INSTRUCTIONS. No. 1. Mr. Davis to Mr. Fish. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 13, 1871. SIR Herewith I hand you a printed copy of the Case which I have prepared to be presented to the Tribunal at Geneva on behalf of the United States. This Case will be accompanied by seven volumes of Documents, Evidence, and Correspondence. Five of these volumes consist of the correspondence and other matter transmitted to the Senate by the President, April 7, 1869. The sixth volume contains an arranged selection from the previous five volumes, and a quantity of new matter from the captured rebel archives and elsewhere. This volume and its full table of contents and the excellent index in the seventh volume, were prepared by Charles C. Beaman, jr., esq. It gives me much pleasure to record my sense of the great value of Mr. Beaman's services. Any one who looks at this volume will see how carefully and intelligently he has performed his work. The seventh volume contains some miscellaneous matter and full statements of the claims for losses, national and individual. The former were prepared at the Navy Department. Their completeness leaves nothing to be desired. The latter were prepared under my direction by the clerks in this Department, and show the nature and amount of each claim, and the proof on file in the Department by which it is supported. I desire to bear testimony to the intelligence and fidelity with which this work has been done by the clerks charged with it. For days, I may say weeks, in the most oppressive part of the summer, they staid cheerfully at the Department, working upon this statement until nearly midnight each day. Without such labor on their part it could not have been got ready in time. I have the honor, &c., No. 2. Mr. Fish to Mr. Davis. J. C. B. DAVIS. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 14, 1871. SIR: I have received the copy of the Case with your accompanying letter of yesterday. The President approves of your presentation of the Case, and you are instructed to present it and the seven accompa nying volumes at Geneva, in the manner required by the Treaty, as the Case of the United States, and the documents, official correspondence, and other evidence on which they rely. I am, &c., No. 3. HAMILTON FISH. Mr. Fish to Mr. Davis. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 14, 1871. SIR: Your appointment and acceptance of the position of Agent of the United States before the Tribunal of Arbitration at Geneva make it necessary to give you brief instructions on the subject of your duties. You are expected to be at Geneva as early as the morning of the 16th of December next. It is probable that the Tribunal will be organized on that day or the 17th. You will deliver the Case and the seven accompanying volumes, in duplicate, to each of the Arbitrators and to the Agent for Great Britain, as required by the Treaty. I am informed that Lord Tenterden will represent Great Britain as its Agent. You are aware that Congress has made no appropriations for the payment of an agent's salary or expenses. The President will advise that your compensation shall be fixed at the rate of ten thousand dollars a year, and your necessary expenses suited to the position you occupy. In anticipation of such appropriation you will receive herewith a check upon Riggs & Co. for twenty-five hundred dollars, payable in gold coin. Herewith also you will receive a copy of the cipher of this Department. You are familiar with the views and wishes of this Department in regard to the general position to be taken in the discussion of the Alabama claims before the Tribunal. Should any new important points be suggested which, in your judgment, materially vary from or in auy way conflict with those views and wishes, you will communicate at once with the Department by telegraph, if necessary to have an immediate decision; by mail, if there be time to obtain a reply. I am, &c., No. 4. HAMILTON FISH. Mr. Fish to Mr. Cushing.* DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: The President having appointed you one of the Counsel of the United States in the matter submitted by the Treaty between this Government and Her Britannic Majesty, signed in this city on the 8th day of May last, to the Tribunal of Arbitration to meet in Geneva, and the appointment having been accepted, it becomes necessary to give you, briefly, the President's instructions on the subject of your duties. The Case of the United States has been prepared, under the general supervision of the Secretary of State, by Mr. J. C. Bancroft Davis, Assistant Secretary of State, who has been appointed to attend the Tribunal as the Agent of the United States to represent this Government, generally, in all matters connected with the Arbitration. It is accompanied by seven volumes, which contain the Evidence, Documents, and Correspondence on which the United States rely. Copies of the Case, and of the accompanying volumes, have been transmitted to you. Mr. Davis sailed for Europe some time since, and intelligence of his arrival in France has been received. He is instructed to be at Geneva on or before the 16th day of December instant, and there to deliver the Case and documents in duplicate, as required by the Treaty. It is expected that he will then receive the official copies of the British Case, &c. And it will be his duty to confer with the Counsel of the United States as soon thereafter as they may be