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papers in the possession of the commission or its officers in the Department of State.

mission.

As commissioners the President appointed George Organization of Com- Winchester, William J. Duane, and Jesse Hoyt, and as secretary Robert Fulton. They met in Washington on Monday, April 4, 1831, and in obedience to the act of Congress took an oath faithfully to perform the duties of their respective offices. The commissioners then addressed a letter to Mr. Van Buren, as Secretary of State, informing him of their organization, and received in reply, at their rooms, "in a building on Capitol Hill, formerly occupied by Congress," several boxes of papers. In the letter with which these papers were transmitted Mr. Van Buren informed the commissioners that an agent had been sent by the United States to Sweden, with the permission of the government of the latter country, for the purpose of withdrawing from the tribunals of Norway such documents as might be useful and necessary in deciding upon claims under the convention.

Rules.

On the 6th of April 1831 the commissioners adopted the following rules:

"Ordered, that all persons having claims under the convention between the United States of America and His Majesty the King of Denmark, concluded and signed at Copenhagen on the 28th day of March 1830, which are to be received by the commissioners, do file a memorial of the same with the secretary of the board to the end that they may hereafter be duly examined, and the validity and amount thereof decided upon, according to the merits of the several cases and the suitable and authentic testimony concerning them which may hereafter be required. The said memorial must be addressed to this board. It must set forth minutely and particularly 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 that claimants may be informed of what is now considered by the commission as essential to be averred and established before any such memorial can be received by this board, it is further,

"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; and in cases of claims preferred for the benefit of any other than the 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 the 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 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

The oath, which was taken before a justice of the peace of the District of Columbia, was as follows: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully and diligently discharge the duties of my office, and that I will support the Constitution of the United States."

money, or other equivalent or indemnification by way of insurance or otherwise, for the loss or injury sustained, satisfaction for which is therein asked. And if 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 the claimants to prepare and file the memorials above mentioned,

"It is further ordered, that when this board shall close the present session, it will adjourn to meet again on the eleventh day of July next; at which time it will proceed to decide whether the memorials filed with the Secretary are in conformity to the foregoing orders, and proper to be received for examination.

"Ordered, that a copy of these proceedings be published by the Secretary of this board, in all the newspapers in which the laws of the United States are printed."

After adopting the foregoing rules the commissioners made an order authorizing the secretary "to permit claimants or their agents to examine and, if needful, copy papers in his possession," but forbidding the taking or copying of any such paper out of the office of the commission.

On the 7th of April the commissioners ordered that a Notice of Organization. notice of the organization of the commission should be published in the Globe and the National Intelligencer in Washington, and in all other journals in which the Department of State had caused prior notice of their meeting to be published. The commissioners then adjourned to meet again on the 11th of the ensuing July.

Second Session.

At the second session of the commission the only business of any importance that was transacted was the adoption on July 16 of resolutions with respect to the filing of further memorials, the examination of claims, the taking of testimony, and the reception of arguments. These resolutions were as follows:

"Ordered, that all persons having claims to be decided upon by this board, memorials of which claims have not yet been presented, or which, having been presented, have not been received by this board, do file original or supplemental memorials, as the case may be, in their several claims on or before the first Monday in October next, and that each of the said memorials shall be prepared and verified in conformity with the rules prescribed in the order of this board of the th [6th] of April last.

66 Ordered, that all cases in which memorials have been received by this board be set down for examination after the expiration of six months from the date hereof; if, however, after the lapse of said term, any claimant shall show good cause for not then entering upon the examination, a further time may be allowed.

"Ordered, that in all cases where claimants shall deem it necessary to take testimony in support of their claims, the said testimony, if taken within a district where commissioners have been appointed by the circuit court of the United States to take affidavits, shall be taken before such commissioner; if no such commissioner, then before any other person qualified by law to administer an oath.

"Ordered, that all persons having claims under the convention between the United States and His Majesty the King of Denmark, be permitted to support their respective claims by the arguments of counsel, but that every such argument shall be reduced to writing and filed in the Secretary's office.

