Private Counsel. It is proper here to state that in various cases the commissioners heard private counsel for claimants, such counsel being introduced to the board by the agent of the government of which the claim · ant was a citizen. Among the counsel who so appeared were Messrs. Cairns, Reverdy Johnson, J. C. Bancroft Davis, and Rolt, Q. C. Organization of Commission. The office of the commission was established at 9 Wellington Chambers, Lancaster Place, Waterloo Bridge, London. Here the commissioners, on September 15, 1853, held their first formal meeting. At this meeting they exchanged their commissions and, after subscribing the declaration required by the convention' and deliberating on the question of an umpire, they severally addressed to their respective governments a communication, stating the time and place of the meeting and requesting that notice be given to claimants of the pendency of the commission. At a subsequent session of the board it was determined that meetings would be held daily from 12 to 3 o'clock until otherwise ordered. Rules also were adopted for the regulation of business and the government of procedure. pire and Commissioners. Several cases were partially heard before Cooperation of Um- the umpire was selected. Subsequently, when certain cases were finally heard and the commissioners were unable to agree, the umpire attended and the cases were argued before him. In many cases, however, the hearing was held by the commissioners in the first 1 "We, the undersigned commissioners, appointed in pursuance of a convention for the adjustment of certain claims of citizens of the United States on the British government, and of British subjects on the government of the United States, concluded at London the eighth day of February, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, do severally and solemnly declare that we will impartially and carefully examine and decide, to the best of our judgment and according to justice and equity, without fear, favor, or affection to our countries, upon all such claims as shall be laid before us on the part of the governments of the United States and of her Britannic Majesty respectively. "In witness whereof we have, this fifteenth day of September, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, made and subscribed this our solemn declaration. "NATHANIEL G. UPHAM, "Commissioner on the part of the United States. 66 EDMUND HORNBY, "Commissioner on the part of her Majesty." (S. Ex. Doc. 103, 34 Cong. 1 sess. 14.) instance in the presence of the umpire. The convention expressly required that the umpire should, if required, hear one person on each side, on behalf of each government, and that he should consult with the commissioners before rendering his final decision. This provision, or rather the wise practice under it, made the umpire substantially a member of the commission and did much to obviate the inconveniences, the delays, the double arguments, the waste of effort, the temptation to disagree, and the opportunity and incentive to claimants to attempt to concentrate personal influence, that generally and to some extent inevitably result from having two or four commissioners and an umpire, instead of a board of three or five commissioners. Jurisdiction of the The jurisdiction of the commission embraced, as it was defined in Article I. of the convention, "all claims on the part of corporations, companies or private individuals, citizens of the United States, upon the government of her Britannic Majesty, and all claims on the part of corporations, companies or private individuals, subjects of her Britannic Majesty, upon the government of the United States, which may have been presented to either government for its interposition with the other since the sig nature of the treaty of peace and friendship, concluded between the United States of America and Great Britain at Ghent, on the 24th of December, 1814, and which yet remain unsettled, as well as any other such claims, which may be presented within the time specified in Article III. hereinafter." By Article III., to which reference was thus made, it was provided that "every claim" should be "presented to the commissioners within six months from the day of their first meeting, unless in any case where reasons for delay shall be established to the satisfaction of the commissioners or of the arbitrator or umpire, in the event of the commissioners differing in opinion thereupon; and then, and in any such case, the period for presenting the claim may be extended to any time not exceeding three months longer." It was expressly agreed "that no claim arising out of any transaction of a date prior to December 24, 1814," should be admissible under the convention. The commissioners were required to examine and decide every claim within one year from the day of their first meeting; and they, and, in case they differed, the umpire, were empowered "to 1S. Ex. Doc. 103, 34 Cong. 1 sess. 44, 46, 48. decide in each case whether any claim has or has not been duly made, preferred, and laid before them, either wholly, or to any and what extent, according to the true intent and meaning of this convention." Procedure. In the investigation and decision of claims the commissioners were authorized to proceed in such order and in such manner as they might think proper, but upon such evidence or information only as should be furnished by or on behalf of their respective governments; and they were bound to receive and peruse all written documents or statements which might be presented to them by or on behalf of their respective governments in support of or in answer to any claim. All decisions of the commissioners or the umpire were required to be in writing, and to be signed by them respectively, and were to be final and conclusive on each claim decided by them. Provision as to It was provided that all sums awarded by the commissioners, or by the umpire, on account of any claim should be paid by the one government to the other, as the case might be, within twelve months after the date of the