The Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1822-1829, 1826-06-05

lily IL the American sufferers from French
Spnliations, which the convention of ] COT
exting uished, on the pat of France, or de-
volsed on the United States. the Senate
itself being most competent To decide thai
siion-under this ressiou, he hopes
that he will have sufficiently conformed t.
the purposes of the Senate, by brief state
ment, prepared in hurried moinent, o.
what he understands 10 be the question.
The second article of the convention nj
1900, was in the following words: "The
Ministers Plenipotentiary of the two par
ties not being able To agree AT present, res
pccting the treaty of alliance of 9Th Feb
rnary, 1873, the treaty Of amity aud com
merce of The same date, and the conyen-
tion Of i4tb November, 1898, nor upon
the indemnitles mutually due or claimed
the par ties will negotiate, farther on these
subjects at a COVE irut time and, until
they may have agreed upon these points,
ths treaties and convention shall have no
operation, and the relations Of the two
countries shai be regulated rs follow"
When that convention WAS laid before
the Senate, it gave its consent aud advice
that il should be- ratified, provided that the
second article be expunged, and that the
following article be added or inserted: 1t
rs agreed that the present convention shall
be in force for the term of eight years from
The time Of the exchange ofthe ratification"
And it was accordingly 50 ratified by the
President ofihc United States on the 18Th
day of February. 1901 On the 2lst of Ju-
ly, of the same year IT was ratified by b :
naparte, first Consul ofthr French Rrpub
liz, who inc orporated in the instrument Of
his ratification the following clause, as a
part of it: The Government of the Uni
I'D States, having added to its ratification.
that the convention should br in force for
the space 0feght Years, and having omit
ted the second article, the Government of
the French Republic consents TO accept,
raiify, and confirm the above convention,
with the addition, imputing TINT the con-
yeniion should be in force for the space of
eight years, and with the reirenchment Of
the second article ProUided that, By this
The tiUo .SinttS rtnounce The
respective pr,tenSioaS tchich are The object of
The said article"
The French ratification being thus CON
ditional, was, nevertheless. exchanged a
gainst thai of the United States, al Paris,
on the same 3lst of July. The Presdert
ri the Uoiled States, considering it neces-
sary again 10 submit the convention, in
this rtatr. 10 the Seratr on the 18Th daN
Of December, 1901, II was resolved by the
Senate, that They considered the said con-
ventlon az fully ratified, and returned it 10
the President for the usual PRONUNCIATION.
II WAS accordingly promulgated, aud here
after r. garded - valid and binding com
pact. The two contracting paIiles thus a.
greed by the ret'snchluent of the second
article, mutually 10 renounce the respec-
tive pretenslons which were the object of
that article. The preienSionS of the Uni
ted States, 10 which alIusion is thu, made,
arose out of the spollntions under color Of
French authority, in contrevention 10 ldw
and existing treaties. Those of France.
sprung from the treaty of aIIiancp of The 6 h
of February, 1873 the treaty of amity and
commerce of the same date, and the con-
yention OF the l4fh Of November, ira
Whatever ohllG atoms or indemntlfs, from
these sources, either party bad n lit TO
demand. were respectively waved and
bandOned, and the consideration which In-
duced one party 10 renudnce his preten-
siops, was that olrenuncIatioo Ivy the other
party of his prrtensIons. What WAS the
value Of the obligations and indpmnllies 81
reclprocaly renouuced, can only b. mat
ter Of speculation. The amount of the in
IDENTITIES due to citizens of the United
State was very large and, on the other
hand, the obligation WAS great Ito specify
no other French pretensIons) under which
the United States were placed 10 the tle
senth article of the treaty al alliance of 9th
February. 1875, by which they were bound
forever, to guaranty, from that TIM, the
then posse ssion of the crown OF FRA &c in
America, as well rs those which IL might
acquire by the future treaty of peace vIh
Gleat Britain-all these possesosions haN.
iug been, 1t is believed, conquered a or not
long after the exchange of the notifications
of the convention of September 1900 by
the arms OF Great Britain from France.
The fifth article of the nrndments to
the Constitution, provides; Nor shall
pri,at property be taken for public use
without Just compenea alton" IL the in
IDENTITIES to which citizens of the United
States were entitled for French spaliatlons,
prior to the SOlh September 1900, have
been appropriated to absolse the Uoited
States from the fultilIment Of an obhgatlor
which they had contracted, or from the
payment ofiudcmnltts which they were
bound to make to France, the Senate is
most competent to determine how far such
an appropriation is IA public use of private
property within the spirit of the Constitu.
ton, and whether equitable considerations
do not require some compensation to be-
made to the claimants. The Senate is al
so best able to estimate the probability
which existed of an ultimate recovery
from France of the amount due for those
indemnities, ifthey had not been renounced,
in making which estimate, it will, no doubt,
give just weight TO the painful considera-
tL.Lt