the ground that the convention was extorted from her during the brief reign of a faction, and was unjust.1 Mission of Mr. Van October 2, 1829, Mr. Van Buren, then Secretary of State, instructed Mr. C. P. Van Ness, who had been appointed minister to Spain, to endeavor to secure the payment of a gross sum, and if he should be unable to do so, to endeavor to arrange for a mixed commission. In the following May Mr. Van Ness took up the negotiations on these lines, and made a general presentation of the claims.3 The Spanish minister of state, denying the liability Spanish Contentions. of Spain, maintained: 1. That the "unsupported blockades" of General Morales were to be considered not as blockades in the ordinary sense, but merely as a mode which that commander and others, left as they were to themselves and harassed by the enemy, adopted for the purpose of intimating to foreign nations that the laws relating to the Indies, prohibiting trade with the colonies, were in full force. He contended that the royal order of December 22, 1822, by which the blockade of General Morales was revoked, was not an admission that the measure was illegal; that the concession of trade with the colonies began on the 9th of February 1824, when the royal decree to that effect was issued; and that the armistice between Generals Morillo and Bolivar in 1820 was not a recognition of the independence of the territory occupied by the latter and did not admit free trade with such territory. As to the blockade of the Spanish Main, Spain could recognize no responsibility. The United States had recognized the independence of Colombia, and the King could not consent to be prosecuted as King of the Spanish Main by a government which no longer recognized him as the sovereign of it. 2. That the convention of 1823 with Great Britain could not be recognized as a precedent. 3. That though Spain had not resorted to recriminations, nor reverted to the charge that citizens of the United States had added fuel to the insurrection in Spanish America, it was notorious that as early as 1806 the traitor Miranda found protection, troops, and resources in New York for the purpose of revolutionizing Venezuela. Were not privateers fitted out and manned in the United States? Was it possible to estimate the losses of Spain from the early recognition or the approbation, encouragement, and support of the Spanish American insurgents in the United States? tiation. While declining on these grounds to recognize the Offer of Basis of Nego- claims "en masse," the minister of state expressed his readiness to consider on the merits any claim of an American citizen against the Government of Spain for injuries done by Spanish cruisers, or for the unlawful detention of property by the Spanish authorities.* Though this expression was scarcely considered reconcilable 1S. Ex. Doc. 147, 23 Cong. 2 sess.; Br. and For. State Papers, XVIII. 2. 2S. Ex. Doc. 147, 23 Cong. 2 sess. 3 Mr. Van Ness to the Spanish minister of state, May 8, 1830, S. Ex. Doc. 147, 23 Cong. 2 sess. 4 S. Ex. Doc. 147, 23 Cong. 2 sess. with the refusal to entertain the claims as a whole, since most of them were founded on injuries done by Spanish cruisers and the detention of property by Spanish authorities on various pretexts deemed to be illegal, the United States interpreted it as an offer of a basis of negotiation; and Mr. Van Ness was instructed accordingly. Moreover, the admission that the blockades were "unsupported" did not escape notice as an indication that the Spanish Government was disposed to discuss the claims on legal grounds. But, owing in the main to official changes in the Appointment of Mr. Zea. Spanish Government, and especially to the death of the minister of state, another year elapsed before anything substantial was accomplished. In October 1832, however, after at least two persons had conducted the office in an ad interim capacity, Don Francisco de Zea Bermudez, then Spanish minister in London, was appointed minister for foreign affairs. He arrived at Madrid on the 28th of November, and entered on the duties of his office on the 29th. On the 30th he received the foreign ministers, and, in speaking to Mr. Van Ness, himself introduced the subject of the claims. A special messenger from the United States was then waiting at Madrid to receive the final answer of the Spanish Government. In December 1832 Mr. Van Ness, in a note to Mr. Note of Mr. Van Ness. Zea, set forth the claims of the United States, thus: "These claims have arisen as follows: "First. From captures and condemnations of vessels and their cargoes, the property of citizens of the United States, by the agents of Spain, in cases where the seizures were not only without foundation, but where the proceedings to obtain condemnations were wholly irregular and void. "Second. From the improper conduct or neglect of the civil, military, or judicial authorities, in cases in which vessels and their cargoes illegally captured were acquitted, but in which the property had been delivered to the captors, either without security or upon such as was notoriously incompetent. "Third. From seizures of property belonging to citizens of the United States by the commanding officers of the Spanish army in Peru, for the use of the army. "Fourth. From the illegal conduct of Spanish agents in regard to American vessels and their cargoes arriving in Spanish ports, as well as in regard to the persons and property of American citizens permanently or temporarily residing within the Spanish dominions. "Fifth. From the omission on the part of the Spanish Government to furnish documents, properly applied for, to substantiate claims according to the stipulations of the treaty with Florida. "The nominal