decision, without interest, and without any deduction, except that the whole expenses of the commission, including contingent expenses, should be defrayed by a ratable deduction on the amount of the sums awarded, provided always that such deduction should not exceed the rate of 5 per cent on the sums awarded, any deficiency to be defrayed by the two governments in equal moieties. As to the amount of the expenses, the convention provided that, while each government should pay its own commissioner, the salary of each commissioner should be the same and should not exceed $3,000, or £620, a year; that the salary of the umpire should be determined by mutual consent at the close of the commission; and that the salary of the clerk should not exceed $1,500, or £310, a year. Extension of the As frequently happens in such cases, the amount of business that came before the commission was much larger than was anticipated. From the 15th of September 1853 to the 12th of June 1854 the commission held sixty-seven sessions, and on the latter day "took into consideration the propriety of requesting from the two governments an extension of the time originally assigned for the termination of the commission, the better to enable them to dispose of the very great and unanticipated amount of business which had devolved upon them; and a letter was drawn up by them to the American minister, and to her Majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs, recommending the extension of the commission for four months." In consequence of this representation, Mr. Marcy, Secretary of State, and Mr. Crampton, British minister, concluded at Washington on July 17, 1854, a convention extending the existence of the commission for a period not exceeding four months from the 15th of the following September, should such extension be deemed necessary by the commissioners, or by the umpire, in case of their disagreement. But it was agreed that nothing in the new convention should in anywise alter or extend the time originally fixed for the presentation of the claims. Adjournment of After June 12, 1854, the commission held sixty-seven sessions more, making in all from the day of its first meeting a hundred and thirty-four sessions. Its last meeting was on January 15, 1855. On that day the commissioners met with the umpire for the consideration of claims remaining undisposed of. This purpose was accomplished by the announcement of the umpire's decision in two cases. Directions were given for the collection of all accounts and expenditures incurred during the sittings of the commission, and for the completion of its records and proceedings. The joint report of the commissioners to each of the two governments was then drawn up and signed, and the business of the commission terminated. The whole number of claims presented to the American Claims. commission was 115. Of these, some of which embraced numerous items, 75 were against the United States and 40 against Great Britain. Of their gross amount no computation was made, and none is possible from the records, but it reached far into the millions. Of the American claims against Great Britain, 12 were allowed, 27 dismissed, and 1 withdrawn. In the claims that were allowed, 2 of the awards were by the commissioners and 10 by the umpire. Of the 27 claims that were disallowed, 23 were dismissed by the commissioners and 4 by the umpire. The total amount awarded to American claimants was $329,734.16, or, at the rate of exchange established by the commissioners of $4.84 to the pound sterling, £68,131 7d. The grounds of dismissal, in the cases in which any were assigned, were various; but, except in certain cases where the umpire delivered opinions, they were stated in such manner as to disclose nothing of the reasoning. Of the claims that were allowed, two were for customs duties improperly collected, in one case at the Bay of Islands, in New Zealand, in 1840 and 1841, and in the other at Halifax in 1822. In the latter case the vessel, which had put in merely on her way to a market, was required to enter and pay duties, and was thus forced to dispose of her cargo at a loss. Three claims were allowed on account of wrongful seizures of vessels on the charge of being engaged in the slave trade; three for the wrongful seizure of vessels engaged in the fisheries adjacent to the coasts of British North America; and one for the capture of an American vessel by a British ship of war on March 5, 1815, when peace existed by the terms of the Treaty of Ghent at the place where the seizure occurred. The three remaining cases in which awards were made in favor of American claimants were those of the brigs Creole and Enterprise, and the schooner Hermosa. These belonged to a series of cases which at the time of their occurrence produced much excitement in the United States, especially in the South, and threatened serious international complications. Cases of "Comet" and "Encomium." In 1831 the American brig Comet, while on a voyage from Alexandria, then in the District of Columbia, to New Orleans, with a cargo of slaves, the property of American citizens, was wrecked on the Bahama banks. The slaves were saved and carried to the island of New Providence, where they were libeled for forfeiture under the British acts prohibiting the slave trade. The libel was dismissed by the court, but the governor on his own authority declared the slaves to be free, and refused to permit the owners to take them from the island. Mr. Van Buren, who was then minister to England, was instructed to lay the case before the British Government, with a strong expression of confidence that the action of the governor would be disavowed. On February 25, 1832, Mr. Van Buren presented the case to Lord Palmerston, and asked that the slaves be ordered to be restored and that a reasonable indemnity be paid for their detention. The case was referred to the law officers for their opinion, but though often urged to do so the British Government failed to reply to Mr. Van Buren's note. In February 1833 the American brig Encomium, while on a |