Mr. Loomis to Mr. Raikes.
Washington, July 6, 1903.
My dear Mr. Chargé: I am in receipt of your personal note of the 1st instant, in which you advance further considerations to support the application heretofore made for an extension of time for the delivery of the counter case before the Alaskan Boundary Tribunal.
In view of the fact that your note discloses an intention to submit these considerations to the attention of the tribunal, I might well be excused from discussing them further at this time but for two assertions in your note which can not be passed by in silence, as they involve the honor and good faith of the Government of the United States.
You state that you are directed by His Majesty’s principal secretary for foreign affairs to make it known “that His Majesty’s Government contend, and it is apparently not disputed by the United States Government, that, in appending to their case translations of documents on which they rely, the latter failed to comply with Article II of the convention, which provides that documentary evidence should accompany the case.”
I beg to dissent in the most positive terms from the foregoing statement so far as it refers to the action of the Government of the United States. On the contrary, it has been most scrupulous in its action to comply with both the letter and the spirit of the treaty; and it has been because of its desire to have the treaty faithfully observed that [Page 537] it has not been able to accede to the requests of His Majesty’s Government, which had no support in the provisions of that instrument.
The further statement that the “evidence upon which the United States rely, “they [the United States] announce will not be open for examination until after the delivery of the counter case,” I respectfully submit is not a just statement of the action of this Government. You will recall that on May 29 last application was made on behalf of the British agent for a personal examination of the greater part of the evidence produced in the case of the United States, and that on June 4 your embassy was informed that the British agent or his representative “will be given full opportunity to examine and verify the originals in the exclusive possession of this [the United States] Government of anything contained in the case of the United States,” under a proviso which subsequent events demonstrated to be a wise one.
On June 12 your embassy made known the objection of the foreign office to this proviso, and under date of June 16 your embassy was advised that the restriction would be removed, and “that the British agent or his representative would be permitted at his convenience to examine all the documents adduced in the case of the United States to which reference is made,” etc. Not until two weeks after that notice was given was your telegram of June 26 received, in which you communicated the inquiry of the British agent, whether the documents were ready to exhibit. The reply sent, June 27, was that they would be ready any time after July 3. This delay of six days was occasioned by the fact that the officials who were familiar with the documents were absorbed in the preparations for the delivery of the counter case of the United States, which under the terms of the treaty had to be made on July 3.
The foregoing recital will show upon what foundation was based the declaration that the documents in question were not open for examination until after the delivery of the counter case.
Having shown the scrupulous good faith of the United States on the points animadverted to by His Majesty’s secretary for foreign affairs, the Government of the United States, entertaining no disposition to prejudice the deliberations of the tribunal, will omit further discussion of the considerations advanced in your note of the 1st instant.
I am, my dear Mr. Raikes, very sincerely yours,
Acting Secretary of State.