[Inclosure No. 1.1 Prof. Baird to Mr. Willamor. SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, SIR: The Secretary of State of the United States has placed in my hands a copy of your letter to him of May 19, informing him that the Government of Russia has entered into the plan of an international exchange proposed at the convention of Paris of 1875, and that a commission of international exchange has been appointed for Russia, with headquarters in the Imperial Public Library, St. Petersburg, with Privy Councillor Bytchcow, as chief officer. As Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution it gives me great pleasure to be informed of this action on the part of the Russian Government, especially as it is likely to facilitate very greatly the communication between our government and your own. As the Smithsonian Institution has been designated by the Government of the United States as its agent for the prosecution of the system of international exchanges under the convention of Paris, it gives me great pleasure, as its Secretary, to welcome the Russian commission as a fellow-worker in a very important enterprise, and to assure you that everything will be done that is practicable in an exchange of official and private publications of countries so useful to both. In illustration of the subject, I beg to inclose a copy of a letter on the inauguration by the Government of Italy, of a like enterprise, the same being addressed to Er Castellani, president of the Italian commission of international exchanges. I have, &c. SPENCER F. BAIRD, Secretary. [Inclosure No 2.] Prof. Baird to Señor Castellani. SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, Washington, D. C., June 22, 180. DEAR SIR: At present the exchanges between the Smithsonian Institution on the part of the United States, and the bureau of international exchanges of the ministry of public instruction of Paris, are being carried out to the entire satisfaction of both parties, and possibly a brief recapitulation of the arrangements entered into may be of interest to you. The exchange is divided into two portions: first, that relating exclusively to the publications of the several governments, and, secondly, those of a miscellaneous nature, embracing those of learned societies, scientific men, &c. 1st. Under the first head the Institution has at its command a full series of all the official publications of the United States made during the past year, including whatever relates to legislation, finance, jurisprudence, statistics, history, geography, geol ogy, and all other branches of knowledge, constituting a mass of about twelve to fif teen cubic feet each year. One full set of all these publications is sent to the national library in Paris and a similar series is returned to the national library in Washington. A second set, more or less complete, is also placed in the hands of the French bureau to be subdivided to the various bureaus of the government, giving to each the portion most appropriate. These in return send us works for corresponding bureaus in Washington. 2d. The miscellaneous exchanges include the publications of learned societies of the United States, as also of State organizations for purposes of education, bygiene, history, agriculture, &c. Likewise such papers by specialists as they desire to send to their correspondents abroad, of which transmissions are made as often as the amount of material makes it necessary; to France about four times in a year, or oftener if required by any special exigency. A list of the addresses of the packages is prepared by us and sent to the agency in Paris. This, however, does not include the contents of the bundles, excepting in the case of donations by the Smithsonian Institution or the national library. Boxes for containing these several packages are prepared of sufficient strength to permit their crossing the ocean alternately several times in succession. They are for the most part of the following dimensions: 18 by 18 by 36 inches = 64 cubic feet. The tops are screwed down to permit their ready removal without injury. Freight en these boxes is paid by the Institution to New York, or the shipping port; after that the entire expense of the ocean and inland freight to Paris is settled by the ministry of public instruction. The returns for such exchanges, as also the publications of the government of bureaus, are administered by the French bureau în a similar manner, and freight on the boxes sent to the Smithsonian Institution is paid to Havre, or the nearest shipping port to Paris. The ocean freights to New York, and the inland freights from New York to Washington are borne by the Smithsonian Institution. In this way each party pays such portion of the expense as is most convenient, leaving nothing to be carried forward from one route to the other. It will give us very great pleasure to enter into a similar relation with the bureau of which you are the head, delivering all the boxes we may have free of expense to New York and leaving you to pay the additional cost to Rome, you, on your part, paying the expenses to Genoa, or other point of departure, upon boxes sent to us, and we paying the ocean freight to New York and expenses to Washington. We have heretofore used the agency of Mr. Hoepli, of Milan, in our exchanges with Italy, and work has been performed very satisfactorily to us. In accordance, however, with the treaty convention of Paris and the instructions of the American Department of State, we would prefer to enter directly into relations with yourself, as already explained. The exchange of public documents with Italy is yet unsettled. On several occasions we have offered to make such exchanges, but it has not been acceded to. You will, therefore, oblige us by stating definitely whether you desire us to send on what we can of this character, and whether you will charge yourself with collecting as full a series of Italian state publications as you can now bring together. A single set of the works we have now on hand fills about twelve boxes of the size indicated above. Should any of the bureas of the Italian Government desire any special publications from corresponding bureaus of the United States, it will give us great pleasure, on being notified, to endeavor to secure them. As soon as