Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the Third Session of the Fortieth Congress

Mr. Johnson to Mr. Seward

No. 49.]

Legation of the United States, London, November 10, 1868.

Sir: I have the gratification to inform you of the particulars of the joint convention, signed by Lord Stanley and myself on this day, for the settlement of all the claims that the citizens of either country may have against this government and the government of the United States; what are known as the Alabama claims are of course embraced by it.

The first article provides for the appointment of four commissioners, two by each government. The board to meet in London at the earliest period subsequent to their appointment, and before considering any claims to agree upon an umpire.

In the event of their not being able to come to a decision upon any claim, the questions are to be submitted to the umpire.

In relation to all claims other than the Alabama claims, decisions may be made by a majority of the commissioners.

This provision is contained in the second article. It also stipulates that each government is to appoint one person to represent it before the board as agent, and points out in general terms his duties.

By the third article all claims are to be presented within six months from the day of their first meeting; but authority is given them to extend the time for their presentation three months longer. And the whole is to be closed within two years from the first-named day.

Articles four, five, and six apply only to the Alabama claims. By the fourth, before the commissioners are to consider such claims, the two governments are to agree upon some “sovereign or head of a friendly state as an arbitrator, in respect of such claims, to whom such class of claims shall be referred, in case the commissioners shall be unable to come to a unanimous decision upon the same.”

By the fifth, if the arbitrator appointed under the authority of the fourth shall decide in favor of any or all of these claims, they are to be referred back to the commissioners to ascertain the amount due upon each. This may be decided by a majority; and if there be not amajority, the decision is to be made by the umpire appointed by the commissioners under the authority given them by the first article.

By the sixth article the correspondence and evidence in regard to these claims, now in the possession of either government, are, without further argument or evidence, to be alone considered by the commissioners or the arbitrator, unless they, unanimously, or he, shall call for further argument or evidence.

By the seventh the decision by the commissioners or the arbitrator, as the case may be, is made conclusive upon both governments.

Under the eighth article no claims are to be received which may have arisen prior to the 26th of July, 1853, the date of the exchange of the ratifications of the convention of 8th February, 1853, these having all been adjusted by the commissioners under that treaty.

Under the ninth article the awards are to be paid in coin, or its equivalent, without interest, within twelve months after the date of each award.

The tenth article makes the decisions arrived at under the convention conclusive upon all claims presented; and all claims which might be presented, but are not, are also to be barred.

The eleventh article contains some details, and gives the authority to appoint the secretary of the board to the principal secretary of state for foreign affairs and United States minister in London.

The salaries of the commissioners are to be fixed and paid by each government appointing them.

The remaining article provides that the ratifications of the convention are to be exchanged at London as soon as may be within twelve months from its date.

It is proper that I should give, as briefly as may be necessary, my reasons for assenting to the convention, or rather to some of its provisions: 1st. You have heretofore refused to enter into an agreement to arbitrate the Alabama claims unless this government would agree that the question of its right to acknowledge as belligerents the late so-called southern confederacy be also included within the arbitration. You will see by the terms of the first and the fourth articles that that question, as well as every other which the United States may think is involved in such claims, is to be before the commissioners, or the arbitrator. This is done by the use of general terms and the omission of any specification of the questions to be decided. And my authority for agreeing to this is found in your original instructions of the 20th of July last, and is indeed to be found in the correspondence between yourself and my predecessor regarding these claims.

2d. Upon reflection, I thought it better for our claimants, particularly the Alabama claimants, that the commission should sit in London instead of Washington, because nearly all if not all the evidence upon which they rest is to be found here or in Liverpool, and my instructions were silent as to the place of meeting.

3d. The provision that the awards are to be paid in coin, or its equivalent, I deemed to be due to good faith. As those which may be made in favor of our citizens against this government will be paid in coin, I thought it obviously just that those which may be made in favor of British subjects should be discharged in the same way.

Hoping and not doubting that the convention will meet with the approval of the President and yourself, and receive the sanction of the Senate. I remain, with high regard, your obedient servant,

REVERDY JOHNSON.

Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.

Convention between Great Britain and the United States of America far the settlement of all outstanding claims. Signed at London, November 10, 1868.

