India Islands, in the years 1854 and 1855; for the refusal of the ordinary right to land cargo for the purpose of making repairs; for the injuries resulting from a shot fired into one of the vessels, and for other wrongs. A copy of the treaty is hereto annexed. Both Governments having, as stated in the treaty, entire confidence in the learning, ability, and impartiality of your excellency, I have the honor to express the great satisfaction of my Government in agreeing upon you as the proper person to whom to submit for decision the questions involved in the claim referred to. In performing the grateful duty of inviting your excellency, in behalf of my Government, to accept the power conferred upon you by the treaty, I have the honor to express the hope that I may have the pleasure, as soon as it may suit your convenience to communicate to me your wishes, of sending a notice to my Government that you have accepted the task now tendered by me in its behalf. No. 131.] Mr. Blaine to Mr. Anderson. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: Since writing my instruction No. 130 of the 6th instant it has been suggested to the Department by the Danish minister in this city that his Government may find difficulty in communicating with Sir Edmund Monson through its representative at Athens, who has no regular diplomatic, but only a consular capacity. If such difficulty should be found to exist you are authorized to sign with the Danish minister for foreign affairs a joint note to Sir Edmund, or to write a separate but identic note of invitation to be sent from Copenhagen. In either case some alteration of the phraseology of the drafts inclosed in my No. 130 would be required. This, however, is a matter of little importance so long as one point, which is made clear in the two drafts inclosed in that instruction, is understood. This point is, that the date of the receipt of notice, from which the seventy-five days allowed for the submission by each Government of its case to the arbitrator are to be counted, is the date of the receipt by the department for foreign affairs of such Government of the notice of the arbitrator's acceptance. This is thought to be clearly stated in the treaty, but it is desirable that it should always be understood. Should the invitation to Sir Edmund be sent by yourself and the Danish minister for foreign affairs you are instructed, upon the reception of his acceptance, to send notice thereof to the Department by cable, in order that unnecessary delays in the execution of the treaty may be avoided. I am, etc., JAMES G. BLAINE. No. 311.] Mr. Anderson to Mr. Blaine. [Extract.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Copenhagen, July 1, 1889. (Received July 13.) SIR Referring to your dispatches Nos. 130 and 131, dated June 6 and 7, I have the honor to report as follows: Both the above dispatches were received on June 26, and the same day I had an interview with the director-general of the Royal Danish ministry for foreign affairs. I suggested to him that my Government preferred that I should sign a joint note. In reply the director-general urged that it was a delicate point in diplomacy as to who should sign first, and to avoid the raising of this and possibly other questions his Government preferred that we should send separate identical notes simultaneously, the Danish note to be written in the French language. In accordance with your instructions I agreed to his proposition, and on the next day (June 27) I sent a note to the Royal Danish minister for foreign affairs, inclosing copies of the two drafts of a note suggested by you, but still urging, as you will see by the copy thereof inclosed, the adoption of the joint note in preference to separate identical notes. On the 29th I received a reply from the Royal Danish minister for foreign affairs, in which he repeats the preference of his Government for two identical notes, and incloses a copy of the one in French, which he proposes to send to Sir Edmund Monson to-day. I have carefully compared it with the separate note transmitted by you to me, and find the two identical in all important respects. I have this day mailed a note to Sir Edmund Monson in behalf of the Government of the United States, inviting him to accept the task of arbitrator in accordance with the treaty of December 6, 1888. I have made such alterations in the draft you sent me as the case required, but none of the changes are essential. I inclose herewith copies of my note to the Royal Danish minister for foreign affairs, dated June 27, of my note to Sir Edmund Monson, and, finally, of a note sent by me this day to the Royal Danish minister for foreign affairs. I shall look for an answer from Sir Edmund Monson in about two weeks. I have, etc., [Inclosure 1 in No. 311.] R. B. ANDERSON. Mr. Anderson to Baron O. D. Rosenörn-Lehn. