92 



such fancies into their heads. At least, the Imperial Government 

 might wait to see the operation of tbe convention before taking any 

 further step, and I was confident they would hear no complaint result- 

 ing from it. If they should, then would be the time for adjusting the con- 

 struction or negotiating a modification of the convention; and whoever 

 might be at the head of the administration of the United States, he 

 might be assured that every disposition would be cherished to remove 

 all causes of dissatisfaction and to accommodate the wishes and the 

 just policy of the Emi)eror. 



" The Baron said that these ideas had occurred to himself ; that he had 

 made this application in pursuance of his instructions, hut he was 

 aware of the distribution of powers in our Constitution and of the 

 incompetency of the Executive to adjust questions. He would, there- 

 . fore, wait for the exchange of the ratifications without presenting 

 his note, and reserve for future consideration whether to present it 

 shortly afterwards or to inform his court of what he had done and ask 

 their further instructions as to what he shall definitively do on the sub- 

 ject. He therefore requested me to consider what had now passed 

 between us as if it had not taken place (" nou a venu"), to which I readily 

 assented, assuring him, as I had done heretofore, that the President 

 had the highest personal confidence in him and in his exertions to foster 

 the harmony between the two countries. I reported immediately to the 

 President the substance of this conversation, and he concurred in the 

 propriety of the baron's final determination." Memoirs of John Quimy 

 Adams, Vol. 6, p. 435. 



In conformity (it may be assumed) with Mr. Adams' advice or inti- 

 mations Baron Tuyll forebore to file any official note upon the subject 

 prior to the ratification of the treaty by the United States. The 

 treaty having been ratified January 15, 1825, and January 25, 1825, 

 Baron Tuyll, under instructions from his Government, filed in the 

 Department of State, the following Explanatory Note: 



" Explanatory note to be presented to the Government of the United 

 States at the time of the exchange of ratifications, with a view to 

 removing with more certainty all occasion for future discussions, by 

 ineans of which it will be seen that the Aleutian Islands, the coast of 

 Siberia, and the Russian possessions in general on the northwest coast 

 of America to 59^ 30' of north latitude are positively excepted from 

 the liberty of hunting, fishing, and commerce stipulated in favor of 

 citizens of the United States for ten years. 



