Legation of Spain,
Manchester,
Mass., August 7,
1901.
Mr. Secretary: I have the honor to acknowledge
the reception of the note of your department dated the 5th instant by
which you advise me that the Government of the United States accepts the
proposition of that of H. M. to the effect that, as regards Porto Rico
and the Philippines, the authentication of the signatures of the
officials who intervene in the execution of letters rogatory passing
between Spain and the said countries and vice versa, through the
diplomatic channel, be hereafter dispensed with.
I transcribe hereinbelow the memorandum that I had the honor of sending
to your excellency on the 18th of April last, and the reply, dated June
5, that I received from the department.
[Untitled]
Legacion de España,
En
Washington, April 18,
1901.
The Spanish Government does not require the signatures of United
States authorities intervening in the execution of rogatory
commissions issued from Spain to be authenticated; and in
reciprocity of this measure is anxious that the United States
Government should not in the future require the authentication of
signatures of Spanish officials who execute American rogatory
commissions in Spain.
As all these documents are transmitted from the two Governments
through the diplomatic channel the Spanish Government considers that
this fact should alone guarantee their authenticity.
[Untitled]
Department of State,
Washington, June 5,
1901.
The Department of State submitted to the Secretary of War and the
governor of Porto Rico the memorandum of the Spanish minister, dated
April 18 last, suggesting that as letters rogatory passing between
the courts of the United States and Spain were transmitted through
the diplomatic channel, the authentication of the officials
executing the letters might be dispensed with.
Copies of letters from the officers above mentioned are inclosed,
from which it appears that in Cuba, the Philippines, and Porto Rico
the authentications will be dispensed with, so long as the letters
pass through the diplomatic channel. The vast majority of the
letters rogatory transmitted between the
[Page 19]
two Governments will thus be relieved from the
burden of authentication. As regards the letters, however, exchanged
between the courts of the United States, of the States of the Union,
and of the organized Territories, it will not be possible for this
department to make any such arrangement, as the execution of the
letters must take place in accordance with the provisions of the
laws of the United States, of the State or Territory, respectively,
and in compliance with the rules of the executing court.
The Department of State would be glad to know whether the arrangement
offered is satisfactory to the Spanish Government.
In conformity with your excellency’s statement in the note which I
have the honor to answer, I agree, in the name of the Government of
His Majesty, to consider the proposed arrangement as completed by
the present exchange of notes, but I must give you notice that it
can not go into effect in Spain until it shall have been published
in the “Gaceta de Madrid,” that is to say, after the time required
for the transmission to Spain and the subsequent printing of the
text.
I avail, etc.,
declaration.
The undersigned, on behalf of their respective Governments and in
accordance with the notes they exchanged on the 5th and 7th of
August last, have agreed upon the following declaration:
The signatures of officials who officiate in the execution of
rogatory commissions addressed by the courts of Porto Rico and
the Philippine Islands to those of Spain, or by the Spanish
courts to those of Porto Rico and the Philippine Islands,
transmitted through the diplomatic channel, will not require
authentication.
Done in duplicate at
Washington
this 7th day of
November, 1901.
- John Hay,
- El Duque de
Arcos.
