The Sun.
London, England, 1860-07-07 00:00:00

W_____REESPONDENCR RESPECTING THE
_ISLAND OF S 411 T JUAN.

The Government has lt lid the correspondence
respecting the aggression of General Harney before
Parliament. The following• .are the leading letters
in the present publication.:--
No. I.—Lord Lyons to Lon.l Russell.—(Received
June 2:1•)

ITV% ishington, June 7, 1860.
I have the honour to enclose co,t)ies of a letter and its in.
~
closure which have been received by the commanding officer
of the Royal Matins on the island` of San Juan from Cap-
tain Pickett, who has been ordered
by General Harney to
relieve Captain Hunt, the officer plat ed in command of the
nd by General Scott.
United States' detachment on that isle.
Your lordship will perceive that the orders given by
General ll arney to Captain Pickett, and e: ommunicated, by
the General's direction, to the officer in coLlmiazld of the
British detachment, are, in many points, incoosisLent with
the arrangement made by General Scott and aceqlled by
her Majesty's Government.
Your lordship will not tail to observe, in particular. that
General Rainey directs Captain Pickett to recognise the
civil jurisdiction of Washington territory over San Jun.%
and that the General goes on to state that he "is satisfied
that any attempt of
.the British Commander to ignore the.
lig-,lits of the territory will be followed by deplorable results
out of his power to control." •
The copy of these orders reached me yesterday, in a letter
from Rear-Admiral Baynes. I immediately transmitted a.
copy to the United States' Secretary of State, with a note
begging that the United States' Government would not bon
a moment in taking measures to avert the deplorable cod-
sequences which would, indeed, be only too likely to follow
any disturbance of the settlement so wisely effected by
General Scott. •Of that note Ido myself the honour to in-
close a copy.
I have been in personal communication with Genera/
Cass on tho subject to-day. He says that he shall send me,
as soon as it can be prepared, a written answer, which
will
be completely satisfactory to her Majesty's Government.
In the meantime, he authorises me to inform your lordship
that the United States Government regret and disavow
Gen. Harney's order.
I have urged the Govprr4v...6,io.4.o44lgortow"''
send inatautin444*l46333ost:eXpeditious r- or-
ders necessary to avert-theeVils Which 'Gen. Hainetareck-
less conduct has again rendered imminent. I sha ,on my
part, make every effort to insure the Admiral's receiving, as
soon as possible, the intelligence of the disavowal by this
Government of Gen. Harney's proaeedings.

~~

Inclosure 1 in No. I.—Capt. Pickett to Capt. Bazalgette.
San Juan, April 30, 1860.
Sir,—l have the honour to inform you that, in obedience
to orders received from the Head-quarters Department of
Oregon, I have to-day, relieved Capt. Hunt, and assumed
command of this post.
In accordance with orders emanating from the same
source, I herewith inclose an extract from my letter of in-
structions.
With every desire that the cordial understanding exist-
ing between you and Captain Hunt shall continue to be
maintained between ourselves, ---I am, &c.,
(Signed) G. E. PICXETT.I

Inclosure 2 in No. I.—Assistant Adjutant-General
Pleasonton to Captain Pickett.
Head-quarters, Department of Oregon, Fort Van-.
couver, Washington Territory, April Bette,
1860.
A copy of which you will furnish Capt. Bazalgette, for
the information of Rear-Admiral Baynes.
Ist. Lieut.-Gen. Scott has left no orders or instructions
with tke General commanding to grant a joint military oc-
cupation of San Juan Island with British troops, neither
has any authority been delegated by the Government of the
United States to the general to offer or accept such occupa-
tion of that island. The offer made by General Scott, when.
in command here, was not accepted by Governor Douglas
at the time, and consequently concluded that transaction.
No arrangement has been made since to renew it within
the knowledge of the General commanding.
2d. The British authorities having submitted the assur-
ance to General Scott that no attempt would be made by
them to dislodge by force United States' troops on San Juan
Island, they were permitted to land troops for similar pur-
poses to which your command was designed in the original
orders conveyed to you in July last, viz., the protection of
our citizens from Indians, both native and foreign.
In connexion with this service the General commanding
takes occasion to present you to Admiral Baynes and the
officers with whom you will be brought in contact, as an
officer possessing his highest confidence, that nothing will
be omitted in maintaining a frank and generous intercourse
in all matters coming within your powers, to establish a
practical solution of the present misunderstandings, which
shall prove honourable and satisfactory to all parties, until
a final settlement is attained by the two Governments.
3d. Under the Organic Act of the Congress of the United
States for the establishment of the territorial Government
of Washington, the first Legislative Assembly, in 1854,
passed an act including the Island of San Juan as a part of
Whatcom county ; this act was duly submitted to Congress,
and has not been disapproved ; it is, therefore, the law of
the land. You will be obliged, consequently, to acknow-
ledge and respect the civil jurisdiction of Washington ter-
ritory in the discharge of your duties on San Juan ; and the
General commanding is satisfied that any attempt of the
British Commander to ignore this right of the territory will
be followed by deplorable results out of his power to con-
trol.

The General commanding will inform the Governor of
Washington territory that you are directed to communi-
cate with the civil officer on the island in the investigation
of all cases requiring his attention. In the event of any
British interest being involved, you will notify the officer
placed there by Admiral Baynes, to enable him to propose
some arrangement satisfactory to his instructions, as well
as those of the civil officer. Let it be understood, in case
of disagreement of these parties, that no action is to be
taken until the case has been referred to Admiral Baynes
and the Governor of Washington territory respectively.
These suggestions will be acceptable to the conditions
which govern the territorial authorities of Washington,
while satisfying the obligations of the military service to
their own as well as the civil laws of the country, and it
is fair to presume they will be adopted by Admiral Baynes,
since the tenor of his, instructions to Capt. Bazalgette is
sufficiently liberal to justify the conclusion.

