Mr. Van Valkenburgh to Mr. Seward.
Sir: In my dispatch No. 25, of the 8th April last, I informed you that the indemnity of $150,000 demanded for the families of the murdered Frenchmen at Sakai had been paid. The late French minister, M. Roches, to whom I addressed myself for information on this subject, replied that that matter had been settled to his entire satisfaction, and from the emphatic manner in which this declaration was made, I took it for granted that this sum had actually been paid in full. I now learn from the present minister of France, Mr. Outrey, that an agreement had been entered into to pay this amount in three instalments of $50,000 each, and that only one instalment had been paid. The second instalment, I also learn, will be soon due; and this day the information reached me from Hiogo that a sum of money has been borrowed by the Osaka authorities in the (Kioto) Mikado’s name from the comptoir d’escompte de Paris, an agency of which is established at this port; but that it has not been possible to [Page 809] ascertain either the precise amount so lent or the security that has been accepted.
I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your most obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.