The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-12-28

proper form at Pei-tsrnr' AZ ,ha henansed an
sep,,asa nos sake place until after the day pre-.
Sora s,s " sne treaty, II is deemed proper be-
| Senate. " su1lnie ~ 70 Inc
It's but simple justice TO the Chinese i
transac,,on 20 observe That throughout the whole
| uansAction, they appear to have acted In c,nod
| iaith and In friendly spirit towards tho fin
| ,eu STATES. II rs true this has been done after
.ne.r @ own m peculiar fashion; but we ought to
| OF an empire dating back for thousands of
years, so far as this may be consistent with
our own national honor. The conduct Of our
minister or the occasion has received my en-
| tire appreciation. s'
In order to carry out the spirit OF this treaty
and to give 1t full effect, il became necessary 70
| conclude two supplemental conventions-the
one for the adjustment and satisfaction of the
claims Of our citizens, and the other to fix the
| tariff on imports and exports, and to regulate
the transit duties and trade of our merchants
| with China. This duty was satisfact torily per-
| formed by our late minister. These conyen.
tions bear date at Shanghai on the sth Noyem-
| ber 1853. Having been considered in the light
| of binding agreements subsidiary to the prln-
eipal treaty, and TO be carried into execution
| without delay, they do not provide tor any
formal ratification or exchange of ratfications
| by the CONTRACTING parties~s This was not
| deefied necessary by the Chinese, who are al
ready proceeding in good faith to satisfy the
| claims of our citizens, aud. it is hoped, to carry
out the other provisions of the conventions
Still thought it was. proper to submit them
| to the Senate, by which they were ratified on
the Sd March, 1850. The ratified copies, how
ever did not reach Shanghai until afor the
departure of our minister to Peking, and these
| conventions could not, therefore, be exchanged
| at the same time with the principal treaty
No doubt is entertained that they will be rati-
fled and exchanged by the Chinese government
should this be thought advisable; but, under
| the circumstances presented, shall consider
them binding engagements from their date on
| both parties, and cause them to be published as
such for the information and guidance OF our
merchants trading with the Chinese empire.
1t affords me much satisfaction to inform
| You that all our difficulties with the republic
| of Paraguay have been satisfactorily adjusted.
| 1t happily did not become necessary to enn-
ploy the force forthis purpose which Congress
had placed at my command, under the joint
| resolu ton of I'd June, 1855. On the contrary,
| the President of that republic, in friendly
| spirit acceded promptly to the just and rea-
| sonable demands OF the Government of the
| United States Our commissioner arrived at
Assumption, the capital of the republic, on
| the 25th of January, 1889, and left it on the
nth of February, having in three weeks
objects of his mission. The treaties which he
has concluded will be Immediately submitted
| to the Senate.
In the view that the employment of other
| than peaceful means might become necessary
| to obtain 'just satisfaction" from Paraguay,
| a strong naval force was concentrated in the
| waters of the La Plata to await contingen-
cies whilst our commissioner assembled the
| rivers 10 Assumption. The Navy Depart
ment is entitled to great credit for the prompt
ness, efficiency, and economy with which this
| expedition was fitted out and conducted. IL
| consist ted of nineteen armed vessels great and
| small, carrying 200 guns and 500 men, all.
| under the command of the veteran and gal
| liant Shubrici;. The entire expenses OF the
| expedition have been betrayed out OF the ordi-
! nary appropriations for the naval service, ex-
cept the sum of S2S9,ttt, applied to the .ur-
| chase of seven of the steamers. cnnstituflnga
part of il, under the authority of the naval
N,-ta 10 tnft n is
| believed that these steamers are worth more
than their cost, and they are all now usefully
| ard actively employed in the naval service.
