Mr. Sickles to Mr. Fish
Sir: In compliance with the request of the minister of state, I called upon him yesterday afternoon at 2 o’clock, when he informed me that the preparation of his reply to my note of the 8th instant had been unavoidably delayed; but that, in deference to the wish I had so often expressed for prompt action in the matter of our reclamations, he was then prepared to submit to me the concluding portion of his answer, embracing the bases proposed by the Spanish government for a settlement of the question.
I remarked that I would send you a translation of his propositions, and await the receipt of your instructions in reply to my telegram of the 26th instant, informing you of his previous verbal statement of the same propositions. Mr. Martos then kindly offered to forward my telegraphic dispatch through the Spanish legation in London, giving it precedence on the Spanish wires over all other matter. This courteous offer I [Page 764] accepted, and at 6 o’clock last evening the following dispatch, addressed to our chargé d’affaires in London, was left at the ministry of state for transmission to that city:
Benjamin Moran, United States Chargé d’Affaires, London:
Send following by cable to Washington:
Minister of foreign affairs communicates following bases for settlement of our reclamations:
First. The arbitrators shall adjudge reclamations preferred by American citizens against acts of the Spanish authorities in Cuba, and also against judgments of tribunals or military commissions in Cuba, for the sole object of investigating and deciding whether the forms of law have been observed in those adjudications, and especially whether the guarantees in the treaty of 1795 have been complied with.
Second. The arbitrators shall also have cognizance of the reclamations of those Spaniards naturalized as American citizens who, having asserted their acquired nationality before the tribunals or military commissions, have had their allegation disallowed. In these cases the arbitrators shall have full powers to decide whether the claimants possess the qualifications of American citizens or not. The commission having recognized the quality of American citizenship, the claimants will possess the rights to which the first paragraph refers.
Third. Those naturalized Spaniards who failed to allege their quality as foreigners before the tribunals or Spanish authorities, shall have no right to a hearing before the commission.
The failure to assert their nationality shall be accepted as a submission to the tribunals and authorities of Spain in Cuba.
Article fifth. The bases being accepted, the corresponding document shall be drawn up and exchanged by means of notes between the two governments of Madrid and Washington.
Articles four and six relate to matters of detail, and substantially agree with our views.
Madrid, January 30.