Mr. Fish to Baron Gerolt
The undersigned has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the note of Baron Gerolt of the 1st instant, with which the Baron did him the honor to transmit a copy of the dispatch of the Chancellor of the North German Union dated 9th February last.
The termination of the war in which the North German Union has lately been engaged happily removes from the questions to which the Chancellor’s dispatch and the correspondence between the undersigned and Baron Gerolt alluded to therein relate, any present practical significance.
The undersigned notes, however, the qualification which it appears was intended to be attached to the decree of the 19th of July last, viz, “Private property on the high seas will be exempted from seizure by His Majesty’s ships without regard to reciprocity.”
And with reference to the concluding passage of Count Bismarck’s dispatch of 9th of February, the undersigned takes pleasure in saying that the confidence of this Government never allowed a doubt that the action of North Germany toward American vessels would be in accordance with the provisions of existing treaties.
The undersigned avails, &c.