No. 242.
Mr. Chang Yen Hoon to Mr. Bayard.

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note dated the 12th instant, the contents of which I have carefully noted.

I have also several things which I intend to propose to your excellency’s consideration, but, under instructions from the foreign office, I can not do so until all the pending cases are settled.

Referring to the cases of outrages committed upon the Chinese in the United States in the past years, you kindly gave me repeated assurances, in person, that indemnities would be awarded and the cases set-tied within a certain time, which I, in my dispatches, more than, once commuicated to the foreign office; but, nevertheless, they still remain unsettled; consequently I find myself placed in a rather delicate position, which it seems hard for me to extricate myself from.

It seems premature for us to enter into negotiations for concluding a treaty, as suggested by you, at the present moment.

I have a strong desire to maintain the friendly and cordial relations of the two Governments, but as it would lack the spirit of harmony necessary for carrying on negotiations if arguments should only be set forth in correspondence, I shall hope to do myself the honor of having an interview with, your excellency at my earliest convenience.

Accept, sir, etc.,

Chang Yen Hoon.