Mr. Egan to Mr. Foster.
Santiago, August 2, 1892. (Received September 12.)
Sir: I am much gratified to learn that my action in bringing about the settlement of the Baltimore question is so favorably appreciated.
In conformity with the authority conferred upon me, I at once opened up negotiations with the minister of foreign relations with a view of arranging a settlement of all pending claims between the United States and Chile by means of an arbitration. The minister suggested various methods, including the submission of the claims to the chief justice of the supreme court of Switzerland, and I on the other hand suggested arbitration by means of a commission of three commissioners to sit in Washington; one commissioner to be named by the President of Chile, one by the President of the United States and the third by the President of one of the American Republics. The minister finally accepted my suggestion that the arbitration be held in Washington and proposed that the President of the United States should name one commissioner, the President of Chile another, and that all questions of difference between the two should be left to the decision of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. I stated in reply that I appreciated and I was sure my Government would appreciate most cordially the spirit which dictated this proposition, but that I was quite sure the Government of the United States would not desire to have this responsibility thrown upon it, and I believe also that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court could not consent to act.
I have now fully arranged with the minister that all claims pending between the two governments shall be submitted to a tribunal of arbitration composed of one commissioner to be named by the President of Chile, one by the President of the United States, and a third to be chosen by mutual accord between the President of Chile and the President of the United States within three months from the exchange of ratifications of the convention, and if the two Presidents shall not agree within three months to name such third commissioner, then he shall be named by the President of the Swiss Confederation; the arbitration to be held in the city of Washington.
I have already drafted the protocol on the same lines as the French-American convention of 1880, and I hope to be able to report the signing in English and Spanish within a few days. The convention is drawn so as to include all pending claims.
I have, etc.,