Mr. Hay to Lord Pauncefote.
Washington, October 13, 1900.
Excellency: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 1st instant, saying that His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway had signified to Her Britannic Majesty’s Government his willingness to consider the claims of all foreigners in connection with the military operations in Samoa, provided the three signatory powers to the convention of November 7, 1899, would consent to their being submitted to arbitration. You accordingly ask the views of this Government, stating at the same time that the Government of Her Majesty is prepared to agree to the proposal.
The provision of the treaty bearing upon claims other than those of the signatory powers is found in article 3, which says:
Either of the three Governments may, with the consent of the others, previously obtained in every case, submit to the King for arbitration similar claims of persons not being natives, who are under the protection of that Government and who are not included in the above-mentioned categories.
This provision limits the claims of those not natives to be submitted to arbitration to those persons who are under the protection of either the United States, Great Britain, or Germany. No other class of claims is provided for; but in view of the probability that the three Governments concerned will sanction the admission of claims of French citizens there does not seem to be any sufficient reason why equal treatment may not be accorded to other nationals, since the arbitrator is disposed to consider them if agreeable to the treaty Governments.
The Government of the United States accordingly assents to the propositions in case Great Britain and Germany do likewise. It believes, however, that each Government should insist upon knowing the number and character of these claims before their final submission to the arbitrator, and that the Government desiring this special privilege on behalf of its citizens or subjects should prefer its request to each of the signatory powers, so that they may have an opportunity to know what is to be presented to the arbitrator. The claim of a national whose Government is not responsible for its presentation in this way should be excluded.
I have, etc.,