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, EXCELLENCY: The honorable the Secretary of State at Washington informs me in a dispatch dated June 6 that the ratifications of the treaty for the settlement of the claim of Carlos Butterfield were exchanged at Washington on the 23d ultimo; and that it was duly proclaimed by the President of the United States on the following day. The next step to be taken is the extension to Sir Edmund Monson, the arbitrator named in the treaty, of a formal invitation to accept the power therein conferred upon him. I have the honor to inclose herewith two drafts, one of a joint and the other of an identic note to be written to Sir Edmund Monson, and also a printed copy of the Treaty in question. The joint note secures absolute uniformity of language in the invitation, and avoids the raising of any question at to the effect or intention of variant phraseologies; but in a conversation which I had with the director-general of the Royal Danish ministry of foreign affairs yesterday I was led to believe that your excellency prefers that we should send identic notes separately, and I am authorized by my Government to sign either a joint or an identic note. Hoping the inclosed documents may be found satisfactory, and adding that I am ready to sign and transmit either one of the notes mentioned at any time that may suit your excellency's convenience, I seize, etc., R. B. ANDERSON. ¡Inclosure 2 in No. 311.] Mr. Anderson to Sir Edmund Monson. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Copenhagen, Denmark, July 1, 1889. EXCELLENCY: The Government of the United States of America and the Government of His Majesty the King of Denmark have, by a treaty concluded on the 6th day of December, 1888, of which the ratifications have been duly exchanged, agreed to submit to the decision of an arbitrator the claim of Carlos Butterfield and Company of which Carlos Butterfield, now deceased, was the surviving partner, presented by the Government of the United States against the Government of Denmark for an indemnity for the seizure and detention of the two vessels, the steamer Ben Franklin and the bark Catherine Augusta, by the authorities of the Island of St. Thomas, of the Danish West India Islands, in the years 1854 and 1855, for the refusal of the ordinary right to land cargo for the purpose of making repairs; for the injuries resulting from a shot fired into one of the vessels, and for other wrongs. A copy of the treaty is hereto annexed. Both Governments having, as stated in the treaty, entire confidence in the learning, ability, and impartiality of your excellency, I have been instructed by the honorable the Secretary of State to express the great satisfaction of my Government in agreeing upon you as the proper person to whom to submit for decision the questions involved in the claim referred to. In performing the grateful duty of inviting your excellency in behalf of my Government to accept the power conferred upon you by the treaty, I have the honor to express the hope that I may have the pleasure, as soon as it may suit your convenience to communicate your wishes to me, of sending a notice to my Government that you have accepted the task now tendered by me in its behalf. I avail, etc., [Inclosure 3 in No. 311.] R. B. ANDERSON. Mr. Anderson to Baron O. D. Rosenörn-Lehn. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, EXCELLENCY: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your esteemed note of June 29, informing me that you propose to send the note of which you had the goodness to inclose a copy to Sir Edmund Monson to-day. This note being identical with the one proposed by my Government, I have the honor to inform your excellency that I have this day mailed to Sir Edmund Monson at Athens, in behalf of my Government, a note, of which I transmit inclosed a copy. I avail, etc., R. B. ANDERSON. No. 313.] Mr. Anderson to Mr. Blaine. [Extract.] Copenhagen, July 16, 1889. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, (Received July 29.) SIR: I have the honor to send you a copy of Sir Edmund Monson's dispatch to me, and a few additional particulars in regard to the Butterfield claim. As reported in my dispatch No. 311, dated July 1, identic notes were sent by the Royal Danish minister for foreign affairs and by me to Sir Edmund Monson at Athens, inviting him to assume the task of arbitration. On the 8th instant I received from Sir Edmund a telegram containing these four words: "Arbitration accepted; letter follows." With this telegram I called at the Danish ministry for foreign affairs. No message had there been received from Sir Edmund and we agreed that the short telegram received by me should be regarded as a private communication to me and could not be considered as a sufficient notice to either Government of the arbitrator's acceptance of the power conferred upon him by the treaty. The Royal Danish minister urged that it was necessary to see Sir Edmund's acceptance over his own signature and to examine its phraseology before it could be received as a proper notice in accordance with Article II of the treaty. To this view of the matter I gave my consent. Yesterday, the 15th, I received by mail from Sir Edmund Monson a dispatch, of which I herewith inclose a copy, and in which you will see that he accepts the position conferred on him without reservation. The language of the treaty and of your, instructions in your dispatch No. 131 being perfectly clear, I at once cabled Sir Edmund's acceptance to you, adding that the evidence must be filed before the arbitrator within seventy-five days from yesterday; that is, before September 28. I have, etc., R. B. ANDERSON. [Inclosure 