amount of these claims is about two million five hundred thousand dollars, exclusive of interest, and they may be settled in either of the two following modes, as shall be preferred on the part of Spain." Having thus described the claims, Mr. Van Ness proposed the following modes of settlement: "First. By a convention for the establishment of a mixed commission, to meet at Washington, with authority to examine and decide upon the mutual claims of the parties, and to strike the balance, which shall be paid by the debtor party within one year after the close of the commission. Or, 'Mr. Livingston, Sec. of State, to Mr. Van Ness, October 17, 1831, S. Ex. Doc. 147, 23 Cong. 2 sess. "Second. By a convention stipulating for the payment of a gross sum as the balance to the United States; the amount to be paid in five annual installments, the first of which, if it should be desired by this government, to be delayed until two years after the signing of the convention, and all bearing an interest of 4 per cent per annum, the payments to be made at Paris or London." of Settlement. In January 1833 Don José de Heredia, formerly minDiscussion of Terms ister to the United States, was appointed to confer with Mr. Van Ness. They discussed the subject of a gross sum, but were unable to agree. On May 18 Mr. Zea wrote to Mr. Van Ness, offering “the sum of $500,000, or 10,000,000 of reals, to be paid at once in inscriptions of an equal value on the great book of the consolidated debt of Spain, bearing an interest of 5 per cent," in full payment of all claims of the United States from the year 1819 to the day of ratification of the convention. On May 24 Mr. Van Ness replied that this was in effect an offer to pay the sum proposed in the 5 per cent stock of the Spanish Government, which was then worth 50 per cent in Madrid. In Paris, if the interest was payable there, it was worth 76 per cent, at which rate the offer amounted to about $380,000. Mr. Van Ness also referred to the terms granted to Great Britain by the convention of 1828, by which the stock issued by Spain in payment of the British claims was made redeemable at 55 for the first four years, and at 60 after that period. In the form annexed to the treaty with Great Britain, the inscriptions were described as "Consolidated Annuities (Renta Anual Consolidada), payable in London, inscribed on the great book of the consolidated debt of Spain;" and, in the last clause, it was declared: "The Spanish Government reserves to itself the right of redeeming this debenture, by payment in London, during the four years succeeding the date hereof, at the rate of 55 per cent, or, at any subsequent period, at the rate of 60 per cent on the nominal amount, giving, in either case, six months' notice in the London Gazette." On June 6 Mr. Zea, while deprecating the allusion to the English debt, raised his offer to $600,000, but declined to alter the terms of payment. Acceptance of the When Mr. Van Ness's report of these negotiations was received, Mr. McLane, then Secretary of State, replied that the President was willing to receive $600,000 as compensation for the claims, and to receive it in Spanish stock, if such an amount were obtained as would realize that sum. If, however, after full and proper exertions, such a settlement seemed hopeless, Mr. Van Ness was instructed that he might finally accept the "six hundred thousand dollars in inscriptions of stock, upon the terms offered by Mr. Bermudez, it being understood that the interest will be payable in Paris." And it would be proper in any event, said Mr. McLane, "to endeavor to fix upon some definite period for the reimbursement at Paris or even at Madrid" of such amount of the stock as Spain might ultimately agree to give-a promise that would augment its market value; and he suggested for the purpose a term of ten or fifteen years. A definite period of payment was not, however, said Mr. McLane, to be absolutely insisted upon, so as to endanger the success of the negotiation in other respects. 1 Br. and For. State Papers, XV. 900, 907. On the receipt of these instructions, Van Ness had several interviews with Mr. Zea; but owing to the death of the King, from whom he had hoped ultimately to obtain a larger sum, Mr. Van Ness had determined to accept the offer that had already been made. Nevertheless, on the 30th of November, as a final effort, he wrote to Mr. Zea, asking for better terms and inquiring whether the Queen Regent would consent "to make the stock which had been offered in payment redeemable at certain fixed periods," say ten or fifteen years. On the 20th of December Mr. Zea replied that the Queen, being obliged to abide by the decision of her deceased spouse on the subject, could not depart from the proposition made on the 9th of June. "Her Majesty," said Mr. Zea, "can neither augment the offer of twelve millions of reals vellon in inscriptions at five per cent interest on the great book of the consolidated debt of Spain, nor make them redeemable within any fixed time." A misunderstanding arose as to the place of payment of the interest, but it was finally decided that it should be Paris. And in order to give the inscriptions a currency beyond ordinary inscriptions, Mr. Van Ness secured the insertion in them of the statement that they were issued in pursuance of a convention with the United States. Signature of the Convention. On these terms Mr. Van Ness signed with Mr. Hederia, February 17, 1834, a convention, by which the contracting parties renounced, released, and canceled all claims which either might have upon the other, of whatever class, denomination, or origin they might be, from the 22d of February 1819 till the date of signature. Execution of the Convention. By