands, if he
can deduce that meaning from the words of that article, those words
having been agreed to by both parties, and having been inserted in a
treaty ratified by both governments.
[Page 405]
Article IV.
Should either government deliver to the referee a statement of its
case, a copy thereof shall be at the same time communicated to the
other party, through its representative in Switzerland, together
with a copy of all papers or maps annexed to such statement. Each
government shall moreover furnish to the other, on application, a
copy of any individually specified documents or maps in its own
exclusive possession relating to the matter at issue.
Each party shall be at liberty to draw up and lay before the referee
a final statement, if it think fit to do so, in reply to the case of
the other party, and a copy of such definitive statement shall be
communicated by each party to the other, in the same manner as
aforesaid.
The two high contracting parties engage to use their best exertions
to place the whole of their respective case before the referee
within twelve months after the exchange of the ratifications of the
present treaty.
Article V.
The ministers and other public agents of the United States and of
Great Britain, at Berne, shall be considered as the agents of their
respective governments to conduct their case before the referee, who
shall be requested to address all his communications and give all
his notices to such ministers or other public agents, whose acts
shall bind their governments to and before the referee on this
matter.
Article VI.
It shall be competent to the referee to proceed in the said
arbitration, and all matters relating thereto, as and when he shall
see fit, either in person or by a person or persons named by him for
that purpose; either with closed doors or in public sitting; in the
presence or absence of both agents; and either viva voce, or by written discussion or otherwise.
Article VII.
The referee shall, if he thinks fit, appoint a secretary, registrar,
or clerk, for the purposes of the proposed arbitration, at such rate
of remuneration as he shall think proper. He shall be requested to
deliver, together with his award, a statement of all the costs and
expenses which he may have been put to in relation to this matter;
and the amount thereof shall forthwith be repaid in two equal
portions, one by each of the two parties.
Article VIII.
The referee shall be requested to give his award in writing as early
as convenient after the whole case on each side shall have been laid
before him, and to deliver one copy thereof, signed by him, to each
of the said agents.
Article IX.
The respective parties formally engage to consider the decision of
the referee, when given as final and conclusive, whether such
decision shall be a positive decision as to the line of boundary
intended by the true meaning of the words of article I of the treaty
of 1846, or whether the said referee, being unable to give such
positive decision, shall give as a decision a line of boundary as
the nearest approximation to an accurate construction of those
words, and as furnishing an equitable solution of the difficulty;
and such decision shall, without reserve, be carried into immediate
effect by commissioners to be appointed for the purpose of marking
out the line of boundary in accordance with such decision of the
referee.
Article X.
The present treaty shall be ratified by the President of the United
States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof,
and by her Britannic Majesty, and the ratifications shall be
exchanged at London as soon as may be, within twelve months from the
date hereof.
In witness whereof, the respective plenipotentiaries have signed the
same, and have affixed thereto their respective seals.
Done at
London, the fourteenth day of January, in the year
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
sixty-nine.
[l. s]. REVERDY JOHNSON.
[l.s.]
CLARENDON.