Whereas claims have at various times since the exchange of the ratifications of the convention between Great Britain and the United States of America, signed at London on the 8th of February, 1853, been made upon the government of her Britannic Majesty on the part of citizens of the United States, and upon the government of the United States on the part of subjects of her Britannic Majesty; and whereas some of such claims are still pending, and remain unsettled; her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the President of the United States of America, being of opinion that a speedy and equitable settlement of all such claims will contribute much to the maintenance of the friendly feeling which subsist between the two countries, have resolved to make arrangements for that purpose by means of a convention, and have named as their plenipotentiaries to confer and agree thereupon, that is to say:

Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Right Honorable Edward Henry Stanley, commonly called Lord Stanley, a member of her Britannic Majesty’s most honorable privy council, a member of Parliament, her principal secretary of state for foreign affairs;

And the President of the United States of America, Reverdy Johnson, esquire, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary from the United States to her Britannic Majesty;

Who, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed as follows:

Article I.

The high contracting parties agree that all claims on the part of subjects of her Britannic Majesty upon the government of the United States, and all claims on the part of citizens of the United States upon the government of her Britannic Majesty, which may have been presented to either government for its interposition with the other since the 26th of July, 1853, the day of the exchange of the ratifications of the convention concluded between Great Britain and the United States of America, at London, on the 8th of February, 1853, and which yet remain unsettled, as well as any other such claims which may be presented within the time specified in article III of this convention, whether or not arising out of the late civil war in the United States, shall be referred to four commissioners, to be appointed in the following manner, that is to say: two commissioners shall be named by her Britannic Majesty, and two by the President of the United States. In case of the death, absence, or incapacity of any commissioner, or in the event of any commissioner omitting or ceasing to act as such, her Britannic Majesty, or the President of the United States, as the case may be, shall forthwith name another person to act as commissioner in the place or stead of the commissioner originally named.

The commissioners so named shall meet at London at the earliest convenient period after they shall have been respectively named, and shall, before proceeding to any business, make and subscribe a solemn declaration that they will impartially and carefully examine and decide, to the best of their judgment, and according to justice and equity, without fear, favor, or affection to their own country, upon all such claims as shall be laid before them on the part of the governments of her Britannic Majesty and of the United States, respectively; and such declaration shall be entered on the record of their proceedings.

The commissioners shall then, and before proceeding to any other business, name some person to act as an arbitrator or umpire, to whose final decision, save as otherwise provided in article IV of this convention, shall be referred any claim upon which they may not be able to come to a decision. If they should not be able to agree upon an arbitrator or umpire, the commissioners on either side shall name a person as arbitrator or umpire; and in each and every case in which the commissioners may not be able to come to a decision, the commissioners shall determine by lot which of the two persons so named shall be the arbitrator or umpire in that particular case. The person or persons so to be chosen as arbitrator or umpire shall, before proceeding to act as such in any case, make and subscribe a solemn declaration, in a form similar to that made and subscribed by the commissioners, which shall be entered on the record of their proceedings. In the event of the death, absence, or incapacity of such person or persons, or of his or their omitting or declining, or ceasing to act as such arbitrator or umpire, another person shall be named, in the same manner as the person originally named, to act as arbitrator or umpire in his place and stead, and shall make and subscribe such declaration as aforesaid.

Article II.

The commissioners shall then forthwith proceed to the investigation of the claims which shall be presented to their notice. They shall investigate and decide upon such claims in such order and in such manner as they may think proper, but upon such evidence or information only as shall be furnished by or on behalf of their respective governments. They shall be bound to receive and peruse all written documents or statements which may be presented to them by or on behalf of their respective governments in support of or in answer to any claim, and to hear, if required, one person on each side on behalf of each government, as counsel or agent for such government, on each and every separate claim. Should they fail to decide by a majority upon any individual claim, they shall call to their assistance the arbitrator or umpire whom they may have agreed upon, or who may be determined by lot, as the case may be; and such arbitrator or umpire, after having examined the evidence adduced for and against the claim, and after having heard, if required, one person on each side as aforesaid, and consulted with the commissioners, shall decide thereupon finally and without appeal.

The decision of the commissioners, and of the arbitrator or umpire, shall be given upon each claim in writing, and shall be signed by them respectively, and dated.