Article I. of the convention the Government of the United States undertook to distribute the inscriptions, or the proceeds of them, among the claimants entitled thereto, in such manner as it might deem just and equitable. In order to perform this obligation Congress, by an act of June 7, 1836, authorized the President to apppoint one commissioner, a secretary versed in English and Spanish, and a clerk, at salaries, respectively, of $3,500, $2,000, and $1,500 a year. This act directed that the inscriptions should be deposited in the United States legation at Paris till the President should otherwise order; and the Secretary of the Treasury was authorized to cause moneys paid from time to time under the convention to be received and accounted for at Paris, and then remitted to the United States and deposited in the Treasury. The Secretary of the Treasury was also authorized to distribute in ratable proportions among persons in whose favor awards were made any money received into the Treasury under the act, and to cause certificates to be made to awardees showing the proportions to which they were entitled. Appointment of Com missioner. June 29, 1836, the President appointed, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, Louis D. Henry, of North Carolina, as commissioner; John J. Mumford, of New York, as secretary; and Cornelius Van Ness, of the District of Columbia, as clerk. 3 On July 30, 1836, they all met in Washington 1S. Ex. Doc. 147, 23 Cong. 2 sess. 25 Stats. at L. 34. 3 In January 1837 Mr. Van Ness was succeeded as clerk by William A. Weaver. and took an oath before a justice of the peace well and faithfully to perform the duties of their respective offices. The board having thus qualified, Mr. Henry informed Mr. Forsyth, then Secretary of State, of his readiness to receive communications; and in reply, Mr. Forsyth sent him the journals of the commission under Article XI. of the treaty of 1819 for inspection. Rules of Procedure. Mr. Henry then adopted the following rules, evidently based on those of the earlier commission: "Ordered, That all persons having claims under the Convention between the United States and Spain, concluded at Madrid on the 17th day of February 1834, which are to be received by the Board, do file a memorial of the same with the Secretary of this Board, to the end that they may hereafter be duly examined, and the validity and the amount thereof be decided upon according to the merits of the several cases, and the suitable and authentic testimony concerning them which may be furnished in support thereof. The said memorial must be addressed to this Board; it must set forth minutely and particular the various facts and circumstances whence the right to prefer such claim is derived; it must be verified by the affidavit of the claimant. "And, in order to prevent unnecessary delay, and to expedite the business of this Board, it is further "Ordered, That all the proof necessary and sufficient to support the claims aforesaid, be filed with the Secretary of the Board at the time of filing the respective memorials thereof, or on or before the first Monday of December next, to which day this Board will adjourn. "And in order that claimants may be informed of what is now considered by the Commissioner as essential to be averred and established, before any such memorial can be received by this Board, it is further And "Ordered, That each claimant shall declare, in his said memorial, for, and in behalf of, whom the said claim is preferred, and whether the amount thereof, and of any part thereof, if allowed, does now, and at the time when the said claim arose, did belong solely and absolutely to the said claimant, or to any other, and if any other, what person. in cases of claims preferred for the benefit of any other than claimant, the memorial to be exhibited must further set forth, when, why, and by what means, and for what consideration, such other has become entitled to the amount, or any part of the amount of said claim. "The memorial required to be exhibited by all claimants must also set forth and certainly declare whether the claimant, as well as any other for whose benefit the claim is preferred, is now, and at the time when the said claim arose, was, a citizen of the United States of America; where he is now, and at the time when the said claim arose, was domiciliated, and if any, what change of domiciliation has since taken place. "The said memorial must also set forth whether the claimant, or any other who may have been at any time entitled to the amount claimed, or any part thereof, hath ever received any, and if any, what sum of money, or other equivalent or indemnification, by way of insurance or otherwise, for loss or injury sustained, satisfaction for which is therein asked; and if any such payment or indemnification has been made, to set forth when and from whom the same was received. And that time may be allowed to claimants to prepare and file the memorials above mentioned, and the necessary proof, it is further "Ordered, That when the Board shall close its present session, it adjourn to meet again on the first Monday of December next, at which time it will proceed to decide whether the memorials filed with the Secretary are in conformity to the foregoing Orders, and to pass upon the proof and validity of such of them as may be found in conformity to these orders. "Ordered, That the Secretary of this Board do cause three hundred copies of the above orders to be printed for the use of the claimants; and also that the publishers of the Laws of the United States, at Washington; Portland, in Maine; Portsmouth, in New Hampshire; Boston, in Massachusetts; Providence, in Rhode Island; Hartford, in Connecticut; New |