654 



PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



annexing a copy, such party shall bo bound, if the 

 other party thinks proper to apply for it, to furnish 

 that party with a copy thereof, and either party 

 may call upon the other through the arbitrator to 

 produce the originals or certified copies of any papers 

 adduced as. evidence, giving in each instance such 

 reasonable notice as the arbitrator may require ; and 

 if the arbitrator should desire further elucidation or 

 evidence with regard to any point contained in the 

 statements laid before him, he shall be at liberty to 

 require it from either party, and shall be at liberty 

 to near one counsel or agent for each party in rela- 

 tion to any matter, and at such time and in such 

 manner as he may think fit. 



ART. 38. The representatives or other public 

 agents of the United States and Great Britain at Ber- 

 lin, respectively, shall be considered as the agents 

 of their respective Governments to conduct their 

 cases before the arbitrator, who shall be_ requested 

 to address all his communications and give all his 

 notices to such representatives, or other public agents 

 who shall represent their respective Governments 

 generally, in all matters connected with arbitration. 



AKT. 39. It shall be competent to the arbitrator to 

 proceed in the said arbitration, and all matters relat- 

 ing thereto, as and when he shall see fit, either in 

 person or by a person or persons named by him for 

 that purpose, either in the presence or absence of 

 either or both agents, and either orally or by written 

 discussion, or otherwise. 



ART. 40. The arbitrator may, if he think fit, ap- 

 point a secretary or clerk for the purposes of the pro- 

 posed arbitration, at such rate 01 remuneration as he 

 shall think proper. This, and all other expenses of 

 and connected with said arbitration, shall be pro- 

 vided for as hereinafter stipulated. 



ART. 41. The arbitrator shall be requested to de- 

 liver, together with his award, an account of all the 

 costs and expenses which he may have been put to 

 in relation to this matter, which shall forthwith be 

 paid by the two Governments in equal moieties. 



ART. 42. The arbitrator shall be requested to deliver 

 his award in writing as early as convenient after the 

 whole case on each side shall be laid before him, and 

 to deliver one copy thereof to each of the said agents. 



ART. 43. The present treaty shall be duly ratified 

 by the President of the United States of America, 

 and by and with the advice and consent of the Sen- 

 ate thereof, and by her Britannic Majesty and the 

 ratifications shall be exchanged, either at Washing- 

 ton or at London, within six months from the date 

 hereof, or earlier if possible. In faith whereof, we, 

 the respective plenipotentiaries, have signed this 

 treaty, and have hereunto affixed our seals. 



Done in duplicate at Washington the 8th day of 

 May, in the year of our Lord 1871. 



ST. DOMINGO. 



Special Message from the President, and Re- 

 port of the American Commissioners. 



The following is the President's message to 

 Congress transmitting the report of the St. 

 Domingo Commissioners : 

 To the Senate and, House of Representatives : 



I have the honor to submit herewith to the two 

 houses of Congress the report of the commissioners 

 appointed in pursuance of the joint resolution ap- 

 proved January 12, 1871. It will be observed that 

 this report more than sustains all that I have hereto- 

 fore said in regard to the productiveness and hcalth- 

 fulness^of the Eepublio of St. Domingo, of the 

 unanimity of the people for annexation to the United 

 States, and of their peaceable character. 



It is due to the public, as it certainly is to myself, 

 that I should here give all the circumstances which 

 first led to the negotiation of a treaty for the annexa- 

 tion of the Eepublic of St. Domingo to the United 



States. When I accepted the arduous and responsi- 

 ble position which I now hold, I did not dream of 

 instituting any steps for the acquisition of insular 

 possessions. I believed, however, that our institu- 

 tions were broad enough to extend over the entire 

 continent as rapidly as other peoples might desire to 

 bring themselves under our protection. I believed, 

 further, that we should not permit any independent 

 government, within the limits of North America, to 

 pass from a condition of independence to one of 

 ownership, or protection, under a European power. 

 Soon after my inauguration as President, I was wait- 

 ed upon by an agent of President Baez, with a propo- 

 sition to annex the Kepublic of St. Domingo to the 

 United States. This gentleman represented the 

 capacity of the island, the desire of the people, and 

 their character and habits, about as they have been 

 described by the commissioners, whose report ac- 

 companies this message. He statedj further, that, 

 being weak in numbers and poor in purse, they 

 were not capable of developing their great resources ; 

 that the people had no incentive to industry, on ac- 

 count of lack of protection for their accumulations ; 

 and that, if not accepted by the United States, with 

 institutions which they loved above those of any 

 other nation, they would be compelled to seek pro- 

 tection elsewhere. To these statements I made no 

 reply, and gave no indication of what I thought of 

 the proposition. In the course of time, I was waited 

 upon by a second gentleman from St. Domingo, who 

 made the same representations, and who was received 

 in like manner. In view of the facts which had been 

 laid before me, and with an earnest desire to main- 

 tain the Monroe doctrine, I believed that I would be 

 derelict in my duty if I did not take measures to as- 

 certain the exact wish of the government and the in- 

 habitants of the Eepublic of St. Domingo, in regard 

 to annexation, and communicate the information to 

 the people of the United States. Under the attend- 

 ing circumstances, I felt that, if I turned a deaf ear 

 to this appeal, I might, in the future, be justly 

 charged with a flagrant neglect of the public inter- 

 ests, and utter disregard of the welfare of a down- 

 trodden race, praying for the blessings of a free and 

 strong government, and for protection in the enjoy- 

 ment of the fruits of their own industry. Those 

 opponents of annexation who have heretofore pro- 

 fessed to bo preeminently friends of the rights of 

 man I believed would be my most violent assailants, 

 if I neglected so clear a duty. Accordingly, ai'ter 

 having appointed a commissioner to visit the island, 

 who declined on account of sickness, I selected a 

 second gentleman, in whose capacity, judgment, and 

 integrity I had, and have yet, the most unbounded 

 confidence. He visited St. Domingo, not to secure 

 or hasten annexation, but, unprejudiced and un- 

 biassed, to learn all the facts about the government, 

 the peoplej and the resources of that republic. Ho 

 went, certainly, as well prepared to make an unfavor- 

 able report as a favorable one, if the facts warranted 

 it. His report fully corroborated the views of pre- 

 vious commissioners, and, upon its receipt, I felt that 

 a sense of duty, and a due regard for our great na- 

 tional interests, required me to negotiate a treaty for 

 the acquisition of the Eepublic of St. Domingo. As 

 soon as it became publicly known that such a treaty 

 had been negotiated, the attention of the country wa's 

 occupied with allegations calculated to prejudice tho 

 merits of the case, and with those whose duty had 

 connected them with it. Amid the public excite- 

 ment thus created, the treaty failed to receive tho 

 requisite two-thirds vote of the Senate, and was re- 

 jected. But whether the action of that body was 

 based wholly upon the merits of the treaty, or might 

 not have been, in some degree, influenced by such 

 unfounded allegations as could not be known by the 

 people, because the debates of the Senate in secret 

 session are not published, I will not venture an 

 assertion. Under these circumstances, I deemed it 

 due to the office which I hold, and due to the charac- 