we hear from you we will take immediate action. Very respectfully, Signor C. CASTELLANI, SPENCER F. BAIRD, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. President Italian Commission International Exchanges, No. 571. Mr. Willamov to Mr. Evarts. WASHINGTON, July 9-21, 1880. Mr. SECRETARY OF STATE: By order of my government I have the honor herewith to transmit to you a copy of the communications received by us from the government of France and that of England relative to the appointment of a commission of liquidation for the regula tion of the finances of Egypt, together with a copy of the reply which the imperial cabinet has just addressed to the ambassadors of those powers at St. Petersburg. I avail myself, &c., G. WILLAMOV. Note from Mr. de Giers to Lord Dufferin (present), dated St. Petersburg, June 8, 1880. With your note of the 5th-17th instant your excellency transmitted to us, by order of your government, the decree of the Khedive* appointing a commission of liquidation for the regulation of the Egyptian debts, together with a collective declaration of the powers constituting that commission. Your excellency was instructed at the same time to invite the imperial cabinet to adhere to that declaration, which recog* For this decree and accompanyiag declaration, vide correspondence with Turkey, post. nizes the decisions of the commission of liquidation as having the force of law without appeal, and proclaims them as binding upon the reformatory tribunals as soon as they shall have been officially published by the government of His Highness the Khedive. The imperial cabinet not being among the number of the governments which formed that commission of liquidation, declared from the outset that it reserved the privilege of forming an independent opinion concerning its decisions so far as they might affect the rights recognized as belonging to the mixed courts in whose organization Russia took part. It cannot depart from that strictly legal attitude by pledging itself in advance to consider as binding and without appeal decisions rendered without its participation, even though they should be in contradiction with the duties incumbent upon it, both in view of the interests of Russian subjects and the general interests which the appointment of the mixed courts was designed to secure. The imperial cabinet consequently deems it its duty to maintain its full liberty of judgment with regard to the decisions of the commission of liquidation, within the limits prescribed either by the protection due to its citizens, or by the rights with which the mixed courts have been invested. While reserving this liberty, it will by no means lose sight or the considerations which have induced the powers to form this commission with a view to protecting the interests of their creditors and to improv ing the finances of Egypt. Begging your excellency to be pleased to bring the foregoing to the notice of your government, I avail myself, &c. Note from Mr. de Giers to General Chanzy. ST. PETERSBURG, June 8, 1880. With the dispatch of M. de Freycinet of the 28th of April last, a copy of which your excellency was pleased to send us, the French Government transmitted to us the Khedive's decree appointing a commission of liquidation for the settlement of Egyp tian debts, together with a collective declaration of the powers constituting that commission. At the same time Mr. de Freycinet invited the imperial cabinet to adhere to that declaration, which recognizes the decisions of the commission of liquidation as possessing the force of law, without appeal, and proclaims them as binding upon the reformatory courts, as soon as they shall have been officially published by the govern ment of His Highness the Khedive. The imperial cabinet not being among the number of the governments which formed that commission of liquidation, declared from the outset, that it reserved the privi lege of forming an independent opinion concerning its decisions so far as they might affect the rights recognized as belonging to the mixed courts in whose organization Russia took part. It cannot depart from that strictly legal attitude, by pledging itself, in advance, to consider as binding and without appeal decisions rendered without its participation, even though they should be in contradiction with the duties incumbent upon it both in view of the interests of Russian subjects and the general interests which the appointment of the mixed courts was designed to secure. The imperial cabinet consequently deems it its duty to maintain its full liberty of judgment with regard to the decisions of the commission of liquidation, within the limits prescribed either by the protection due to its citizens, or by the rights with which the mixed courts have been invested. While reserving this liberty it will by no means lose sight of the considerations which have induced the powers to form this commission with a view to protecting the interests of their creditors, and to improv ing the finances of Egypt. Begging your excellency to be pleased to bring the foregoing to the notice of your government, I avail myself, &c. No. 572. Mr. Evarts to Mr. Willamov. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 21st ultimo, wherewith you transmit copies of the correspondence exchanged between the foreign office of your government and the repre sentatives of Great Britain and France at St. Petersburg, relative to the appointment of a commission of liquidation for the regulation of the financial obligations of the government of Egypt. This government accepts as a mark of consideration and favor the communication thus made to it by direction of that of His Imperial Majesty the Czar, for its information, and in response thereto can do no less than communicate for the reciprocal information of the Russian cabinet, the reply which it has made to a like communication addressed to it by the representatives of Austria-Hungary, Italy, Germany, France, and Great Britain, accredited at this capital. As you will perceive, the attitude of reserve which this government was at first inclined to maintain in the premises, although founded upon considerations analogous to those adduced by your government, was to a greater extent conditional on the direct relations of Egypt to the United States, and has been abandoned upon the earnest showing of the Khedival government that the adhesion of the United States was regarded by it as essential to the working of a measure of domestic administration. Accept, sir, &c., WM. M. EVARTS. No. 215.] SPAIN. No. 573. Mr. Lowell to Mr. Evarts. