272 



DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE AND FOREIGN RELATIONS. 



serrations contained in this dispatch, I have to in- 

 struct you to express the earnest hope of her Majesty's 

 Government that the Government of the United 

 States will, on further reflection, accept without 

 hesitation the proposal made in my dispatches to 

 Sir F. Bruce, of the 9th of March and of the 24th of 

 May, both of this year namely, " limited reference 

 to arbitration in regard to the so-called Alabama 

 claims," and "adjudication by means of a mixed 

 commission of general claims. 



You will furnish Mr. Seward with a copy of this 

 dispatch. I am, etc., STANLEY. 



And the proposal to arbitrate failed, as ap- 

 pears by dispatch of November 29, 1867. 



DEPARTMENT OP STATE. | 

 WASHINGTON, Jfovember 29, 1867. j 



SIR: Mr. Ford has given a copy of a letter which 

 Lord Stanley wrote to him on the 16th of November 

 instant, concerning the question of arbitration upon 

 the so-called Alabama claims. I have submitted 

 Lord Stanley's remarks to the President, and have 

 received his directions thereupon. The Government 

 of the United States adheres to the views concerning 

 the proposed arbitration which I have heretofore had 

 occasion to make known through your legation to 

 Lord Stanley. We are now distinctly informed by 

 Lord Stanley's letter that the limited reference of 

 the so-called Alabama claims, which Lord Stanley 

 proposes is tendered upon the condition that the 

 United States shall waive before the arbitration the 

 position they have constantly maintained from the 

 beginning namely, that the' Queen's proclamation 

 of 1861, which accorded belligerent rights to insur- 

 gents against the authority of the United States, was 

 not justified on any grounds, either of necessity or 

 of moral rights, and therefore was an act of wrongful 

 intervention, a departure from the obligation of ex- 

 isting treaties, and without the sanction of the law 

 of nations. The condition being inadmissible, the 

 proposed limited reference is therefore declined. 



I am, sir, your obedient servant, 



WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 



To CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Esq., etc. 



To which Mr. Adams answers: 



LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, i 

 LONDON, December 4, 1 867. ) 



SIR : I have the honor to transmit a document 

 published for the use of Parliament, containing the 

 latest portion of the correspondence relative to the 

 questions in dispute between the two countries. From 

 the tone of the reply of Lord Stanley in connection 

 with your dispatch just received, No. 2,093, of the 

 16th of November, it seems plain that nothing more 

 can be expected from this negotiation. I shall, there- 

 fore, in accordance with j-our desire, give it out 

 hereafter as so understood. 



I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, 

 CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. 



Hon. W. II. SEWARD, Secretary of State, Wash- 

 ington, D. C. 



The Spanish- American War. The Govern- 

 ment at Washington tendered to the South 

 American States, at war with Spain, certain 

 propositions for the settlement of their diffi- 

 culties, which are thus stated : 



According to these propositions, Chili and her allies 

 on one side, and Spain on the other, should appoint 

 plenipotentiaries to Washington, authorized to meet 

 in a conference, to be presided over by a person 

 whom the President of the United States should 

 designate, for the purpose of agreeing upon terms 

 of a permanent peace, which should'be equitable, 

 just, and honorable for all the belligerents. In case 

 they should not arrive at a unanimous agreement, 

 the President of the United States should designate 

 a third State or sovereign, who should decide, as 



arbitrator, the differences which the plenipotentiaries 

 might not succeed in arranging. 



The mediation was refused on the grounds 

 that the proposed convention would necessarily 

 lead to an arbitration pure and simple, in which 

 the President, and not the parties themselves, 

 would choose the arbitrator; also that Chili 

 did not regard the bombardment of Valparaiso 

 as a matter of arbitration, and also that it could 

 not consent to give up prizes captured during 

 the war, as suggested by all other mediatory 

 States. 



Purcliase of the Danish West India Islands. 

 Negotiations were concluded during the year for 

 the purchase of the Islands of St. Thomas and 

 St. John from the Danish Government. The 

 provisions of the transfer are stated in the fol- 

 lowing proclamation of King Christian IX., 

 dated October 25, 18G7: 



We have resolved to cede our Islands of St. Thomas 

 and St. John to the United States of America, and 

 we have, to that end, with the reservation of the con- 

 stitutional consent of our Rigsdag, concluded a con- 

 vention with the President of the Untied States. 

 We have, by embodying in that convention explicit 

 and precise provisions, done our utmost to secure 

 you protection in your liberty, your religion, your 

 property and private rights, and you shall be free to 

 remain where you now reside or to remove at any 

 time, retaining the property which you possess in 

 the said islands, or disposing thereof and removing 

 the proceeds wherever you please, without you being 

 subjected on this account to any contribution, tax, 

 or charge whatever. 



Those who shall prefer to remain in the said islands 

 may either retain the title and the rights of their 

 natural allegiance or acquire those of citizens of the 

 United States, but they shall make their choice 

 within two years from the date of the exchange of 

 ratifications of the said convention, and those who 

 shall remain in the islands after the expiration of 

 that term without having declared their intention to 

 retain their natural allegiance, shall be considered 

 to have chosen to become citizens of the United 

 States. 



As we, however, will not exercise any constraint 

 over our faithful subjects, we will give you the op- 

 portunity of freely and extensively expressing your 

 wishes in regard to this cession, and we have to that 

 effect given the necessary instructions to our com- 

 missioner extraordinary. 



With sincere sorrow do we look forward to the 

 severment of those ties which for many years have 

 united you to us and the mother country, and, never 

 forgetting those many demonstrations of loyalty and 

 affection we have received from you, we trust that 

 nothing has been neglected from our side to secure 

 the future welfare of our beloved and faithful sub- 

 jects, and that a mighty impulse, both moral and 

 material, will be given to the happy development of 

 the islands under the new sovereignty. 



The election called for the expression of the 

 wishes of the inhabitants was fixed for the com- 

 mencement of January, 1868. 



France and Mexico. Minister Dix addressed 

 the following letter to Secretary Seward : 



LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, ( 

 PARIS, February ID, 1867. ( 



Sin: I enclose a translation of the parts of the 

 Annual Exposition of the condition of the French 

 Empire, presented by the Government to the Senate 

 and Corps Legislatif, relating to the United States 

 and Mexico. The expression of much good feeling 



