should any longer be considered as an offer of compromise. The whole subject in question is the Island of San Juan, which is claimed on the one side by the United States, and on the other side by Great Britain; and a proposal which gives the island to Great Britain is a proposal to surrender the whole. American claim, and not, in any sense of the term, a proposition to compromise. The argument, from convenience, moreover, which is so earnestly pressed by Lord John Russell, seems to me, I confess, to have very little foundation. I cannot understand why the access by Great Britain to her American possessions would be any the less easy or safe because the Island of San Juan had been conceded to the United States. All the channels and the straits are equally open to both nations; and, in a military point of view, I have already shown that, from the great width of the Canal de Haro, its navigation could never be interrupted by the establishment of works on the Island of San Juan. While, therefore, the President feels himself obliged to decline to adopt the Douglas Channel as the boundary of the two countries between Vancouver's Island and the continent, and to maintain the Canal de Haro as the true boundary in that quarter, which was intended by the treaty, he is glad to believe that no serious injury can be inflicted upon British interests by the adoption of the American line. It is deeply to be regretted, certainly, that the views of the two Governments upon the subject are so directly opposed, but he confidently hopes, by some early arrangement, alike acceptable to both nations, this difference of opinion may yet be amicably adjusted.

"You will read this despatch to Lord John Russell, and leave with him a copy of it.

"I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant,
"LEWIS CASS.

"George M. Dallas, Esq., &c., &c., London."

The letter of Lord Lyons (') dated June 6th, 1860,

(1) American State Papers, p. 256.

was followed by General Harney's recall, as above described; and on the 25th of June the correspondence was re-opened with a letter from Mr. Cass to Lord Lyons, offering to consider any proposition which the British Government might make for an adjustment of the question.

Mr. Douglas Irvine, of the British Legation,(1) replied, on the 17th of August, by the direction of Lord Lyons, proposing that the civil magistracy should be removed on both sides from the island, and that a military jurisdiction should be established, on the basis of the arrangement effected by General Scott; or that a separate jurisdiction should be established over different portions of the island in the hands of the British and American magistrates. also proposed that the affair should be definitely arranged by means of a convention or an exchange of notes between the State Department and Her Majesty's Legation.

He

Mr. Trescot, Acting Secretary of State, replied on behalf of the United States Government, in the foling letter (2)—

"Department of State,
"Washington, August 18, 1860.

"SIR,-I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 17th instant, in which you say that Her Britannic Majesty's Government, desirous to remove all uncertainty from the question of the temporary jurisdiction of the Island of San Juan, instructs you 'to propose to the Government of the United States that the civil magistracy should be removed on both sides from the island, and that a military

(1) American State Papers, p. 262. (2) Idem, p. 263.

jurisdiction should be established, on the basis of the arrangement effected by General Scott, or that a separate jurisdiction should be established over different portions of the island, in the hands of British and American magistrates,' and in which you further propose that the matter should be definitely arranged by means of a convention, or by an exchange of notes between the State Department and Her Majesty's Legation.'

"In reply, I would say that the Government of the United States share the anxiety of Her Britannic Majesty's Government for the removal of all uncertainty from this question; but as far as this desirable end can be reached by an exchange of notes between the State Department and Her Majesty's Legation,' it has already been effected; and in this connection I would respectfully call your attention to the correspondence between Mr. Marcy and Mr. Crampton, under the respective dates of the 17th and 18th of July, 1855, and between General Cass and Lord Lyons, of the 6th and 8th of June last, and especially to the following extract from the letter of Lord Lyons, complaining to his Government of General Harney's orders: 'It would be superfluous to remark upon the inconsistency of the whole tenor and spirit of these orders with the satisfactory arrangement made by General Scott in November last; and to another extract from the reply of General Cass: 'I am now instructed to inform you that the arrangement entered into by General Scott, in the month of October, 1859, in order to prevent any collision upon the island of San 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. Crampton by the Secretary of State of the United States, in July, 1855, and met the full approval of this Government;' and it may, perhaps, not be improper to recall the fact that it appears from the reported proceedings of Parliament that Lord John Russell has declared this reply perfectly satisfactory.

"This Department is, therefore, of opinion that it has already, by the exchange of notes with Her Majesty's Legation,

anticipated the first of the alternative propositions which you have submitted; and it deems this an opportune occasion to invite the serious attention of Her Britannic Majesty's Government to the great inconvenience of the existing condition of things on the Island of San Juan, and to express the hope that Her Britannic Majesty's Government will, before long, remove the necessity of any temporary arrangement, by the final and permanent settlement of the question.

"I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to you, sir, the assurance of my high consideration.

Subsequently, Lord Lyons wrote to Mr. Cass as follows: (1)

66

"Washington, December 10, 1860.

SIR,-In the note which you did me the honour to address to me on the 25th June last, you informed me that the President was equally solicitous with the Government of Her Majesty for the amicable and satisfactory adjustment of the questions at issue between the two countries, respecting the execution of the treaty signed at Washington on the 15th of June, 1846. You added that the Government of the United States would be ready to receive and fairly to consider any proposition which Her Majesty's Government might be disposed to make for a mutually acceptable adjustment, with an earnest hope that a satisfactory arrangement would speedily put an end to all danger of the recurrence of those grave questions which have more than once threatened to interrupt that good understanding which both countries have so many powerful motives to maintain.

"The absence from England of Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies prevented Her Majesty's Government from enabling me to make an earlier reply to this communica

(1) American State Papers, p. 264.

tion. But Her Majesty's Government have not relaxed in their desire to close the controversy with regard to the complete execution of the treaty; and, in the confident hope of settling the whole matter in a manner satisfactory and honourable to both parties, they have directed me to lay before you the proposals which I shall proceed to state in this note.

"The two points which have been in discussion are, first, the fulfilment of the obligations undertaken by the United States in respect to the Hudson's Bay and Puget Sound Companies; and, secondly, the determination of the line of water boundary intended by the first article of the treaty. With regard to the first point, the President said to me, in the course of a conversation which I had the honour of holding with him on the 11th July last, that the best and most expeditious mode of settling the question would be for the companies to state at once the lowest sum for which they would sell their rights to the United States. Upon receiving from me a report of this conversation, Lord John Russell, Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, sent for the Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company and explained to him what the President had said to me on the subject of the Company's claims.

"The Governor informed Lord John Russell, in reply, that if the Company were called upon to fix the amount which they should ask for the extinction of their claims, they should name a sum of six hundred and fifty thousand dollars. He observed that they had been assessed at seven hundred thousand dollars, and that in the United States, as in England, the assessment is always below the real value. The Governor added that this sum of six hundred and fifty thousand dollars would be an assessment on land and buildings alone, and would not include any compensation for privileges.

"Considering all the circumstances, Lord John Russell recommended the Company to reduce their claim to five hundred thousand dollars; and this sum the Company have stated their readiness to accept.

"I am, accordingly, instructed to state to you, sir, that, if