day of October 1832, beg leave to submit the following report of their proceedings: "The undersigned having received their appointments from the President of the United States, assembled at the city of Washington, pursuant to notice from the Secretary of State, on the 18th day of September 1833, and having, together with the Secretary and Clerk to the Commission, taken oath well and faithfully to perform their several duties, organized as a Board in compliance with the Act aforesaid. On the following day a communication was transmitted to the Board from the Secretary of State, enclosing a certified copy of the Convention made with the King of the Two Sicilies; and at various times thereafter documents and other papers relating to claims were delivered to the Commission from the Department of State. "The Board at this session established various preliminary orders and forms of proceeding; and in the first place an order was made whereby all persons having claims under the convention were required to file memorials of the same with the Secretary of the Board, in order that they might be examined and the validity and amount thereof decided upon according to the proper and authentic testimony by which they might be supported, which orders and those subsequently established were made public by means of newspapers and circulars distributed to those interested, under the direction of the Secretary. "At the second session, held on the 20th November 1833, pursuant to adjournment and agreeably to notice given, the Board proceeded to examine such memorials as were filed with the Secretary at that time, and when they had disposed of the business before them, they adjourned to meet again on the 3rd March 1834, at which time they concluded the examination of all memorials in their possession which had not been previously acted upon. "At this session a communication was sent to the Board on behalf of certain claimants interested to a large amount in the fund provided by the convention-representing that in consequence of the said claimants not having been able to procure from Naples necessary proofs and papers in order to prepare their several cases for examination, it would not be possible for them to comply with certain orders of the Board requiring that memorials should be filed within a specified time; and also stating that at least six months would be requisite to enable them to have their proofs forwarded from Naples. As the act creating the Commission limited its duration to one year, the Board discovered that unless it should be extended they would be constrained to exclude from a participation in the fund many citizens of the United States, for whose benefit the convention was made; they therefore determined to endorse a copy of the communication to the Secretary of State, in order that such measures might be adopted in relation thereto as should be deemed expedient; in consequence whereof a Law of Congress was passed on the 19th day of June 1834, by which the time limited for the duration of the Commission was prolonged six months-making the period for terminating the duties of the Board the 18th day of March 1835, instead of the 18th of September 1834. The Board are of opinion that this extension has enabled a large number of claimants to present and substantiate their cases, in whose favor awards have been made, who would otherwise have been deprived of all benefit from the Convention. "After the Board had passed upon all the memorials and supplemental memorials that were presented, they proceeded to examine the testimony, and to pass upon the validity of the claims; and being very desirous to effect as just and equitable a distribution as possible, they made an order authorizing any claimant to file objections to the admission of other claims filed with the Secretary, and to support the same by written arguments and testimony; by this means the Board hoped to be aided in arriving at the truth and also in applying just principles to each case. They did not, however, derive as much advantage as was anticipated from this measure, owing principally to the fact that very few cases were presented to the Board which were not within the provisions of the Treaty, and that these exceptions were so clear as not to require argument to prevent their being allowed. With a view to urge claimants to diligence in preparing and presenting their cases, the Board from time to time passed various orders requiring all claims to be ready for examination and filed with the Secretary within a limited time, at the hazard of their being excluded; but in consequence of the great length of time that had elapsed since the losses were incurred, the death, removal or absence of parties interested or their representatives, and the consequent difficulty in procuring papers and proofs, it became absolutely necessary in order to do justice to the claimants, to grant them every possible indulgence consistent with a faithful discharge of duty; and the Board have the satisfaction to state, that every claim presented to them has received full and deliberate consideration. "In consequence of the amount of the indemnity provided by the Convention not being sufficient to meet all just demands upon it, the Board were desirous that their awards should conform, as near as possible, to the fund to be distributed, and they therefore were compelled to resort to a different mode of liquidating the claims, than they would have adopted if the fund provided by the Convention had been sufficient to indemnify American citizens for all losses sustained by reason of the spoliations committed; thus, in the valuation of the cargoes seized and confiscated at Naples, the Board awarded the value of the merchandise at the port of exportation in the United States, whereas in their opinion the actual loss sustained is the market value at Naples, which they are informed would be enhanced at least one hundred per cent beyond the amount allowed. For the same reason damages for detention were not awarded to the owners of vessels, which would, if allowed, have greatly increased the amount of the fund. "Premium of insurance (which during the years embraced within the provisions of the Treaty averaged about 20 per cent) was not allowed, either to the underwriters or assured, in consequence of the inadequacy of the fund. "The Board entertains a strong conviction that the application of these rules, under the circumstances, will operate justly and equally upon all classes of claims. "Having thus given a concise statement of the proceedings of the Board, some of the principles established, and the reasons for adopting them, for a more detailed account of which they refer to the record of their proceedings, which shows with more accuracy the proceedings of the Board from the day of their organization to their final adjournment, they proceed to state the result of their labors. "The gross amount awarded to the several claimants is $1,925,034.68, making an average of the amount of the fund provided by the Treaty to be distributed in the proportion of about 94 per cent. "The list of the awards made by the Board, following this report, will