Britannic Majesty's government of all possible solicitude for the observance of the rights and the duties involved in the proclamation of neutrality issued by Her Majesty on the 13th day of May, 1861; "And whereas the effects of a violation of neutrality committed by means of the construction, equipEffect of a commission. ment, and armament of a vessel are not done away with by any commission which the government of the belligerent power, benefited by the violation of neutrality, may afterwards have granted to that vessel; and the ultimate step, by which the offense is completed, cannot be admissible as a ground for the absolution of the offender, nor can the consummation of his fraud become the means of establishing his innocence; war. "And whereas the privilege of exterritoriality accorded to vessels of war has been admitted into the law Exterritoriality of vessels of of nations, not as an absolute right, but solely as a proceeding founded on the principle of courtesy and mutual deference between different nations, and therefore can never be appealed to for the protection of acts done in violation of neutrality; Effect of want of notice. "And whereas the absence of a previous notice can not be regarded as a failure in any consideration required by the law of nations, in those cases in which a vessel carries with it its own condemnation; "And whereas, in order to impart to any supplies of coal a character inconsistent with the second rule, prohibiting the use of neutral ports or waters, as a base of naval operations for a belligerent, it is necessary that the said supplies should be connected with special circumstances of time, of persons, or of place, which may combine to give them such character; Supplies of coal. the Alabama. "And whereas, with respect to the vessel called the Alabama, it clearly results from all the facts relative to Responsibility for acts of the construction of the ship at first designated by the number 290' in the port of Liverpool, and its equipment and armament in the vicinity of Terceira through the agency of the vessels called the 'Agrippina' and the Bahama,' dispatched from Great Britain to that end, that the British government failed to use due diligence in the performance of its neutral obligations; and especially that it omitted, notwithstanding the warnings and official representations made by the diplomatic agents of the United States during the construction of the said number 290,' to take in due time any effective measures of prevention, and that those orders which it did give at last, for the detention of the vessel, were issued so late that their execution was not practicable; 6 "And whereas, after the escape of that vessel, the measures taken for its pursuit and arrest were so imperfect as to lead to no result, and therefore cannot be considered sufficient to release Great Britain from the responsibility already incurred; "And whereas, in despite of the violations of the neutrality of Great Britain committed by the '290,' this same vessel, later known as the confederate cruiser Alabama, was on several occasions freely admitted into the ports of colonies of Great Britain, instead of being proceeded against as it ought to have been in any and every port within British jurisdiction in which it might have been found; "And whereas the government of Her Britannic Majesty cannot justify itself for a failure in due diligence on the plea of insufficiency of the legal means of action which it possessed: "Four of the arbitrators, for the reasons above assigned, and the fifth for reasons separately assigned by him, "Are of opinion "That Great Britain has in this case failed, by omission, to fulfill the duties prescribed in the first and the third of the rules established by the VIth article of the Treaty of Washington. And of the Florida. "And whereas, with respect to the vessel called the Florida,' it results from all the facts relative to the construction of the 'Oreto' in the port of Liverpool, and to its issue therefrom, which facts failed to induce the authorities in Great Britain to resort to measures adequate to prevent the violation of the neutrality of that nation, notwithstanding the warnings and repeated representations of the agents of the United States, that Her Majesty's government has failed to use due diligence to fulfil the duties of neutrality; "And whereas it likewise results from all the facts relative to the stay of the 'Oreto' at Nassau, to her issue from that port, to her enlistment of men, to her supplies, and to her armament, with the co-operation of the British vessel 'Prince Alfred,' at Green Cay, that there was negligence on the part of the British colonial authorities; And whereas, notwithstanding the violation of the neutrality of Great Britain committed by the Oreto, this same vessel, later known as the confederate cruiser Florida, was nevertheless on several occasions freely admitted into the ports of British colonies; "And whereas the judicial acquittal of the Oreto at Nassau cannot relieve Great Britain from the responsibility incurred by her under the principles of international law; nor can the fact of the entry of the Florida into the confederate port of Mobile, and of its stay there during four months, extinguish the responsibility previously to that time incurred by Great Britain: "For these reasons, "The tribunal, by a majority of four voices to one, is of opinion "That Great Britain has in this case failed, by omission, to fulfil the duties prescribed in the first, in the second, and in the third of the rules established by Article VI. of the treaty of Washington. leaving Melbourne. THE GENEVA ARBITRATION. "And whereas, with respect to the vessel called the 'Shenandoah,' it results from all the facts relative to And of the Shenandoah after the departure from London of the merchantvessel the 'Sea King,' and to the transformation of that ship into a confederate cruiser under the name of the Shenandoah, near the island of Madeira, that the government of Her Britannic Majesty is not chargeable with any failure, down to that date, in the use of due diligence to fulfil the duties of neutrality; "But whereas it results from all the facts connected with the stay of the Shenandoah at Melbourne, and especially with the augmentation which the British government itself admits to have been clandestinely effected of her force, by the enlistment of men within that port, that there was negligence on the part of the authorities at that place: "For these reasons, "The tribunal is unanimously of opinion "That Great Britain has not failed, by