Mr. Foster to Mr. Egan.
Washington, July 5, 1892.
Mr. Foster calls Mr. Egan’s attention to the fact that he has overlooked, in his suggestion to include the Baltimore incident among older claims, that it was undesirable on account of its important features to join this question with ordinary claims; he states that the Government of the United States has not changed its belief that the question was deemed to be capable of honorable adjustment by the usual diplomatic methods, as expressed to the Government of Chile when arbitration was proposed; he remarks that Chile made, in international conferences on the subject of arbitration of questions in which national honor is involved, declarations which are now particularly applicable; that the United States under analogous circumstances has several times offered a voluntary compensation, and that a frank and friendly offer of the same nature would be signal proof of good will; that close amity would thereby be much more effectively promoted than by a protracted litigation of a point of honor, and that after a satisfactory adjustment of the Baltimore case there could certainly be no difficulty in arranging the details concerning the arbitration of other claims.