Mr. Tower to Mr. Hay.

No. 192.]

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatch No. 124, of the 12th of February, relative to the modification of the protocol for the arbitration of the claims of the United States growing out of Russian seizures of American sealing and whaling vessels, and I regret that I have not been able as yet to report fully upon that subject.

The delay had arisen from the unwillingness upon the part of the Russian Government to accept the phraseology proposed by us in connection with the method by which the arbitrator shall reach his decision. The Imperial minister for foreign affairs still insists upon the retention of the phrase to which I had the honor to refer in my dispatches to you, Nos. 152, of November 18, and 157, of November 25, 1899, “and the spirit of international agreements bearing upon the subject.”

Upon receiving your telegram of the 5th of December, which instructed me that the United States Government will accept a modification which shall make the provision read: “The arbitrator shall determine as to each claim, etc.,” I presented that suggestion to the minister for foreign affairs, and I have not fulfilled my promise to inform you of his reply because he has not as yet given me a definite reply.

I have discussed the subject with him upon several occasions personally and have presented it formally also in writing. He is not inclined to yield the point and I fear will not do so, though I can not say this finally at present.

The question of this modification has been referred, as I have already reported to you, to Professor Martens for decision, and I incline to believe that it is that gentleman who is stubbornly resisting our offer, although I have repeatedly urged that “instead of restricting the judgment of the arbitrator to any express mode of determination, our plan will leave the questions involved to be decided by his wisdom and learning, without qualification of any kind.”

I shall not fail to attend diligently to this subject.

I have, etc.,

Charlemagne Tower.