Inclosure 3 in No. I.—Lord Lyons to General Cass.

Was, June 6, IGO.
Sir,—l have just received from hington
Rear-Admiral BaBynes,
commander-in-chief of her Majesty's naval forces in the
Pacific, a copy of the orders issued to the commanding
officer of the United States' troops in San Juan by General
Harney, and communicated by the General's direction to
the officer in command of her Majesty's troops in the same
island. I do myself the honour to inclose a copy of the
orders in question, and I earnestly beg that the United
States' Government will take them immediately into con-
sideration.
It would be superfluous to remark upon the inconsistency
of the whole tenor and spirit of these orders with the satis-
factory arrangement made by General Scott in Nov. last.
But there is one point to which I cannot but call the parti-
cular attention of the Government of the United States.
General Harney directs the officer in command of the
United States' detachment to acknowledge and respect the
civil jurisdiction of Washington territory over the island of
San Juan, and he goes on to say that he "is satisfied that
any attempt of the British Commander to ignore this right
of the territory will be followed by deplorable results out of
his power to control."
I will contrast with this order the following passage taken
from a letter addressed by Gen. Scott to Governor Douglas
on the 9th Nov. last :

"In the same spirit I had earlier determined to instruct
our commanding officer on the island to allow no person
claiming to be a functionary of Washington territory to in-
terfere with any British subject residing or happening to be
on the same island whilst it shall remain in dispute between
our respective Governments."
To this passage I will add an extract from the orders
given by General Scott to the United States' officer com-
manding on San Juan and communicated in the same letter
by, General Scott to General Douglas :
The General-in-Chief wishes it to be remembered that
the sovereignty of the island (San Juan) is still in dispute
between the two Governments, and until definitively settled
by them that British subjects shall have equal rights with
American citizens on the island."
It will no doubt be in your recollection that a copy of
the letter to General Douglas, which I have quoted, was
appended to the instructions given by General Scott to the
United States' officer on San Juan ; that a copy of it was
transmitted to General Harney " for his information and
guidance" by General Scott in a letter bearing the same
date; and that General Scott at the same time stated to
General Harney that he " wished it to be remembered that
the sovereignty of the island was still in dispute between
the two Governments, and, until definitively settled by
them, that British subjects had equal rights with American
citizens on the island."

It is unnecessary for me to say anything more to show
that the recent ordors of General Harney are inconsistent
with the arrangement made by General Scott, approved by
the President, and accepted by her Majesty's Government.
Under that arrangement tranquillity had been maintained
at San Juan for six months, and cordial relations had sub-
sisted between the British and American authorities in the
neighbourhood. lam confident that the Government of
the United States will not lose a moment in taking mea-
sures to avert the deplorable consequences which would in-
deed be only too likely to follow any disturbance of the
settlement so justly and wisely effected by General Scott.
1 have, &c., (Signed) LYONS.

No. 2—Lord Lyons to Lord J. Russell—(Received June 23.)
Washington, June 8, 1860.
My Lerd,—l have received, just in time to send a copy
of it herewith to the post for the chance of its reaching
New York before the departure of the American packet to-
morrow, General Cass's answer to my note of the day be-
fore yesterday, respecting the orders recently issued by
General Harney to the officer couunaudin. g the United
States' troops in San Juan.—l have, Sic.,
(Signed)

LYO.NS.

Inclosure in No. 2.—General Cass to Lord Lyons.
Department of
no 8, 18 tat Se, Washington,
Ju6o.
received your. lordship's communica-
tion Juan, datedonis
inclosing copies of orders
to the commanding officer of the United
slent'. of San—
tshueedlObthy
States troops
M To
General f Ltheolird: 670honryi Piaven
thes inst., , i
and communicated by the G
of .April last,
command of her eneral's direction
to the officer in
have lost Majesty's troops on the
same island, and no time in bringing the subject
to the attention of the President.
I am now instructed to inform you that
the arrangement
entered into by General Scott, in the month October
1559, of
1859, in order to prevent any collision upon the island of
Sun Juan between the American • •
and British authorities
pending the negotiations between the two Governments,
_
was strictly in pursuance of a previous arrangement which
was made with Mr. e t ramp on by the Secretary of State of
the United States in - July,
1855, and met the full approval of
this Government. The orders of General
Harney, to which
his attention has been called for the first time by the note of
your lordship, and which appear to be in violation of the
arrangement of Gen. Scott, have been read, therefore, by the
President, both with surprise and regret. It is earnestly
hoped that, upon a full explanation of all the circumstances
attending them, it may be found they were not intended to
bear the construction which seems naturally to belong to
them, and that in any event they will lead to no collision
between the American and British authorities on the island.
To prevent this, as far as possible, instructions will bs.aitme;
mediately sent to the Commander of the 'United St
troops in that region revoking the orders of ?li Scott. Aen, Harney,
giving full effect to the arrangement of
h. conduct of
strict mquiry will also be instituted intor o
the subject
Gen. Harney, with a view to such n_it!sasuesnrposen
he has been
as may be found necessary, andfor au
rd redPto report at Wa.sh-
recalled from his command, and o e
ington.—l have, Cce., LEW. C.t.m
(Signed)

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