File No. 493.11/521.
The Secretary of State to the Secretary of the Treasury.
Washington, November 10, 1914.
Sir: I have the honor to invite your attention to joint resolution No. 29, approved May 25, 1908 (35 Stat. L. 577), which reads as follows:
Provided, That within one year from the passage of this resolution any person whose claim upon the Chinese indemnity, nineteen hundred, was presented [Page 80] to the United States commissioners or to the Department of State and disallowed in whole or in part may present the same by petition to the Court of Claims, which court is hereby invested with jurisdiction to hear and adjudicate such claim, without appeal, and to render such judgments de novo, or in addition to any allowance or allowances heretofore made, as, in each case, shall be fully and substantially compensatory for actual losses and expenses of the claimant caused by the antiforeign disturbances in China during the year nineteen hundred, excluding merely speculative claims or elements of damage: And provided also, That the sum of two million dollars be reserved from the Chinese indemnity, nineteen hundred, for the payment of such judgments, the same to be paid by the Treasurer of the United States as and when they shall be certified to the Secretary of the Treasury by the said court, and any balance remaining after all such claims have been adjudicated and paid shall be returned to the Chinese Government in such manner as the Secretary of State shall decide, and the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and directed to so return the same. * * *
In this connection, I am informed by the Attorney General that under certificate of the Clerk of the Court of Claims, attested by the Chief Justice, dated October 1, 1914, it appears that all claims filed in that court under and by authority of said joint resolution have been finally adjudicated and disposed of, and that the aggregate amount of said judgments was $810,188.21.
In addition to this amount it is understood that a payment of $13,976.15 was made to Fearon, Daniel and Company from the $2,000,000, under authority of private resolution No. 1, approved April 22. 1910, which leaves an unexpended balance of the $2,000,000 fund of $1,175,835.64.
In view of the foregoing, it would appear that all obligations imposed by the joint resolution above quoted in respect to claims of American citizens have been fulfilled, and that it now becomes the duty of this Department to initiate instructions looking to the return of the balance to the Government of China as directed by the said joint resolution.
I therefore have the honor to request that steps be taken by your Department for the payment of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) on account of the unexpended balance to the Government of China, by means of a warrant on the Treasurer of the United States, drawn payable to the order of Kai Fu Shah, Minister of China to the United States.
I have [etc]