DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE AND FOREIGN RELATIONS. 



255 



of Canada; and our trusty and well-beloved 

 Montague Bernard, Esquire, Chichele Professor 

 of International Law in the University of Ox- 

 ford. 



To each one of the commissioners on the 

 part of the United States the following letter 

 of instructions was addressed by the writer as 

 Secretary of State : 



DEPARTMENT OF STATE, ) 

 WASHINGTON, February 22, 1871. | 



SIR : Your high character and experience in public 

 affairs, and the familiarity which your long service 

 under the Federal Government has given you of the 

 questions to he discussed and treated by the Joint 

 Commission, of which you have been appointed a 

 member, seem to render unnecessary any instructions 

 upon the questions that will come under the consid- 

 eration of that body. Another consideration, more 

 personal to the undersigned, forbids an attempt on 

 his part to give instructions to his associates on the 

 commission. You will receive herewith a confiden- 

 tial memorandum, embodying a reference to corre- 

 spondence of this Department, and to the history of 

 several of the questions which may be discussed by 

 the Commission, viz. : 



1. The fisheries. 



2. The navigation of the St. Lawrence. 



3. Reciprocal trade between the United States and 

 the Dominion of Canada. 



4. Northwest water-boundary and the island of 

 San Juan. 



5. The claims of the United States against Great 

 Britain on account of acts committed by rebel 

 cruisers. 



6. Claims of British subjects against the United 

 States for losses and injuries arising out of acts com- 

 mitted during the recent civil war in the United States. 



It is hoped that this memorandum, which has been 

 prepared in this Department, may aid you, by its 

 references, in the consideration of the several ques- 

 tions on which it treats. The President commits the 

 discussion and treatment of the several questions to 

 the joint discretion of yourself and your associates. 

 The sittings of the Commission being in this city, 

 you Avill have the opportunity, of which he expects 

 you to avail yourself, of consulting with him from 

 time to time, and upon any points in which you may 

 have serious doubts, and you can also cautiously 

 and confidentially ascertain the views and opinions 

 of Senators to whom, in case your negotiations shall 

 result in a treaty or convention, that result must 

 be submitted for their constitutional advice and 

 consent. 



One point not referred to in the accompanying 

 memorandum will probably be brought to the con- 

 sideration of the Joint Commission, viz., some 

 agreement between the two Governments defining 

 their respective rights and duties as neutrals in case 

 the other Government be engaged in war with a. 

 third power. It is enough that the subject be indi- 

 cated and your attention to it asked as one of the 

 important questions that may engage the considera- 

 tions of the Commission. The President hopes that 

 whatever principles maybe established or recognized 

 in connection with this subject shall be considered 

 equally applicable to the period covered by the late 

 civil war in this country and the future. 



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

 HAMILTON FISH. 



The commissioners first assembled in Wash- 

 ington on February 27th, when their fall pow- 

 ers were respectively produced, and found to 

 be satisfactory, and copies thereof were ex- 

 changed. 



It was proposed by the British commission- 

 ers that Mr. Fish, Secretary of State of the 



United States, should preside. The United 

 States commissioners stated that, although 

 appreciating the proposal, they did not con- 

 sider it necessary that a president should be 

 named. The commissioners, on the sugges- 

 tion of Mr. Fish, requested Lord Tenterden, 

 secretary to the British Commission, and Mr. 

 Bancroft Davis, Assistant-Secretary of State 

 of the United States, acting as secretary to the 

 United States Commission, to undertake the 

 duties of joint protocolists. The commission- 

 ers then agreed that the subjects for discussion 

 should be those mentioned in the above cor- 

 respondence, dated in January and February, 

 which had taken place between the two Gov- 

 ernments. 



On March 4th, the commissioners having 

 met, the protocol of the conference held on 

 the 27th of February was read and confirmed. 

 At the commencement of the conference the 

 United States commissioners called attention to 

 the provision in the Constitution of the United 

 States, by which the advice and consent of the 

 Senate is required for the ratification of any 

 treaty which may be signed under the author- 

 ity of the President. The British commis- 

 sioners stated that they were acquainted with 

 this provision. The commissioners then pro- 

 ceeded with the consideration of the matters 

 referred to them. 



All the protocols, from the third to the 

 thirty-fourth inclusive, are precisely the same, 

 and read as follows : 



The High Commissioners having met, the protocol 



of the conference held on the of was read 



and confirmed. The High Commissioners then pro- 

 ceeded with the consideration of the matters referred 

 to them. The conference was adjourned to the 



of . J. C. BANCROFT DAVIS, 



TENTERDEN. 



On May 3d, the commissioners having met, 

 the American commissioners produced the fol- 

 lowing further full power, under the seal of 

 the United States, authorizing them to con- 

 clude and sign a treaty : 



Ulysses 8. Grant, President of the United States of 

 America, to all to whom these presents shall come, 



Know ye that whereas, by my power, bearing date 

 the 10th day of February last, Hamilton Fish, Secre- 

 tary of State, Eobert C. Schenck, envoy extraordi- 

 nary and minister plenipotentiary to Great Britain, 

 Samuel Nelson, an associate justice of the Supreme 

 Court of the United States, Ebenezer K. Hoar, of 

 Massachusetts, and George H. Williams, of Oregon, 

 were authorized to meet the commissioners ap- 

 pointed, or to be appointed, on behalf of her Britan- 

 nic Majesty, and with them to treat and discuss the 

 mode of settlement of the different questions which 

 should come before them ; 



And whereas that meeting and discussion have 

 taken place, and the said mode of settlement has 

 been agreed upon : 



Now, therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President 

 of the United States, do hereby appoint the said 

 Hamilton Fish, Robert C. Schenck, Samuel Nelson, 

 Ebenezer R. Hoar, and George H. Williams, jointly 

 and severally, plenipotentiaries for and in behalf of 

 the United States, and do authorize them, and any 

 or either of them, to conclude and sign any treaty or 



