Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-08-11
CLAIMS AGAINST CHILE,
A Commission to BE Appointed to Settle
Those Of American Citizens.
WHAT MINISTER EGAN HAS ACCOMPLISHED UNDER
INSTRUCTIONS OF THE STATE DEPARTMENT
MANY CLAIMS ARE OF LONG srANDINa-rHE
NEXT STEP TO BE TAKEN.

The United States and the government Of
Chile have definitely agreed upon the appoint
ment Of a claims commission to meet at Wash
ington to settle the long-pending claims Of citi-
zens of this government against the little South
American republic.
This action the probability Of which was first
announced by the STAR is the result of negotia-
tions between Minister Egan, acting under in
structions of the State Department, and the
new administration which is now conducting
Chilean affairs.
Secretary John W. Foster announces today
the receipt of a cablegram from Minister Egan
conveying the intelligence that an agreement
has been reached. The result of the negotia-
tions was received with satisfaction at the State
Department and will be a source Of gratifca-
ton to the citizens of the United States who
have been endeavoring for many years to get
reparation for losses inflicted upon them in the
conduct Of their commercial enterprise by the
Chilean government.
MANY LoNa-srANpINa CLAIMS.
STAR reporter was informed at the State
Department today that some of these claims
date back fer half a century, and many of the
original claimants are dead, leaving their exec
utors the task of endeavoring to obtain JUS
tice.
The greater number of the claims, however,
grew out of the war between Chile and Peru,
u,
in damage and loss to the commercial enter
prises of citizens Of several nations
Every government except the United States
has succeeded since then in obtaining repara-
tion for its mariners and merchants. This gov
ernment alone has been relegated to the rear of
the i.le of successful claimants.
1t will still be long time, however, before
the claimants see the color of their money.
The agreement just reached is but the first
step toward the accomplishment Of the final
result. great many forms will have to be
gone through with and considerable
manipulation of diplomatic red tape before the
commission comes finally down to the question
of the dollars and cents involved. claims
commission is simply a board of arbitration
and must be organized by treaty and the rati-
fication thereof.
THE NEXT STEP TO BE TAKEN.
The next step will be for Minister Egan to
send the terms of the agreement home for ap-
proval. The treaty may then be submitted to
the Senate for ratification, if it should provide
for the possible consideration of any claim
against this government.
After that the commission will be appointed
will meet in Washington and make the awards
of damages. The action of the commission will
be final. A claims commission usually consists
Of three members, one appointed by each of
the disputing powers and the third selected by
those two. The last claims commission to meet
here was the Venezuelan commission, which
concluded it's work in 1889.
In this case one American and one Venezuelan
decided upon the selection of third American
Judge Finday.
Other claims commissions in recent wears that
have met here were the British commission un-
der the treaty of 1871 and the French commits