exhibit a full and distinct view of the actual amount awarded to each claimant. "The Commissioners have directed the Secretary of the Board to cause to be deposited in the Department of State, the records, documents, and all other papers in their possession. "Very respectfully submitted. "WYLLYS SILLIMAN. "The Board having now completed its adjustment of all the cases to be adjusted and decided upon by them, Order that the records of their proceedings, together with the vouchers and documents produced before them relative to said claims, be deposited in the Department of State of the United States, and as to morrow is the day limited by the Law, within which it was made the duty of the Board to receive and examine and decide upon the amount and validity of all the claims, the transactions of the said Board are now closed and the Board adjourned without day. "Approved: "Test: "THOS. SWANN, Jr., Secretary." "W. SILLIMAN. "JOHN R. LIVINGSTON. "Jos. S. CABOT. CHAPTER H. THE PERUVIAN INDEMNITY: CONVENTION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND PERU OF MARCH 17, 1841. Claims Included. By a convention signed at Lima March 17, 1841, by James C. Pickett, chargé d'affaires of the United States, and Don Manuel del Rio, acting minister of the department of finance of Peru, the Peruvian Government agreed to pay to the United States the sum of 300,000 “hard dollars," of the same standard and value as those then coined at the mint at Lima, in full satisfaction of claims of the United States "on account of seizures, captures, detentions, sequestrations, and confiscations of their vessels, or for the damage and destruction of them, of their cargoes, or other property, at sea, and in the ports and territories of Peru, by order of said Government of Peru, or under its authority." This description of the claims to which the indemnity was to be applied was rendered still more restrictive by the stipulation that no other "payment or indemnification" should be demanded of the Government of Peru "on account of any claim of the citizens of the United States that was presented to it by Samuel Larned, esq., when chargé d'affaires of the United States near Peru," and that "the claims subsequent to those presented by Mr. Larned" should be " examined and acted upon hereafter." Thus the indemnity provided for by the convention was confined 1. To claims on account of the seizure, damage, or destruction of property at sea or in the ports and territories of Peru, by order of the Peruvian Government or under its authority; and 2. To claims of that description which had been presented by Mr. Larned. Negotiation of the Mr. Pickett, by whom the convention was signed on the part of the United States, reached his post at Lima June 30, 1839, but owing to the unsettled condition of affairs in Peru did not begin his negotiations for the settlement of claims till February 19, 1840. The claims which he was specially charged to press were those presented by Mr. Larned, one of his predecessors. They amounted, nominally, with interest, to $1,200,000, of which sum the account for interest constituted about a half. In first presenting the claims Mr. Pickett offered to receive in full satisfaction of them the sum of $400,000, or one-third of their nominal value, to be paid in eight annual installments of $50,000 each, with interest at the rate of 6 per cent per annum, the first installment to be paid on the 1st of January 1812, and one on the first day of each succeeding year until the whole amount should be discharged. The sum which Mr. Pickett thus offered to accept was less than the nominal amount of a single claim-the claim for the ship General Brown and cargo-which was estimated at $600,000. After much negotiation Mr. Pickett on the 23d of January 1841 submitted a draft of a convention in which it was stipulated that Peru should pay $300,000 in six equal annual installments of $50,000, the first to be paid January 1, 1843, and all to bear interest at the rate of 4 per cent per annum from January 1, 1841, till paid. In making this proposition Mr. Pickett declared that it was final, and that he could not have been satisfied with so small a sum had not two of his predecessors in the legation offered to take it. The Peruvian Government, however, while closing with Mr. Pickett's offer to accept $300,000, secured a modification of terms so as to make the indemnity payable in ten annual installments of $30,000 each. Delays in the Exchange of Ratifications. By Article VII. of the convention the ratifications were required to be exchanged within two years from the day of its signature, or sooner, if possible, after it had first been "approved by the President and Senate of the United States, and by the Congress of Peru." The Peruvian Congress failed to act upon the convention within the two years, and on October 21, 1845, more than four years after the date of signature, passed a law approving it with the condition that the first annual installment of $30,000 on account of principal should be payable January 1, 1846, instead of January 1, 1844, as stipulated in the original instrument. This condition Mr. Buchanan, after consultation with some of the principal claimants, decided to accept; and the Senate of the United States gave its advice and consent. The interest remained payable on each installment from January 1, 1842. The ratifications were finally exchanged at Lima October 31, 1846. In this relation it may be stated that the Peruvian Government in February 1847 paid to Mr. Albert G. Jewett, then the diplomatic representative of the United States at Lima, the first installment of $30,000, but without interest, and at the same time asked the United States to consider that installment as having become due not on January 1, 1846, but on January 1, 1847. The ground of this request appeared to be that the ratifications of the convention were not exchanged till after January 1, 1846. The United States however replied not only that January 1, 1846, was the day fixed by the convention, but also that, according to the rules of international law, the convention was to be considered as binding upon the contracting parties from the date of its signature, unless it contained an express stipulation to the contrary'. The Department of State arranged that the installments as they became due should be received by Messrs. Edward McCall & Co., navy agents of the United States at Lima, and expended there for the use of the Navy; and that when an installment was so received the Secretary of the Navy should cause the same amount to be deposited in the Treasury of the United States for the use of the claimants. Repeated delays occurred in the payment of the indemnity, owing to the fact that the Peruvian Government had not the funds with which to make it. Distribution of the By the first article of the convention it was provided that the indemnity should be "distributed among the claimants in the manner and according to the rules that shall be prescribed by the Government of the United States." In 1 Mr Buchanan, Sec. of State, to Mr. Clay, United States minister at Lima, September 18, 1847, S. Ex. Doc. 58, 31 Cong. 1 sess. |