73. _Amelia Island._
Amelia Island, at the mouth of St Mary's River, in Florida, was, in
1817, seized by a number of adventurers under the command of one
McGregor, who, in the name of the insurgent colonies of Buenos Ayres
and Venezuela, preyed not only on the commerce of Spain but also on
that of the United States. The island was, at that time, part of
Spanish territory; and as the Spanish government was not able to put an
end to the nuisance created to the United States by the seizure, the
latter ordered a man-of-war to expel McGregor and his men from Amelia
Island, to destroy their works and vessels, and to take possession of
the island for the purpose of preventing the recurrence of the
nuisance.
74. _Representation to China._
On Jan. 15th, 1909, after the dismissal of Yuan-Shih-Kai, the British
and the American diplomatic envoys at Peking called by appointment on
Prince Ching, who, as president of the Grand Council and the Wai-wu-pu,
is the highest official of the Chinese Empire. The purpose of the
appointment was to make a joint representation on the part of the two
powers regarding the dismissal, without any given reason, of
Yuan-Shih-Kai, whose services to the cause of order, stability, and
progress in China had inspired such confidence in their two
governments.
75. _Exemption from Rates._
The following appeared in the _Times_, Dec. 9th, 1908:
"The claim of Herr von Bethmann-Hollweg, a German Embassy official, to
be exempt from rates in respect of his residence at Walton-on-Thames
was before the urban council last night.
"A letter was read from the Rating of Government Property Department of
the Treasury stating that houses occupied by representatives of foreign
Powers and the accredited members of their suites were liable to
assessment in common with other property of the country, but as their
persons and personal effects were by international law exempt from
seizure if they refused to pay rates these could not be enforced
against them by process of law. Reciprocal arrangements had, however,
been entered into with certain Powers, Germany being one of them, under
which a contribution in lieu of rates was given by the Government to
local authorities in respect of such occupations.
"The Walton Council, in common, it is believed, with many other local
authorities in the country, had held the view that it was impossible to
recover rates under such circumstances, but their attention was drawn
to the present case by the Local Government Board auditor, at whose
suggestion they wrote to the Treasury, with the above result."
76. _Errant Balloons._
The following notice from Berlin appeared in the morning papers of
November 20th, 1908:
"The French Ambassador has drawn the attention of the Imperial
Government to the repeated landing of German balloons on French
territory in view of the possibility of unpleasant incidents arising
therefrom. The German military authorities are accordingly taking the
necessary measures to prevent as far as possible the future landing of
German balloons across the frontier."