66

Ordered, that the several claimants under the said convention be permitted, under the direction of the secretary of this board, and in his office, to examine the memorials and documents in the several cases before this board, and to file objections accompanied by arguments in such cases as in the opinion of the remonstrants ought not to be favorably

received: such objections and arguments, in cases in which memorials have been received, to be filed prior to the first Monday in January 1832. "Ordered, that when this board adjourn, it will adjourn to meet again on Monday the third day of October next, at which time it will proceed to decide whether any memorials which may have been filed with the secretary prior to said 3rd of October in pursuance of the above order, shall be received for examination."

sions.

The third session of the board began on the 3d of Third and Fourth Ses- October and closed on the 5th. The fourth session opened, pursuant to adjournment, on the 9th of January 1832. On the 12th of January an order was adopted to the effect "that no paper or document filed with a memorial shall be allowed to be withdrawn from the office unless upon written application by the claimant, supported by affidavit stating that the object is to withdraw the paper for the purpose of authenticating the same or proving the facts which it contains before some one of the persons authorized to take testimony in cases depending under this commission."

On the 2d of February further orders were made. On the 7th of the preceding October a notice was published by direction of the board to the effect that it would, on the opening of its fourth session on the 9th of January 1832, proceed to determine the validity of all claims which should then have been filed and docketed. By the 2d of February the commissioners had disposed of all such claims as were ready for hearing; but it was found that a number of the cases, though duly filed and docketed, were not ready to be heard, and that in some of them the claimants had not exhibited "as much industry in preparation" as they should have done. The commissioners therefore gave notice that all persons having claims should present them on or before the 1st of the following May, verified in conformity with the rules of the board and accompanied with all proofs which they might think material; that when the board next met, on the 23d of April, it would proceed to decide all claims then filed but not previously acted on, and that after the 1st of May no memorial would be received unless satisfactory cause for not filing it before was shown.' At the same time the board published certain rules of decision to which a fuller reference will be made hereafter.

The fifth session of the board began on the 23d of Fifth and Sixth Sessions. April 1832, and ended on the 10th of May, when an adjournment was taken till the first Monday in October. On that day the sixth session began, but only Mr. Duane appeared, the two other commissioners being ill. The sixth session was therefore ordered to stand adjourned till the 26th of November, and on that day the commissioners reassembled. They remained in session till December 19, when it was ordered that, as several applications had been made for rehearings, and as the board was anxious to afford claimants every opportunity to prove their claims, the commission would adjourn till March 1, 1833, a month before the termination of the period prescribed for its existence, and that no application for a rehearing or for filing original or supplemental memorials, or for the introduction of proof, would be received after that day.

'MSS. Dept. of State.

Seventh Session.

The seventh and last session of the board did not actually begin till the 4th of March 1833. On the 1st of March only one commissioner was present, and on the 2d there were only two. They did not all appear until the 4th. It has heretofore been stated that the commissioners on the 2d of February 1832, at the close of their fourth session, published certain rules of decision. These

Rules of Decision.

rules were as follows:

"THURSDAY, February 2, 1832.

"The board, having been for some time engaged in considering the validity of the claims which have been filed and docketed, and the proofs in support thereof, deem it proper to lay down certain rules, to be adhered to in all cases which shall not present a peculiar claim to exception from their operation:

"Regarding the fund provided by the convention with Denmark as designed to indemnify claimants for the actual losses, and not for profits, which might or might not have been realized-it is Ordered, That in cases of condemnation, remuneration shall be made according to the actual value of vessel and cargo respectively, at the commencement of the voyage.

"Considering the absence of proof in some cases, and its imperfection in others, in relation to freight, insurance, demurrage, and damage owing to detention; and consequently, that exact justice cannot be done in each particular case; comparing, besides, the several claims for freight, insurance, demurrage, and damage, with each other, and finding no standard therein-it is

"2nd. Ordered, That in all cases of condemnation or detention there shall be allowed two-thirds of a fair freight for the passage in which the loss occurred, [and] a premium of insurance at the rate of

- per cent

upon the value of the vessel and cargo respectively at the commencement of the voyage.

