(2) Mr. Fish to Sir Edward Thornton. "DEPARTMENT OF STATE, "Washington, January 30, 1871. "SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of January 26, in which you inform me, in compliance with instructions from Earl Granville, that Her Majesty's Government deem it of importance to the good relations which they are ever anxious should subsist and be strengthened between the United States and Great Britain, that a friendly and complete understanding should be come to between the two governments as to the extent of the rights which belong to the citizens of the United States and Her Majesty's subjects, respectively, with reference to the fisheries on the coasts of Her Majesty's possessions in North America, and as to any other questions between them which affect the relations of the United States toward those possessions; and further, that as the consideration of these questions would involve investigations of a somewhat complicated nature, and as it is very desirable that they should be thoroughly examined, you are directed by Lord Granville to propose to the Government of the United States the appointment of a joint high commission, which shall be composed of members to be named by each government; shall hold its sessions at Washington; and shall treat of and discuss the mode of settling the different questions which have arisen out of the fisheries, as well as all those which affect the relations of the United States toward Her Majesty's possessions in North America. "I have laid your note before the President, who instructs me to say that he shares with Her Majesty's Government the appreciation of the importance of a friendly and complete understanding between the two governments with reference to the subjects specially suggested for the consideration of the proposed joint high commission, and he fully recognizes the friendly spirit which has prompted the proposal. "The President is, however, of the opinion that without the adjustment of a class of questions not alluded to in your note, the proposed high commission would fail to establish the permanent relations and the sincere, substantial, and lasting friendship between the two governments which, in common with Her Majesty's Government, he desires should prevail. "He thinks that the removal of the differences which arose during the rebellion in the United States, and which have existed since then, growing out of the acts committed by the several vessels which have given rise to the claims generically known as the Alabama claims, will also be essential to the restoration of cordial and amicable relations between the two governments. He directs me to say that, should Her Majesty's Government accept this view of the matter, and assent that this subject also may be treated of by the proposed high commission, and may thus be put in the way of a final and amicable settlement, this Government will, with much pleasure, appoint high commissioners on the part of the United States to meet those who may be appointed on behalf of Her Majesty's Government, and will spare no efforts to secure, at the earliest practicable moment, a just and amicable arrangement of all the questions which now unfortunately stand in the way of an entire and abiding friendship between the two nations. "I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your obedient servant, "HAMILTON FISH. "Sir EDWARD THORNTON, K. C. B., &c., &c., &c. (3) Sir Edward Thornton to Mr. Fish. "WASHINGTON, February 1, 1871. "SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 30th ultimo, and to offer you my sincere and cordial thanks for the friendly and conciliatory spirit which pervades it. "With reference to that part of it in which you state that the President thinks that the removal of the differences which arose during the rebellion in the United States, and which have existed since then, growing out of the acts committed by the several vessels which have given rise to the claims generically known as the Alabama claims, will also be essential to the restoration of cordial and amicable relations between the two governments, I have the honor to inform you that I have submitted to Earl Granville the opinion thus expressed by the President of the United States, the friendliness of which, I beg you to believe, I fully appreciate. "I am now authorized by his lordship to state that it would give Her Majesty's Government great satisfaction if the claims commonly known by the name of the Alabama claims were submitted to the consideration of the same high commission by which Her Majesty's Government have proposed that the questions relating to the British possessions in North America should be discussed, provided that all other claims, both of British subjects and citizens of the United States, arising out of acts committed during the recent civil war in this country, are similarly referred to the same commission. The expressions made use of in the name of the President in your above-mentioned note with regard to the Alabama claims convince me that the Government of the United States will consider it of importance that these causes of dispute between the two countries should also, and at the same time, be done away with, and that you will enable me to convey to my government the assent of the President to the addition which they thus propose to the duties of the high commission, and which can not fail to make it more certain that its labors will lead to the removal of all differences between the two countries. "I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, "EDWARD THORNTON, "Hon. HAMILTON FISH, &c., &c., &c. (4) Mr. Fish to Sir Edward Thornton. "DEPARTMENT OF STATE, "SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 1st instant, in which you inform me that you are authorized by Earl Granville to state that it would give Her Majesty's Government great satisfaction if the claims commonly known by the name of the Alabama claims were submitted to the consideration of the same High Commission by which Her Majesty's Government have proposed that the questions relating to the British possessions in North America should be discussed, provided that all other claims, both of British subjects and citizens of the United States, arising