[Untitled]
Legation of the United States,
Madrid,
February 11, 1871.
Sir: I have had the honor to receive the note
of to-day’s date addressed to me by your excellency, proposing certain
modifications of the plan of arrangement submitted to you on the 7th
instant, for the adjustment of the reclamations made by my Government
against that of Spain. I take much pleasure in stating that the changes
suggested in the memorandum inclosed in your note have my entire
concurrence, and have been duly embodied in the following record of the
bases upon which we have agreed.
Memorandum of an arbitration for the settlement of claims of citizens of
the United States, or of their heirs, against the government of Spain
for wrongs and injuries committed against their persons and property, or
against the persons and property of citizens of whom the said heirs are
the legal representatives, by the authorities of Spain in the island of
Cuba, or within the maritime jurisdiction thereof, since the
commencement of the present insurrection:
1. It is agreed that all such claims shall be submitted to arbitrators,
one to be appointed by the Secretary of State of the United States,
another by the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of Spain
at Washington, and these two to name an umpire who shall decide all
questions upon which they shall be unable to agree, and in case the
place of either arbitrator or of the umpire shall from any cause become
vacant, such vacancy shall be filled forthwith in the manner herein
provided for the original appointment.
2. The arbitrators and umpire so named shall meet at Washington within
one month from the date of their appointment, and shall, before
proceeding to business, make and subscribe a solemn declaration that
they will impartially hear and determine, to the best of their judgment
and according to public law and the treaties in force between the two
countries and these present stipulations, all such claims as shall, in
conformity with this agreement, be laid before them on the part of the
Government of the United States, and such declaration shall be entered
upon the record of their proceedings.
3. Each government may name an advocate to appear before the arbitrators
or the umpire to represent the interests of the parties
respectively.
4. The arbitrators shall have full power, subject to these stipulations,
and it shall be their duty before proceeding with the hearing and
decision of any case, to make and publish convenient rules prescribing
the time and manner of the presentation of claims and of the proof
thereof; and any disagreement with reference to the said rules of
proceeding shall be decided by the umpire. It is understood that a
reasonable period shall be allowed for the presentation of the proofs;
that all claims and the testimony in favor of them shall be presented
only through the Government of the United States; that the award made in
each case shall be in writing, and, if indemnity be given, the sum to be
paid shall be expressed in the gold coin of the United States.
5. The arbitrators shall have jurisdiction of all claims presented to
them by the Government of the United States for injuries done to
citizens of the United States by the authorities of Spain in Cuba, since
the 1st day of October, 1868.
Adjudications of the tribunals in Cuba concerning citizens of the United
States made in the absence of the parties interested, or in violation of
international law, or of the guarantees and forms provided for in the
treaty of October 27, 1795, between the United States and Spain, may be
reviewed by the arbitrators, who shall make such award in any such case
as they shall deem just. No judgment of a Spanish tribunal disallowing
the affirmation of a party that he is a citizen of the United States
shall prevent the arbitrators from hearing a reclamation presented in
behalf of said party by the United States Government. Nevertheless, in
any case heard by the arbitrators the Spanish government may traverse
the allegation of American citizenship, and thereupon competent and
sufficient proof thereof will be required. The commission having
recognized the quality of American citizens in the claimants, they will
require the rights accorded to them by the present stipulation as such
citizens. And it is further agreed that the arbitrators shall not have
jurisdiction of any reclamation made in behalf of a native-born Spanish
subject naturalized in the United States if it shall appear that the
same subject-matter having been adjudicated by a competent tribunal in
Cuba, and the claimant having appeared therein either in person or by
his duly-appointed attorney, and being required by the laws of Spain to
make a declaration of his nationality failed to declare that he was a
citizen of the United States, in such case and for the purposes of this
arbitration it shall be deemed and taken that the claimant, by his own
default, had renounced his allegiance to the United States. And it is
further agreed that the arbitrators shall not have jurisdiction of any
demands growing out of contracts.
6. The expenses of the arbitration will be defrayed by a percentage to be
added to the amount awarded. The compensation of the arbitrators and
umpire shall not exceed three thousand dollars each. The same allowance
shall be made to each of the two advocates representing respectively the
two governments, and the arbitrators may employ a secretary at a
compensation not exceeding the sum of five dollars a day for every day
actually and necessarily given to the business of the arbitration.
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7. The two governments will accept the awards made in the several cases
submitted to the said arbitration as final and conclusive, and will give
full effect to the same in good faith and as soon as possible.
I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to your excellency the
assurances of my most distinguished consideration.
His Excellency Minister of State.
