DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE AND FOREIGN RELATIONS. 259 



PEOTOCOL XXIX. 



Record of the Proceedings of the Tribunal of Arbitration 

 at the Twenty-ninth Conference, held at Geneva, in 

 Switzerland, on the 2d of September, 1872. 



The conference was held with closed doors, pur- 

 suant to adjournment. All the arbitrators were 

 present. 



The protocol of the last conference was read and 

 approved, and was signed by the president and sec- 

 retary of the tribunal. Count Sclopis, as president 

 of the tribunal, acknowledged the receipt, by the 

 arbitrators, of the note presented by the agent of her 

 Britannic Majesty on the question of interest, and 

 of the reply to the same, presented by the agent of 

 the United States. 



The tribunal then proceeded to consider that ques- 

 tion, and a majority of four to one decided that in- 

 terest should be admitted as an element in the calcu- 

 lation for the award of a sum in gross. 



Mr. Stampfli, as one of the arbitrators, presented 

 to the tribunal copies of the synoptical table which 

 he had prepared as a proposition for the determina- 

 tion of a sum in gross : 



ESTIMATE OF MB. STAMPFLI FOR THE DETERMINATION 

 OF A SUM IN GROSS. 



Round sum $12,000,000 



Interest from Jan. 1, 1864, to Sept. 15, 1873. 



1. At 5 per cenfl 



during eight years 1 8 x $600,000= $4.800,000 

 and eight and one- [ 8* x 50,000= '425,000 

 half months. J $5,225,000 



17,225,000 

 Eventually one year's interest more . $17,825,000 



2. At 6 per cent.") 



during eight years I 8 x $720,000=$5,760,000 

 and eight and one- fg*x 60,000= 510,000 

 half months 



6,270,000 $18,270,000 



Eventually one year's interest more $18,990,000 



3. At 7 per cent.1 



during ef<?ht years 1 8 x $840,000=$6,720,000 

 and eight and one- f 8* x 70,000= 595,000 



half months 



7,315,000 $19,315,000 

 Eventually one year's interest more 840,000 



20755,000 

 Round sum... .. $20,000,000 



Sir Alexander Cockburn, as one of the arbitrators, 

 then presented the following memorandum on Mr. 

 Stampfli's estimate : 



MEMORANDUM ON MR. STAMPFLl's ESTIMATE. 



The figures in Mr. Stampfli's paper require some mate- 

 rial corrections, as to which, as soon as they are pointed 

 out. there can be no doubt. 



The total claim by the United States, of $14,437.000, will 

 be found, on an inspection of the United States tables, to 

 include the following amounts : 



a. All the double claims, without exception, notwith- 

 standing the clear expression of opinion on the part of 



the tribunal that they were to be struck out. These dou- 

 ble claims amount to $1,682,243. 



b. The gross freights of the merchant-vessels, amount- 

 ing to $1,007,153, as to which the tribunal has decided 

 that, at the utmost, only half, that is to say $503,576, 

 should be allowed, 



c. The new claim of $1,450,000, advanced for the first 

 time on the 19th of August last, as to which claim Mr. 

 Stampfli declared he would exclude it from consideration. 

 It is important to observe that this new claim comprise?, 

 over and above the entirely unsupported claims for shares 

 of vessels, and for additional personal effects, the claims 

 for wages extending over very long and varying periods. 

 The tribunal has decided that one year's wages in respect 

 of the whalers afe to be allowed in lieu of prospective 

 catch. For this one year's wages, Mr. Stampfli has made 

 a separate allowance of $588,000 (an allowance which can 

 be shown to be excessive by at leust $88,000), and he Las 

 therefore included in bis calculation the claim for wages 

 twice over. 



It is therefore clear that Mr. Stampfli, while he excludes 

 some of the items of claim which the tribunal has disal- 

 lowed, has omitted to strike out the other items against 

 which the tribunal has pronounced its opinion ; but it is 

 equally clear that all the disallowed items must be ex- 

 cluded before a comparison can be fairly or usefully made 

 between the United States claim and the British esti- 

 mate. 



It is necessary, therefore, in the first place, to deduct 

 from the United States claim the three amounts specified 

 in paragraphs a, b, and c, respectively, which will leave, 

 as is shown by the annexed table, a properly-reduced 

 claim of $10,801,324, as against the British estimate of 

 $7,465,764, if the difference between paper and gold cur- 

 rency be for the present purpose disregarded. 



It must, however, be carefully borue in mind that the 

 claim of $10,801,324 includes the following items : 



1. A claim of $659,021 for secured earnings, which 

 ought, beyond a doubt, to be reduced by an amount equiv- 

 alent to the wear and tear of the whalers and their out- 

 fits, and the consumption of stores, which must have 

 taken place before these earnings could be secured, and 

 for which a deduction should be made, inasmuch as the 

 full original values of the vessels and their outfits have 

 been allowed. 



2. The Claims in respect of the Merchant-vessels. These 

 are valued in the United States tables at more than |CO 

 per ton, on the average, although, according to the well- 

 known official report presented to Congress in 1870, the 

 cost of a first-class, perfectly new American vessel, made 

 ready for sea, did not average that amount per ton, and 

 although, according to the same report, the average value 

 of American vessels engaged in the foreign trade was, in 

 1861, only $41, and has been since only $45 per ton. 



3. The claims in respect of cargoes, the insurancee, com- 

 missions, and profits of the same, which profits are some- 

 times claimed at the rate of twenty, fifty, and even one 

 hundred per cent. The various important considerations 

 mentioned at page 13 of the British report, and the fact 

 that numerous claims for cargoes, presented for the first 

 time in April last, are unsupported by any vouchers, bills 

 of lading, or like documents, undoubtedly require that a 

 very considerable reduction should be made under this 

 head. 



4. Several large claims not supported by any affidavit or 

 declaration on oath. 



5. Numerous clearly extravagant claims specified in the 

 British reports, such as the claim of $7,000 by a harpoon- 

 er, for personal injuries ; the claim, by a passenger, of 

 $10,000, for loss of office as consul ; all the numerous 

 claims by the masters of whalers for wages, sometimes at 

 the rate of $15,000 or $20,000 a year, and which are, of 

 course, superseded by Mr. Stampfli's allowance of $588,- 

 000 ; and many other equally exorbitant claims, more par- 

 ticularly specified in the British reports. 



From these considerations, it is manifest that more 

 than ample justice will be done to the United States by 

 takinsr a mean between the claim of $10,301,324 and the 

 British estimate of $7,464,764, and by adding thereto the 

 allowance of $588,000 hi lieu of prospective catch. 



Mr. Stampfli has also added, for some unknown reason, 

 25 per cent, on the values of the whalers, an addition 

 which can be easily shown to be equivalent to altogether 

 allowing, over and above the original values of the 

 whalers and their outfits, a percentage exceeding 90 per 

 cent, and this although the question of interest is still 

 left open to the decision of the tribunal. 



Admitting, however, this extraordinary addition of 25 

 per cent., and the excessive estimate of the wages, it is 

 shown by the annexed tables that, if Mr. Stampfli figures 

 be properly corrected, the estimate would scarcely ex- 

 ceed $10,000,000, even without any allowance being made 

 for the great difference between the values of the paper 

 and the gold currency. 