1 in No. 313.] Sir Edmund Monson to Mr. Anderson. ATHENS, July 8, 1889. SIR: I had the honor to receive last night your excellency's dispatch of the 1st instant in which you transmit to me a copy of the agreement entered into between the Government of the United States of America and that of his majesty the King of Denmark, signed by yourself and Baron Rosenörn-Lehn on the 6th of December of last year, in virtue of which they propose to refer to my arbitration the claim known as that of Carlos Butterfield and Company. Your excellency, acting under instructions from the honorable the Secretary of State, invites me to accept the power conferred upon me by this agreement. In reply I hasten to state to your excellency that I recognize with the most sincere appreciation the honor done to me by the two Governments in selecting me for this task, and that I readily place my services at their disposal. I have not as yet received a similar formal invitation from the Government of the King of Denmark, but as soon as I do so I shall forward to Baron Rosenörn-Lehn an affirmative reply. I shall have great pleasure in contributing to the utmost of my power to the settlement of a question of such long standing between two countries in each of which I have passed several years of diplomatic service and for both of which I entertain the kindliest and most friendly feeling. I have, etc., EDMUND MONSON. No. 315.] Mr. Anderson to Mr. Blaine. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Copenhagen, July 18, 1889. (Received July 30.) SIR: Referring to my dispatch No. 313, dated July 15, I have the honor to report that I have this day mailed to Sir Edmund Monson, at Athens, a note of which I inclose a copy and in which I acknowledge the receipt of his letter of July 8, and thank him for accepting the task of arbitration referred to him by the treaty anent the Carlos Butterfield claim. An identic note of acknowledgment and thanks has been sent to Sir Edmund by the Royal Danish minister for foreign affairs. I have, etc., R. B. ANDERSON. [Inclosure in No. 315.] Mr. Anderson to Sir Edmund Monson. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: It gives me great pleasure to inform you that on the 15th instant I had the honor to receive your excellency's dispatch of the 8th instant, in which you accept the task of arbitrator in the Carlos Butterfield claim between the United States and Denmark, in accordance with the treaty signed by his excellency Baron O. D. RoseBörn-Lehn and me on the 6th of December, 1888. His excellency Baron O. D. Rosenörn-Lehn having on the same day (July 15) received an affirmative reply to his formal invitation sent you on the 1st instant, this fixes July 15 as the beginning of the first period of seventy-five days according to Article II of the treaty, and each Government must therefore file its evidence before you before September 28 next. In behalf of my Government I have the honor to thank your excellency for your readiness in placing your services at its disposal in this question of such long standing. I avail, etc., R. B. ANDERSON, Sir Edmund Monson to Mr. Blaine. ATHENS, January 22, 1890. (Received February 10.) SIR: I have the honor to transmit to you herewith my award as arbitrator under the convention signed at Copenhagen by the representatives of the United States and of Denmark on the 6th of December, 1888, for the settlement of the claim of Carlos Butterfield & Co. A duplicate of this award will be forwarded to the Danish Govern ment. I have, etc., [Inclosure.] EDMUND MONSON. AWARD. The undersigned, Her Britannic Majesty's envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to his majesty the King of the Hellenes, having been nominated by a convention signed at Copenhagen on the 6th of December, 1888, arbitrator in respect of the claim preferred by the Government of the United States against that of Denmark for compensation due by the latter to the former on account of the alleged seizure and detention in the years 1854 and 1855 of the steamer Ben Franklin aud the bark Catherine Augusta by the authorities of the island of St. Thomas, in the Danish West Indian Islands, has had before him, and was duly considered, the evidence tendered by the respective parties to the said convention, and has carefully studied the arguments in which the merits of the case are set forth according to the views of the two Governments. The argument of the United States places the question before the arbitrator as follows: What indemnity is due from the Government of Denmark for losses and injuries growing out of the following wrongful acts committed by the Danish authorities at the island of St. Thomas, West Indies: First. The seizure and detention of the American bark Catherine Augusta. Second. The refusal to her of the ordinary right to land her cargo for the purpose of making repairs, and herein of the exaction of unusual, onerous, and illegal conditions. Third. The seizure and detention of the steamer Ben Franklin. Fourth. The wrongful firing of a shot into the last-named st amer, and the injuries resulting therefrom. The argument of the United States contends that, as it is indubitable that a vessel injured by the elements has a right to put into a friendly port for repairs, and a fur |