ready, with a view to the preparation of the Counter Case required by the Treaty. It is also expected that the Counsel shall be in Europe as soon as their convenience will permit. They will arrange among themselves, and with Mr. Davis, as to the most convenient place for their meetings and consultations. In the absence and in anticipation of an agreement as to such place of meeting, it is thought desirable that your first meeting be in Geneva, at as early a day after your arrival in Europe as shall be convenient; you can then agree with Mr. Davis as to the time and place of your future meetings. The Case contains the general views of this Government on the subjects likely to be discussed at Geneva, so far as the facts are now known. Should it become necessary to deviate materially from the positions there taken, you will refer to this Department. Mr. Davis has a copy of the cipher of the Department; in case you find it necessary to communicate secretly, he will enable you to avail of the cipher. Mr. Davis is fully instructed on the views which the President takes of the political questions that may be involved in the discussion of the subject as it now stands. Should the political questions involved in the case assume any different aspect, on the presentation of the Case of the British Government, or in the progress of the case before the Tribunal, they will be referred to this Department for submission to the President, and for his further instructions. The presentation and the management of the legal argument, and the treatment of the questions of law and evidence, are committed to the discretion and judgment of yourself and your associate Counsel. The President thinks that in this branch of your duty you may find Mr. Davis's familiarity with the history of the Case of advantage, and that a free interchange of opinion and of views, and consultations with him, may be of benefit. Mr. Davis is instructed to correspond frequently with this Department. You are invited to communicate with the Department as freely, and fully, and frequently as you may find it convenient. It is scarcely necessary to say that you are expected not to correspond (except for the purpose of obtaining information pertinent to the case) on the subject of the Case other than with this Department. The instructions regarding the Counter Case also apply to the Argu ment. The President desires to have the subject discussed as one between the two Governments; and he directs me to urge upon you strongly to secure, if possible, the award of a sum in gross. In the discussion of this question and in the treatment of the entire Case, you will be careful not to commit the Government as to the dispo sition of what may be awarded, or what may be recovered in the event of the appointment of the board of assessors mentioned in the tenth article of the Treaty. It is possible that there may be duplicate claims for some of the property alleged to have been captured or destroyed, as in the cases of insurers and insured. The Government wishes to hold itself free to decide as to the rights and claims of insurers, upon the termination of the case. If the value of the property captured or destroyed be recovered in the name of the Government, the distribution of the amount recovered will be made by this Government, without committal as to the mode of distribution. It is expected that all such committal be avoided in the argument of Counsel. You are aware that Congress has made no appropriation for the expenses of the Arbitration. The President has invited the action of Congress on the subject, and you have been advised that he would recom mend your compensation to be fixed at ten thousand dollars, (coin,) and your expenses suited to the important position you occupy. In anticipation of the appropriation, you will receive herewith a check upon Riggs & Co., of this city, for twenty-five hundred dollars, payable in gold coin, for which you will please return a receipt. Each of the Counsel will probably need the services of a clerk. In the appropriation which will be asked of Congress, an estimate will be included for the compensation of a clerk to each of the Counsel, at the rate of three thousand dollars per annum. It will depend on the grauting by Congress of the aggregate amount asked whether this allowance can be made. I transmit herewith a special Passport for yourself and such of your family or suite as may accompany you. You will be pleased to advise me of the time when you contemplate to leave the country to enter upon the duties of your appointment, and also to inform the Department of your arrival in Europe and at Geneva, and keep it advised of your address from time to time, as you may remove from place to place, so that immediate communication may be had with you at all times, by telegraph or by mail. A copy of these instructions will be furnished to Mr. Davis, and I inclose herewith a copy of the letter to him in which they are inclosed. I have, &c., No. 5. HAMILTON FISH. Mr. Davis to Mr. Fish. GENEVA, December 15, 1871. (Received January 10.) SIR: I have the honor to report that I left Paris, the 13th instant, for this place in company with Mr. Adams, Sir Alexander Cockburn, and Lord Tenterden. On the route we were enabled to discuss and arrange the preliminaries for the organization of the Tribunal. This has made the work to-day comparatively light. After calling upon the various Arbitrators this morning, we proceeded |