No. 177.
Mr. Fish to Mr.
Bancroft
No. 351.]
Department of State, Washington, July
18, 1871.
Sir: I transmit to you herewith the draft of a note
which, in conjunction with the representative of Her Britannic Majesty, you
will present to the government of the Emperor of Germany, in pursuance of
the thirty-fourth article of a treaty signed at Washington on the 8th of
May, 1871, of which a copy is herewith sent, requesting that His Imperial
Majesty will be pleased to act as arbitrator in a question which has arisen
between the Governments of the United States and of Great Britain, in regard
to a line of boundary between the Territories of the United States and those
of Her Britannic Majesty, under the first article of the treaty concluded at
Washington on the 15th of June, 1846, a copy of which is also sent to you.
You will accordingly arrange with your British colleague for the
simultaneous presentation of your respective notes.
I am, &c.,
Draft of note to be presented to the government of
the Emperor of Germany.
The Government of the United States and the government of Her Britannic
Majesty having agreed, by a treaty signed at Washington on the 8th of
May, 1871, of which a copy is hereunto annexed, together with a copy of
the previous treaty of June 15, 1846, herein referred to, to submit to
the arbitration and award of His Majesty the Emperor of Germany the
decision of the question set forth in the thirty-fourth article of the
first-named treaty, in the following words: “Whereas it was stipulated
by article I of the treaty concluded at Washington on the 15th of June,
1846, between Her Britannic Majesty and the United States, that the line
of boundary between the Territories of the United States and those of
Her Britannic Majesty, from the point on the forty-ninth 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 Straits to the Pacific Ocean; and whereas the commissioners
appointed by the two high contracting parties to determine that portion
of the boundary which runs southerly through the middle of the channel
aforesaid were unable to agree upon the same; and whereas the government
of Her Britannic Majesty claims that such boundary line should, under
the terms of the treaty above recited, be run through the Rosario
Straits, and the Government of the United States claims that it should
be run through the Canal de Haro, it is agreed that the
[Page 400]
respective claims of the Government of the
United States and of the government of Her Britannic Majesty shall be
submitted to the arbitration and award of His Majesty the Emperor of
Germany, who, having regard to the above-mentioned article of the said
treaty, shall decide thereupon finally, and without appeal, which of
those claims is most in accordance with the true interpretation of the
treaty of June 15, 1846;” and the high contracting parties reposing
entire confidence in the spirit of justice and impartiality which
distinguish His Imperial Majesty, the common friend of the two states,
having agreed, in pursuance of the said treaty, to address themselves to
His Imperial Majesty, and having further mutually engaged, in the event
of His Imperial Majesty being willing to afford his good offices as
arbitrator on this occasion, to consider the award of His Majesty as
absolutely final and conclusive, and to give effect to the same without
any objection, evasion, or delay whatsoever, the undersigned has
received the orders of his Government to communicate to His Imperial
Majesty the treaty which has thus been made on the part of the
Government of the United States, and to express the President’s earnest
desire that His Imperial Majesty will be pleased to take upon him the
office of arbitrator in the question. The undersigned has the honor to
request His Serene Highness the Prince Bismarck to lay this
communication before His Majesty the Emperor of Germany, and to be
pleased to make known to the undersigned His Imperial Majesty’s
determination with regard to his acceptance of the desired
arbitration.