The appearance of SO large force, fitted out
| in such Il prompt manner in the far distant
| waters Of the La Plata, and the admirable
conduct of the officers and men employed in
! il, have had a happy effect III favor OF our
| country throughout all that remote portion OF
| the world.
| Our relations with the great empires OF
| France and Russia, as we'll as with all other
| governments on the continent of Europe, I'M
| less we may except that of Spain, happily
| continue TO be of the most friendly character.
| In my last annual message l presented q
| statement of the unsatisfactory condition of
| our relations with Spain; and regret TO say
| that this has not materially improved With
| ont special reference TO other claims, even the
4" Cuban claims,'' the payment of which has
| been ably urged by ministers, and in which
more than a hundred of our citizens are di-
| rectiy in terested, remain unsatsfied, notwith-
| standing both their justice and their amount
| (~i2S.630 0fl naQ been recognized ana dScer-
| tanned by the Spanish government itself.
| / again recommend that an appropriation
be made "to be paid to the Spanish govern
! ment for the purpose of distribution among
| the claimants in the Amstad case.'' In COM
| mon with two of my predecessors, 1 entertain
| no doubt that this is required by our treaty
| with Spain of the 27th October, 1885. The
| failure TO discharge this obligation has been
| employed by the cabinet of Madrid as a reason
| against the settlement of our claims.
| [ need not repeat the arguments which
| urged in my last annual message in favor OF
| the acc uisition of Cuba by fair purchase. My
| opinions on that measure remain unchanged.
| l. therefore, again invite the serious attention
| of Congress to this important subject. With
| out recognition OF this policy on their part,
| it will be almost impossible to institute nego-
| tiatons with any reasonable prospect OF sue
| cess.
Until a recent period there was good reason
| to believe that should be able to announce to
you, ON the present occasion, that our Difficult
| ties with Great Britain, arising out of the
| Clayton and Bulwer treaty, had been finally
adjusted in q manner alike honorable and sat
| isfactory TO both parties. From causes, how.
| ever which the British government had not
| anticipated, they have not yet completed treaty
| arrangements with The republics of Honduras
and Nicaragua in pursuance of the under
standing between the two governments. 1t is,
nevertheless, confidently expected that this
good work will ere long be accomplished.
Whilst indulging the hope that n other SUBJ
ject remained which could disturb the good
unders landing between the two countries, the
question arising out of the adverse claims of
| the parties to the Island of San Juan, under
| the Oregon treaty of the 18th of June, 1916,
| suddenly assumed a threatening prominence.
| In order to prevent unfortunate collisions on
| that remote frontier, the late Secretary of
| State, on the 18th July, 1855, addressed note
| to Mr.. Champion, thea British Minister at
| Washington, communicating to him copy of
| the instructions which he Mr.. Marcyl had
given, on the 14th July, to Gov. Stevens, of
| Washington Territory, having special refer
| In n a6 Of bQtv
| citizens and the British subjects ON the Island
of San JUAN To prevent this, the Governor
was instructed "that the officers of the Terri
/ tory should abstain from all acts on the dis
puted grounds which are calculated to pro-
| woke any conflicts, far it can be done
! without implying the concession to the au-
thorities of Great Britain of an exclusive right
| over the premises. The title ought to be set
| tied before either party should attempt to ex-
| clude the other by force, or exercise complete
| and exclusive sovereign rights within the
fairly disputed limits"
| In acknowledging the receipt on the next
day of Mr.. Marcy's note, the British minister
expressed his entire concurrence, " in the pro-
priety of the course recommended to the Gov
ernor of Washington Territory by your fMr.
Marcy IS instructions to that officer,'' and sta
| ting that ne had :" lost no time in transmitting
| a copy of that document to the Governor
| General of British North America and had
earnestly recommended to his Excellency to
| take such measures as to him may appear best
calculated to secure, on the part of the British
| local authorities and the inhabitants of the
| neighborhood of the line in question, the exer-
else OF the same spirit of forbearance which is
| inculcated by you Mr.. Marcy on the an thori-
| ties and citizens OF the United States.''
| Thus matters remained upon the faith of
this arrangement until The 9th July last when
Gen. Harney paid visit to tae Island. He
found upon it twenty-five American residents
with their families, and also an establishment
of the Hudsons Bay Company for the pur-
pose of raising sheep. A short time before his