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Madrid, November 8, 1879. (Received December 1.) SIR Referring to your No. 168, I have the honor to report that on the 18th of December, 1878, and again on the 5th of August last, I addressed the minister of state on the subject of the whaling schooner Edward Lee. From time to time, as occasion offered, I called his attention to the matter, but received no official reply till the 20th ultimo. I inclose a copy of my notes, and a copy with translation of the Duke of Tetuan's reply. It is but justice to say that I have hitherto found the Spanish Government ready to take a just and even liberal view of such cases as I have had occasion to present, and I feel quite sure that no minister of state will recede from the position affirmed and reaffirmed by two of his predecessors. I have, &c., J. R. LOWELL. [Appendix A to Mr. Lowell's No. 215.1 Mr. Lowell to Mr. Silvela. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, EXCELLENCY: I am instructed to call the attention of your excellency once more to the case of the American whaling schooner Edward Lee, which formed a part of the subject of my note to you of the 7th of December, 1877. * For the text of the inclosure mentioned, see correspondence with British legation in Washington, ante, p. 521, being a note from Mr. Evarts to Mr. Drummond, of July 30, 1880. The owners of the vessel insist on their view of the case, which they have again laid before the President, strengthened by evidence of all the officers and crew, and from which it would appear that they suffered great and substantial loss by the violent proceedings of the Spanish gunboat. This loss they estimate at $10,000. From the facts submitted to my government, it appears that the schooner was driven from her lawful fishing ground at a time when whales were abundant; that she was obliged indefinitely to prolong her voyage, and that in consequence she was exposed to dangers of the sea which she would otherwise have escaped, resulting in the loss of a suit of sails, and in great suffering on the part of the crew. At the time when your excellency so readily made reparation for the wrongs of two other American whalers which had been the victims of a similar mistaken view of their rights and duties on the part of Spanish officers, you expressed a wish (while refusing to admit the justice of the claim of the owners of the vessel now again in question) to inform yourself more fully on the subject by the statements of the Span ish officers concerned. May I ask if your excellency is already possessed of that evidence; and, if not, that you will take the necessary measures to procure it! Whatever new light may be thrown upon the affair by the statements of the officers of the gunboat, it will surely not avail to show that their action was not in direct contravention of the eighteenth article of the treaty of 1795 between the United States and Spain, and the question will remain substantially as now, not whether there be ground for any claim at all, but simply as to the amount of injury suffered and of reparation to be made for it. I cannot admit your excellency's suggestion that the date on which the owners of the schooner made their complaint should in any way affect the good faith or validity of their claim. The captain and crew were men ignorant of the law, and natural desirous of reaching as soon as possible the more distant fishing grounds, to seek which they were driven by the hostile attitude of the gunboat. The question at issue, as it appears to me, is what the Spanish cruiser did, and not what the crew of the schooner did or left undone after the attack upon them. Relying confidently on that sense of justice which your excellency showed in the two other similar cases I had the honor to lay before you, and on the good faith which the government of His Catholic Majesty has always shown in the performance of its treaties, I hope that the owners of the Edward Lee may receive an equal measure of justice, the more so that an act of the kind committed by the gunboat of His Catholie Majesty, if unredressed, is liable to irritate susceptibilities which it is the common desire of both nations to appease. I gladly avail, &c., J. R. LOWELL. [Appendix B to Mr. Lowell's No. 215.] Mr. Lowell to the Duke of Tetuan. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, EXCELLENCY: On the 18th of December last I had the honor to address a note to your predecessor in the office which your excellency so worthily fills, recalling his attention to the claim for damages of the owners of the American whaling schooner Edward Lee, on account of certain hostile and altogether unwarrantable proceedings against her on the part of a Spanish gunboat off the coast of the island of Cuba. As the facts of the case are clearly set forth in my note above referred to (December 18), and in that of the 7th of December, 1877, I do not deem it necessary at this time to again enter into a further discussion of it, further than to repeat that when your excellency's predecessor, Mr. Silvela, made reparation in the two similar cases (the Ellen Rizpah and Rising Sun), he expressed a wish to further inform himself in regard to the claim of the schooner now in question. I do not doubt that the necessary steps to this end have been taken, and that your excellency is now in possession of sufficient information on the subject to arrive at a conclusion in this case as satisfactory to the President as that of the two others. I beg to add that I have been informed by my government that the owners of the Edward Lee are naturally anxious to know the decision of His Catholic Majesty's government in regard to their claim. I therefore simply call your excellency's attertion to the subject, in the full assurance that nothing more is needful to secure a prompt answer to my note of the 18th of December last, thus enabling me to communicate to my government the information desired by the owners of the vessel ia question. I avail myself, &c., J. R. LOWELL. |