The Washington times., 1911-10-31
]. v. FOSTER TELLS
HOUSE COMMITTEE
ABOUT WARD CLAIM
Former Secretary of State
Declares Settlement of Dis
pute Was Regular.
CONTINUED from First Page.)

had admitted the debt OF honor to Gem
eral Ward and his heirs.
lengthy" review OF the history OF the
claims, which date back to 1862 and
which grew out of the services of Gen.
Frederick T. Ward, soldier OF fortune.
who was killed n the stna Shlnese or re5eliGn
fifty years had failed to pay the claims.
Mr.. Foster suggested, was mainly due
to the disinclination of American min
listers to press them hard.
He read into the record, letter from
the late Minister Conger, American rep
resentative at Pekin at the time. Min
lister Conger advised Mr.. Foster that the
Ine In sbe,r ts,ai g % acceptSnce Was one
of the most delicate matters have ever
undertaken" The minister also admit
ted bringing great personal pressure to
bear upon Prince Ching, while Mr. Fos-
Cheng
Were you connected with the United
States Government or its State Depart
sa time IN asked an S!hir ehsirman apa Msml,n al ne
mot al ALL said the former Secre-
tary Of State.
Represented Chinese.
But you were in the employ of the
Chinese government"
the Chinese government in this country
from time to time. since 1886. But my
connection was not such that ! could
not take a claim against that govern
ment,
'The whole matter is this. Through
personal influence j was enabled to per-
suade the Chinese government to recog-
nize the claims. The could not pay 1t.
unless the payment came from the
Boxer fund, a part of which we were
to refund. Prince Ching suggested this
course; Secretary Hay agreed to 1t, and
Secretary Root later Investigated 1t and
found no fault"
MIR. Foster said that Attorney Robert
Lansing, who was present today. had
also represented the Ward heirs, and
Mr.. Lansing may be called later by the
Representative Dent. a member of the
committee, seemed satisfied with the
! explanation. and indicated that the in
vestigation may as well end now, sc
far as l am concerned"
Chairman Hamlin seemed a bit less
| satisfied. Mr.. Foster remarked thai
evidently some havt caught the ear OF
the chairman. and have led him to be-
lieve there was something wrong about
| the payment"
| 81 am not certain on that point yet.
said Chairman Hamlin. The chairman
paid from the boxer fand, which wa.
not created until after the protocol be
| tween the nations made in 1901.
Woman Beneficiary.
| Mrs. Georgiana NJ. Amidon was tn,
principal beneficiary of the Ward claims
payment, and it Is understood tina
former Secretary Foster and his associ
ate received a large fee for putting th
matter through. reports being that tn
amount was divided in half
| MIR. Fosttr who was Secretary o
State under President Harrison. testi
fed that he had been connected witt
| American diplomatic affairs since 1879
| when he was first appointtd minister t
| Mexico. He was later minister to Rus
sia and Spain, and has had intermitten
| employment as a special agent of tn
Government in diplomatic matters.
The House Committee on Expendi
lures in tht State Department is tn
first to resume its probe of the variou
executive departments. 1t adjourne
today, subject to call of the chairman