any act or omission, 'to fulfil any of the duties prescribed by the three rules of Article VI. in the treaty of Washington, or by the principles of international law not inconsistent therewith,' in respect to the vessel called the Shenandoah, during the period of time anterior to her entry into the port of Melbourne; "And by a majority of three to two voices, the tribunal decides that Great Britain has failed, by omission, to fulfil the duties prescribed by the second and third of the rules aforesaid, in the case of this same vessel, from and after her entry into Hobson's Bay, and is therefore responsible for all acts committed by that vessel after her departure from Melbourne, on the 18th day of February, 1865. "And so far as relates to the vessels called And of the Tuscaloosa, Clarence, Tacony, and Archer. "The Tuscaloosa, (tender to the Alabama,) "The Clarence, "The Tacony, and "The Archer, (tenders to the Florida,) "The tribunal is unanimously of opinion "That such tenders or auxiliary vessels, being properly regarded as accessories, must necessarily follow the lot of their principals, and be submitted to the same decision which applies to them respectively. No Retribution, Georgia, Sumter, Chickamauga. or "And so far as relates to the vessel called 'Retribution,' "The tribunal, by a majority of three to two responsibility for the Voices, is of opinionNashville, Tallahassee, "That Great Britain has not failed by any act or omission to fulfil any of the duties prescribed by the three rules of Article VI. in the treaty of Washington, or by the principles of international law not inconsist ent therewith. "And so far as relates to the vessels called "The Georgia, "The Sumter, 5627-42 "The Nashville, "The Tallahassee, and "The Chickamauga, respectively, "The tribunal is unanimously of opinion "That Great Britain has not failed, by any act or omission, to fulfil any of the duties prescribed by the three rules of Article VI. in the treaty of Washington, or by the principles of international law not inconsistent therewith. "And so far as relates to the vessels called The Sallie, Jefferson Davis, Music, Boston, and V. H. Joy not taken into consideration. "The Sallie, "The Jefferson Davis, "The Boston, and "The V. H. Joy, respectively, "The tribunal is unanimously of opinion "That they ought to be excluded from consideration for want of evidence. allowed. "And whereas, so far as relates to the particulars of the indemnity claimed by the United States, the Claims for cost of pursuit not costs of pursuit of the confederate cruisers are not, in the judgment of the tribunal, properly distinguishable from the general expenses of the war carried on by the United States: "The tribunal is, therefore, of opinion, by a majority of three to two voices "That there is no ground for awarding to the United States any sum by way of indemnity under this head. "And whereas prospective earnings cannot properly be made the subject of compensation, inasmuch as they depend in their nature upon future and uncer And for prospective earnings. tain contingencies: "The tribunal is unanimously of opinion "That there is no ground for awarding to the United States any sum by way of indemnity under this head. "And whereas, in order to arrive at an equitable compensation for the damages which have been susNet freights only allowed. tained, it is necessary to set aside all double claims for the same losses, and all claims for 'gross freights,' so far as they exceed 'net freights;' "And whereas it is just and reasonable to allow interest at a reasonable rate; "And whereas, in accordance with the spirit and letter of the Treaty of Washington, it is preferable to adopt the form of adjudication of a sum in gross, rather than to refer the subject of compensation for further discussion and deliberation to a board of assessors, as provided by Article X. of the said treaty: "The tribunal, making use of the authority conferred upon it by Article VII. of the said treaty, by a majority of four voices to one, awards to the United States a sum of $15,500,000 in gold, as the indemnity to be paid by Great Britain to the United States, for $15,500,000 compensation awarded. the satisfaction of all the claims referred to the consideration of the tribunal, conformably to the provisions contained in Article VII. of the aforesaid treaty. "And, in accordance with the terms of Article XI. of the said treaty, the tribunal declares that 'all the claims referred to in the treaty as submitted to the tribunal are hereby fully, perfectly, and finally settled.' The payment to be a bar. "Furthermore it declares, that each and every one of the said claims, whether the same may or may not have been presented to the notice of, or made, preferred, or laid before the tribunal, shall henceforth be considered and treated as finally settled, barred, and inadmissible.' "In testimony whereof this present decision and award has been made in duplicate, and signed by the arbitrators who have given their assent thereto, the whole being in exact conformity with the provisions of Article VII. of the said treaty of Washington. "Made and concluded at the Hôtel de Ville of Geneva, in Switzerland, the 14th day of the month of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two. "CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. "FREDERICK SCLOPIS. "STÄMPFLI. "VICOMTE D'ITAJUBÁ." The paper which Sir Alexander Cockburn Sir Alexander Cock- asked leave to have incorporated with the burn's Dissent. record was not annexed to the official protocol handed to the agent of the United States; but on the 24th of September 1872 there appeared in a supplement to the London Gazette a paper entitled "Reasons of Sir Alexander Cockburn for dissenting from the award of the tribunal of arbitration;" and a copy of this number of the Gazette was transmitted to the agent of the United States as the paper that should have been annexed to the protocol' After reading the document thus published, Mr. Fish declared that if the agent of the United States had had an opportunity to become acquainted with its contents at Geneva he doubtless would have felt it his "right and duty to object to the reception and filing of a paper which would probably not have been officially received by the tribunal had an opportunity been afforded to invite their attention to some of its reflections on this government and its agent and counsel."2 Occupying three times as much space as the opinions of all the other arbitrators together, and 1 Papers relating to the Treaty of Washington, IV. 48. 2 Id. 546 547. |