out of acts committed during the recent civil war in this country, are similarly referred to the same commission. "I have laid your note before the President, and he has directed me to express the satisfaction with which he has received the intelligence that Earl Granville has authorized you to state that Her Majesty's Government has accepted the views of this Government as to the disposition to be made of the so-called Alabama claims. "He also directs me to say, with reference to the remainder of your note, that if there be other and further claims of British subjects, or of American citizens, growing out of acts committed during the recent civil war in this country, he assents to the propriety of their reference to the same High Commission; but he suggests that the High Commissioners shall consider only such claims of this description as may be presented by the governments of the respective claimants at an early day, to be agreed upon by the commissioners. "I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your obedient servant, "HAMILTON FISH. "Sir EDWARD THORNTON, K. C. B., &c., de., de." Commission. On the 9th of February 1871 President The Joint High Grant sent to the Senate the names of five commissioners, all of whom were promptly confirmed. The joint high commission was organized on the 27th of the same month. Of its personnel Mr. Bancroft Davis has given the following account:1 "The Secretary of State was chairman on the side of the United States, and from the beginning to the end his was the inspiring, regulating, and dominating mind. He formulated on behalf of the United States the plan for the settlement of these long-standing and momentous differences. To the end he controlled the conduct of the American side in the contentions at Geneva, and infused courage into those who were beginning to wilt in face of the British outcry against the American Case. He had the steadfast and loyal support of the President throughout, and it was of inestimable value. "Next Mr. Fish upon the American side was the venerable Samuel Nelson, then the eldest justice in time of service, as well as in years, upon the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States. In politics he was opposed to the administration which invited him to serve his country as a member of this commission, but he cheerfully complied with its request. His counsel was always given when called for, and was never overruled. His work there closed an honorable and almost unparalleled career of nearly fifty years of judicial service. When the Court met again he was retired at his own request. "The other members of the commission on the American side were Robert C. Schenck, who had been appointed as minister to Great Britain in the place of Mr. Motley, but had not yet gone to his post; Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar, of Massachusetts, at one time a judge of the supreme judicial court of that State, and afterward Attorney-General of the United States at the beginning of General Grant's administration; and George H. Williams, of Oregon, who had just ceased to represent that State in the Senate of the United States. "On the British side, at the head was Earl de Grey and Ripon (soon to be known as the Marquis of Ripon), a member of Mr. Gladstone's cabinet. Sir Stafford Henry Northcote, member of Parliament from South Devon, was selected from the opponents of Mr. Gladstone to be a member, as Mr. Justice Nelson was from the opposition to General Grant. Sir Edward Thornton, Her Majesty's envoy to the United States, held the same position in the British ranks that General Schenck held in ours. Professor Mountague Bernard, of All Souls' College, Oxford, and Sir John A. Macdonald, then premier of Canada, completed the list of British members. "Lord Tenterden, the under secretary of state for foreign affairs, served as secretary on the part of Great Britain. I served in a similar capacity for the United States, as I held, at that time, a similar position in the Department of State to that held by Lord Tenterden in the foreign office." 1 Mr. Fish and the Alabama Claims, 70. Procedure of the When the joint high commission was organized the British commission is gracefully proposed that Mr. Fish should act as presiding officer. This proposition was declined, with appropriate expressions of appreciation, on the ground that the appointment of such an officer would entail an unnecessary formality of procedure, the effect of which would be to obstruct the free and direct interchange of views and thus to retard the progress of the commission. Another preliminary point of proce dure most judiciously determined by the commission was that the daily protocol of its acts should be merely formal, and should not contain any record either of the propositions made or of the discussions upon them, "so that as negotiations went on the process of give and take, in mutual concessions, should not be impeded by previous recorded action." Concerning the wisdom of this determination, which was sig nally demonstrated in the result, Earl Granville has borne this testimony: "They (the high commissioners) had thirtyseven long sittings, and I will venture to say that if every one 'Mr. Fish and the Alabama Claims, 70. The regular form of protocol was as follows: XIV. PROTOCOL OF CONFERENCE BETWEEN THE HIGH COMMISSIONERS ON THE PART OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE HIGH COMMISSIONERS ON THE PART OF GREAT BRITAIN. WASHINGTON, March 22, 1871. The high commissioners having met, the protocol of the conference held on the 20th of March was read and confirmed. The high commissioners then proceeded with the consideration of the matters referred to them. The conference was adjourned to the 23d of March. J. C. BANCROFT DAVIS. XV.-PROTOCOL OF CONFERENCE BETWEEN THE HIGH COMMISSIONERS AND THE HIGH ON THE PART OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WASHINGTON, March 23, 1871. The high commissioners having met, the protocol of the conference held on the 22d of March was read and confirmed. The high commissioners then proceeded with the consideration of the matters referred to them. The conference was adjourned to the 25th of March. J. C. BANCROFT DAVIS. TENTERDEN. |