the summer of 1869, ostensibly to arrange some commercial matters, but really to sound the United States Government upon the possibility of settling the Alabama claims.69 Mr. Fish told Sir John Rose that some time must elapse to allow the irritation that Senator Sumner's speech had caused in England to quiet down, and "that when the excitement subsided the appointment as special envoy of some man of high rank, authorized to express some kind word of regret, would pave the way for a settlement; and he outlined to Sir John the exact scheme for settlement which was adopted a year and a half later."

President Grant in his message to Congress, December 5th, 1870, spoke with regret of the failure of the two Governments to come to some understanding on the subject. Early in January, 1871, Sir John Rose again visited Washington on a confidential mission.70

69 Mr. Fish and the Alabama Claims. matic History, by J. C. Bancroft Davis. 1893, pages 44-46.

A Chapter in DiploBoston and New York,

The celebrated international jurist, Dr. Bluntschli, professor at Heidelberg, reviewed in 1870 for La Revue de Droit international et de législation comparée (Bruxelles) the Alabama question in an article entitled, Opinion impartiale sur la Question de l'Alabama et sur la Manière de la Résoudre.

70 Mr. Fish and the Alabama Claims. A Chapter in Diplomatic History, by J. C. Bancroft Davis. Boston and New York, 1893, pages 59-64. Memoir and Letters of Charles Sumner, by Edward L. Pierce. Boston, 1893. Volume IV., page 467.

After twenty months of intermittent secret negotiations, an accord was finally reached, which found formal expression in four notes that passed between Sir Edward Thornton, the English Minister at Washington, and Secretary Fish." In a note of January 26th, 1871, Sir Edward Thornton proposed to Mr. Fish the appointment of a Joint High Commission to settle the northeast fisheries and any other outstanding differences between the two countries. Four days later Secretary Fish wrote to Sir Edward, that the President approved of the proposal, but it was essential to include the Alabama claims in the suggested settlement. Two days later, the English Minister replied that his Government would be pleased to have the Alabama claims submitted to the same Joint High Commission, provided that all other claims by British and American citizens arising from the acts of the Civil War were similarly referred. On the 3d of February, Secretary Fish wrote to the English Minister, that the President assented to the proposal to refer to the same Commission all claims of citizens of either nation growing out of acts committed during the Civil War.

"The National and Private "Alabama Claims" and their "final and amicable settlement," by Charles C. Beaman, Jr. Printed by W. H. Moore, Washington, D. C., 1871, pages 308-310. Correspondence concerning Claims Against Great Britain. Volume VI. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1871, pages 15-18.

CHAPTER VI.

The Joint High Commission was organized at Washington on February 27th, 1871.72 The representatives of the United States were Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State, Mr. Justice Nelson of the Supreme Court, General Robert C. Schenck, just appointed Minister to England, Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar, of Massachusetts, and George H. Williams, of Oregon. The representatives of Great Britain were Earl de Grey and Ripon, a member of the English Cabinet, Sir Stafford Henry Northcote, of Her Majesty's opposition, Sir Edward Thornton, Minister at Washington, Professor Mountague Bernard of Oxford University, and Sir John A. Macdonald, the Premier of Canada. Finally, after many and long deliberations, the Commissioners agreed upon and signed on the 8th of May, 1871, the treaty that became known by the name of the city, where they negotiated-the Treaty of Washington.

72

1 Papers relating to the Treaty of Washington. Volume I. Geneva Arbitration. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1872, page 9 et seq. Mr. Fish and the Alabama Claims. A Chapter in Diplomatic History, by J. C. Bancroft Davis. Boston and New York, 1892, page 70 et seq.

The treaty consisted of a preamble and forty-three articles. The preamble and the first eleven articles related to the Alabama claims. The next six articles, from twelve to seventeen, both included, referred to claims of citizens of the United States against England and of claims of British subjects against the United States arising from acts committed against the person or property of such individuals during the course of the Civil War. Then the succeeding articles beginning with the eighteenth and ending with the thirty-third, provided for the settlement of the North Atlantic fisheries; the navigation of the St. Lawrence, the Yukon and other rivers, of Lake Michigan, and of certain canals; for a system of bonded transit; for certain features of the coasting trade; and for the exemption from duty of lumber cut in United States territory along the St. John River and floated down to the sea. The remaining articles, except the last, that related to the exchange of ratification, arranged for the submission to the arbitration of the Emperor of Germany of the San Juan water boundary between the Territory of Washington and British Columbia.

The provisions of the treaty relating to the Alabama claims met in substance the requirements laid down by Senator Sumner in his speech in opposition to the Johnson-Clarendon Convention.

The first article referred to the power that the English Government had granted to its commissioners "to express, in a friendly spirit, the regret felt by Her Majesty's Government for the escape of the Alabama and other vessels from British ports, and for the depredations committed by those vessels."

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Then, further, instead of leaving the choice of an arbitrator to the chance of lot, the same article provided for the constitution of a Court of Arbitration to hear and try the case, in the following manner:Now, in order to remove and adjust all complaints and claims on the part of the United States, and to provide for the speedy settlement of such claims, which are not admitted by Her Britannic Majesty's Government, the High Contracting Parties agree that all the said claims, growing out of acts committed by the aforesaid vessels, and generically known as the 'Alabama Claims,' shall be referred to a Tribunal of Arbitration, to be composed of five Arbitrators, to be appointed in the following manner, that is to say: One shall be named by the President of the United States; one shall be named by Her Britannic Majesty; His Majesty the King of Italy shall be requested to name one; the President of the Swiss Confederation shall be requested to name one; and His Majesty the Emperor of Brazil shall be requested to name one.

"In case of the death, absence, or incapacity to