242 DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE AND FOREIGN RELATIONS. 



repeatedly decided by this Department that the 

 declaration of intention to become a citizen does not, 

 in the absence of treaty stipulations, so clothe the 

 individual with the nationality of this country as to 

 enable him to return to his native land without being 

 necessarily subject to all the laws thereof. 



In the present unhappy state of things in Cuba the 

 Secretary of State can see no reason for departing 

 from so well-established and so wise a rule. He sees 

 with horror the barbarous proclamations of the Span- 

 ish authorities, and hears with regret of the great 

 destruction of property caused by the civil war. He 

 earnestly exhorts you, and all other consuls of the 

 United States, to spare no effort to protect the lives, 

 the property, and the rights of American citizens in 

 this emergency, and he will see with satisfaction any 

 unofficial efforts you may make to shield the persons 

 of those who have declared their intentions to become 

 citizens from the barbarities of the Spanish volun- 

 teers, but he desires me to direct you hereafter in 

 your official action to observe the rale laid down for 

 your guidance in this instruction. 



I am, sir, your obedient servant, 



J. C. B. DAVIS, Assistant Secretary. 

 HORATIO Fox, Esq., U. S. Consul, Trinidad de Cuba. 



Slavery Emancipation in Cuba. It appear- 

 ing from Mr. Sickles's dispatch to trie Secretary 

 of State, of December 29, 1869, that he con- 

 sidered himself to be acting unofficially in 

 representing the wishes of his government as 

 to the abolition of slavery in Cuba and Porto 

 Rico, the Secretary of State on the 26th of 

 January, 1870, informed him that it was his 

 duty at all times, whenever in his judgment a 

 fitting opportunity should offer, to do all in 

 his power to secure complete emancipation, 

 not only in Cuba, but also in Porto Rico. 



The text of the proposed constitution for 

 Porto Rico sent by Mr. Sickles with his dis- 

 patch 114 to the Department of State not only 

 fails to make any provision for the abolition of 

 slavery either by the local or general govern- 

 ment, but even forbids the public discussion 

 of the subject in the island. 



On the 30th of May, 1870, Mr. Sickles en- 

 closed to the Secretary of State a copy of the 

 bill for the abolition of slavery in the Island 

 of Cuba, presented to the Cortes by the Spanish 

 Minister of the Colonies, with the remark that 

 the project of law was shaped to suit the 

 views of the slaveholders. 



As passed on the 23d of June, it provided 

 that all children of slave-mothers, born after 

 the decree, should be free, but made no pro- 

 vision for their support; that all slaves born 

 between the 18th of September, 1868, and the 

 publication of the decree, might free themselves 

 by the payment of $50; that all slaves who 

 reach the age of sixty-five years should be free. 

 It abolished punishment with the lash, the 

 separation of children under fourteen years of 

 age from their parents, and husbands from 

 their wives. The Secretary of State, comment- 

 ing upon this measure, says in his dispatch of 

 the 20th of June, 1870, to Mr. Sickles, that it 

 may be called a project for relieving the slave- 

 owners from the necessity of supporting in- 

 fants and aged slaves who can only be a burden, 

 and for prolonging the institution as to the 

 able-bodied. 



He further states that the President feels it 

 to be his duty to endeavor to impress upon 

 the Spanish Cabinet the policy as well as the 

 propriety of making at once provision for an 

 earlier and more thorough emancipation of 

 slaves, and Mr. Sickles is instructed to com- 

 municate the views of the United States Govern- 

 ment in a friendly but decided manner. 



The United States Government having al- 

 ways considered the abolition of slavery in 

 Cuba a condition of the termination of the con- 

 flict in the island, Mr. Sickles was again re- 

 quested to call the attention of the Spanish 

 Government to this view of the United States. 



Mr. Sickles, in his communication to the Sec- 

 retary of State of the 26th of June, says, after 

 announcing the passage of the bill, that the 

 Spanish Government has for the first time 

 distinctly and practically committed itself to 

 the policy of emancipation, and in this step 

 toward freedom it must) be a source of just 

 satisfaction to the President that the influence 

 of the United States has been conspicuous and 

 beneficent. 



Public sentiment in Cuba, so far as can be 

 gathered from consular reports, seems to be in 

 favor of a system of gradual emancipation. 

 The Cuban insurgent assembly, as early as the 

 26th of February, 1869, decreed the abolition 

 of slavery, with a promise of indemnification, 

 and by article 24 of the insurgent constitution 

 all the inhabitants of the island are declared 

 free. 



VENEZUELA. Claims of the United States 

 against Venezuela have arisen since 1811, and 

 are for war supplies furnished that country 

 in its struggle for independence, for per- 

 sonal service rendered the republic, for acts 

 of forcible appropriation of property, for vio- 

 lated contracts, and for grave and solemn - 

 responsibilities incident to acts of outrage and 

 murder perpetrated upon citizens of this 

 country. 



After pressing the payment of these claims 

 with patient, persevering entreaty for a series 

 of years, a mixed international commission for 

 the definitive adjudication of the claims was 

 accepted by Venezuela, and a treaty carrying 

 out the idea was negotiated between the ac- 

 credited representatives of the two countries 

 at Caracas, on the 25th of April, 1866. A 

 vexatious delay preceded the ratification of 

 this document, which was not accorded by the 

 Venezuelan Government until after the spring 

 of 1870, and the recurrence of strong com- 

 plaint on the part of our Government. By the 

 terms of the treaty all claims pending in favor 

 of citizens of the United States were to be sub- 

 mitted to a tribunal of arbitration, consisting 

 of a commissioner of each country and an um- 

 pire, to be named by the diplomatic represen- 

 tative at Washington, of either Switzerland or 

 Russia. 



The commission, organized under the terms 

 above quoted, closed its labors on the 5th of 

 August, 1868. 