"3. That in all cases of detention of vessels, there shall be allowed, besides, for demurrage

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4. That in cases of detention of cargo, there shall be allowed for damages at the rate of - per cent per year.

"That in cases in which special damage shall be proved, as where the cargo was in whole or in part of a perishable nature, or was wasted or destroyed, an additional allowance should be made according to the facts. "This allowance to be in full for all injuries resulting from capture and detention, including cases in which voyages were broken up, and all other speculative damages.

"5. That in all cases, the expenses incurred in defending vessel and cargo shall be allowed in full.

"As the board cannot anticipate whether the fund distributable under the convention with Denmark will, or will not, be adequate to the payment of all the sums which shall be awarded by this commission; it is

"Ordered, that in each case such sum shall be awarded and stated as the board shall believe would be justly payable, were the fund adequate; and that if the fund shall not be adequate to pay the aggregate amounts allowed to all the claimants, a 'pro rata' distribution shall be made in conformity with the provisions of the convention. It is further

"Ordered, that an entry be now made on the record of all the decisions made by the board at its present session."

In applying these rules the board discovered that they "would not operate equally upon various classes and descriptions of claims presented." The board therefore at its sixth session changed the rules and, setting aside all decisions that had been made in conformity with them, proceeded to make awards in accordance with a series of amended

rules. These rules the board on the 22d of March 1833 ordered to be entered on the minutes. They were as follows:

"That in all cases of condemnation there shall be allowed,

"1st. The value of the vessel agreeably to the following scale:

"For Eastern vessels-$40.00 per ton.

"For Northern vessels-$60.00 per ton.

"2nd. The value of the cargo at the cost of the same in the port from whence she sailed, agreeably to the invoice, without any addition to the invoice for freight or insurance.

3rd. A premium of insurance, at the rate of eight per cent upon the value of the vessel and cargo.

"4th. Freight, for the voyage in which the loss occurred, at the rate of twelve dollars per ton.

"5th. Demurrage, on the following scale:

"$15.00 per day for vessels under 150 tons.

"$20.00 per day for vessels between 150 and 200 tons.

"$25.00 per day for vessels between 200 and 300 tons.
"$30.00 per day for vessels over 300 tons.

"That, in all cases of detention of vessel and cargo, there shall be allowed as follows:

"1st. Freight, at the rate of six dollars per ton.

"2nd. Premium of insurance, at the rate of eight per cent upon the value of vessel and cargo, respectively, at the commencement of the voyage. "3rd. For the detention of the vessel, for demurrage:

"$20.00 per day on vessels under 150 tons.

"$25.00 per day on vessels between 150 and 200.
"$30.00 per day on vessels between 200 and 300.
"$40.00 per day on vessels over 300 tons.

"That for detention of cargo there shall be allowed for damages, at the rate of twelve per cent per annum; and in cases of detention where special damages shall be proved, as where the cargo was in whole or part of a perishable nature or was wasted or destroyed, an additional allowance shall be made according to facts.

"This allowance to be in full for all injuries resulting from capture and detention, including cases in which voyages were broken up, and all other speculative or consequential damages.

"In all cases the expenses incurred in defending the vessel and cargo in the course of judicial investigation shall be allowed in full, but no other claim for expenses shall be allowed.

"In all cases where the claim is presented by an underwriter, he shall receive no other or greater allowance for the loss or detention of vesselcargo-or freight, than would have been allowed to the owner agreeably to the foregoing rules."

Final Report.

The last meeting of the board was held on the 28th of March 1833, when the commission adjourned sine die. Prior to their adjournment the commissioners signed a report to the Secretary of State giving an account of their proceedings, and directed it to be recorded in the journal. This report, to which is annexed the order of adjournment, is as follows:

THURSDAY, 28 March 1833.

TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE OF THE UNITED STATES:

"The undersigned Commissioners, Citizens of the United States, appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, having performed the duties with which they were charged, under the Convention between the United States and His Majesty the King of Denmark, bearing date the twenty-eighth day of March 1830, beg leave to submit an account of their proceedings in the following report.

"The Undersigned having received their appointments from the President of the United States, in conformity to the third article of the Convention, assembled at the city of Washington on the 4th day of April

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