It shall be competent for each government to name one person to attend the commissioners as agent on its behalf, to present and support claims on its behalf, and to answer claims made upon it, and to represent it generally in all matters connected with the investigation and decision thereof.

The provisions of this article shall, however, be subject to the special arrangements made by articles four, five, and six of this convention, respecting the claims which form the subject of those articles, and which shall be dealt with as directed in those articles.

Article III.

Every claim shall be presented to the commissioners within six months from the day of their first meeting, unless in any case where reasons for delay shall be established to the satisfaction of the commissioners, or of the arbitrator or umpire in the event of the commissioners differing in opinion thereupon; and then and in any such case the period for presenting the claim may be extended to any time not exceeding three months longer.

The commissioners shall be bound to examine and decide upon every claim within two years from the day of their first meeting. It shall be competent for the commissioners, or for the arbitrator or umpire if they differ, to decide in each case whether any claim has or has not been duly made, preferred, or laid before them, either wholly or to any and what extent, according to the true intent and meaning of this convention.

Article IV.

The commissioners shall have power to adjudicate upon the class of claims referred to in the official correspondence between the two governments as the Alabama claims; but before any of such claims is taken into consideration by them, the two high contracting parties shall fix upon some sovereign or head of a friendly state as an arbitrator in respect of such claims, to whom such class of claims shall be referred in case the commissioners shall be unable to come to a unanimous decision upon the same.

Article V.

In the event of a decision on any of the claims mentioned in the next preceding article being arrived at by the arbitrator involving a question of compensation to be paid, the amount of such compensation shall be referred back to the commissioners for adjudication; and in the event of their not being able to come to a decision, it shall then be decided by the arbitrator appointed by them, or who shall have been determined by lot according to the provisions of article I.

Article VI.

With regard to the before-mentioned Alabama class of claims, neither government shall make out a case in support of its position, nor shall any person be heard for or against any such claim. The official correspondence which has already taken place between the two governments respecting the questions at issue shall alone be laid before the commissioners; and (in the event of their not coming to a unanimous decision as provided in article IV) then before the arbitrator, without argument written or verbal, and without the production of any further evidence.

The commissioners unanimously, or the arbitrator, shall, however, be at liberty to call for argument or further evidence, if they or he shall deem it necessary.

Article VII.

Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the President of the United States of America, hereby solemnly and sincerely engage to consider the decision of the commissioners, or of the arbitrator or umpire, as the case may be, as absolutely final and conclusive upon each of such claims decided upon by them or him respectively, and to give full effect to such decisions without any objection or delay whatever.

Article VIII.

It is agreed that no claim arising out of any transaction of a date prior to the 26th of July, 1853, the day of the exchange of the ratifications of the convention of the 8th of February, 1853, shall be admissible under this convention.

Article IX.

All sums of money which may be awarded by the commissioners, or by the arbitrator or umpire, on account of any claim, shall be paid in coin or its equivalent by the one government to the other, as the case may be, within twelve months after the date of the decision, without interest.

Article X.

The high contracting parties engage to consider the result of the proceedings of this commission as a full and final settlement of every claim upon either government arising out of any transaction of a date prior to the exchange of the ratifications of the present convention; and further engage that every such claim, whether or not the same may have been presented to the notice of, made, preferred, or laid before, the said commission, shall, from and after the conclusion of the proceedings of the said commission, be considered and treated as finally settled and barred.

Article XI.

The commissioners shall keep an accurate record and correct minutes or notes of all their proceedings with the dates thereof, and shall appoint and employ clerks or other persons to assist them in the transaction of the business, which may come before them.

The secretary shall be appointed by the principal secretary of state for foreign affairs of her Britannic Majesty, and by the representative of the United States in London, jointly.

Each government shall pay the salaries of its own commissioners. All other expenses, and the contingent expenses of the commission, including the salary of the secretary, shall be defrayed in moieties by the two parties.

Article XII.

The present convention shall be ratified by her Britannic Majesty and by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at London as soon as may he, within twelve months from the date hereof.

In witness whereof the respective plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed thereto their respective seals.

Done at London the tenth day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.

[seal.] STANLEY.

[seal.] REVERDY JOHNSON.