In 1880, Mr. Evarts, the Secretary of State, invited me to act as
counsel for the Government in defence of the claims of French citizens
for losses sustained during the Civil War. There were more than
seven hundred cases and the claims amounted to more than thirty-five
million dollars including interest. The recoveries fell below six
hundred and thirty thousand dollars. The printed record covered sixty
thousand pages, and my printed arguments filled about two thousand
pages. The discussion and decisions involved many important questions
of international law, citizenship, the construction of treaties, and
the laws of war.
The chairman was Baron de Arinos. He was a man of unassuming manners,
of great intelligence, and of extensive acquaintance with diplomatic
subjects. He was reserved, usually, but he was never lacking in ability
when a subject had received full consideration at his hands. As far as
I recall his decisions, when he had to dispose of cases on which the
French and American commissioners differed, I cannot name one which
appeared to be unjust.
The insignificant sum awarded was due to many circumstances. Of those,
who as French citizens had suffered losses during the war, many had
become American citizens by naturalization. Again others were natives
of Alsace and Lorraine, and the commission held that they were not
entitled to the protection of France in 1880 when the treaty was made.
But the losses were chiefly due to the absence of adequate evidence as
to the ownership of the property for which claims were made, and to the
enormous exaggerations as to values in which the claimants indulged.