No. 138.
Mr. Hoffman to Mr. Fish.
Legation of the United States,
London, May 27,
1876.
No. 99.]Sir: Referring to my telegram of last evening
in the matter of Winslow, I have the honor to forward to you herewith a
copy of the note of Lord Derby upon which it was based, and which I
received late yesterday afternoon.
With regard to the “suggestion made by me in conversation,” it is proper
to state that, calling on Lord Tenderden, to ascertain what had taken
place in connection with the last remand of Winslow, the conversation
turned upon a new treaty and the difficulties in the way of negotiating
it, when I observed “that if we should be unable to make a new treaty
why should we not amend the old one upon the points upon which we are
agreed. We have got along very well under it for thirty years, and with
two or three amendments there is no reason why we should not get along
under it for many years more.”
I have, &c.,
[Inclosure 1 in No. 99.]
Lord Derby to
Colonel Hoffman.
Foreign Office, May 26, 1876.
Sir: With reference to the paragraph in Mr.
Fish’s dispatch of the 31st of March, in which he states that “in
some few treaties between the United States and foreign countries
provisions exist that the criminal shall not he tried for offenses
committed prior to extradition other than the extradition crime,”
and to the draft article to the same effect contained in the draft
treaty lately discussed between the two governments, to which
article Mr. Fish had given his assent, I have the honor to request
that you will state to your Government, by telegraph, that Her
Majesty’s government will be ready at once to meet the suggestion
made by you in conversation at the foreign office yesterday, and to
sign an additional article to the treaty of 1842, in the words of
that draft article, of which a copy is inclosed.
I have to add that this article is identical with the one contained
in all the extradition treaties between Great Britain and other
countries, mentioned in the accompanying list.
On being informed that the Government of the United States consent to
adopt this method of meeting the present difficulty, Her Majesty’s
government will be ready to authorize Her Majesty’s minister at
Washington, who has full powers, to sign the additional article with
Mr. Fish, or I shall be happy to do so with you, if your Government
prefer it.
Her Majesty’s government trust that the Government of the United
States will see in this proposal a proof of their sincere desire to
maintain a treaty of such importance to both countries.
I have the honor, &c.,
[Inclosure.]
Every extradition treaty concluded by Great Britain with foreign
powers since the passing of the act of 1870 contains an article in
accordance with section 3, subsection 2, of the act.
The following are the treaties in question:
Austria, 3d December, 1873; Belgium, 31st July, 1872; Brazil, 13th
November, 1872; Denmark, 31st March, 1873; Italy, 5th February,
1873; Germany, 14th May, 1872; Netherlands, 19th June, 1874; Sweden
and Norway, 26th June, 1873; Switzerland, 31st March, 1874; Hayti,
7th December, 1874; Honduras, 6th January, 1874.
[Page 250]
Draft article in proposed extradition
treaty with the United States, agreed to by Mr. Fish
Article III.
When any person shall have been surrendered by either of the high
contracting parties to the other, such person shall not, until he
has been restored or had an opportunity of returning to the country
from whence he was surrendered, be triable or tried for any offense
committed in the other country prior to the surrender other than the
particular offense on account of which he was surrendered.
No person shall be deemed to have had an opportunity of returning to
the country whence he was surrendered until two months, at least,
shall have elapsed after he shall have been set at liberty and free
to return.
N. B.—The last paragraph of this article was added by Mr. Fish.
