Before the vote is taken, I desire that the Senate should understand
the character of the bill. The Senate may have forgotten that a message
of the President, bearing date April 4, 1866, communicated to the two
Houses of Congress the correspondence between the Government of the
United States and the Government of Great Britain relating to this
vessel. By that correspondence it appears that the United States,
through Mr. Seward, and the Government of Great Britain, through Lord
Lyons, came to an agreement, in 1863, to refer the question of damages
in this matter to Mr. Evarts, the eminent counsel at New York, and
Mr. Archibald, the British consul at New York. Those two referees
have proceeded with the business and made a report, which forms the
basis of this bill. I call particular attention to the dates, as they
had an influence on the judgment of the Committee. I need not remind
the Senate, that, at a later day, Lord Russell, in a formal manner,
declined all arbitration of our claims on Great Britain. That was by a
communication to Mr. Adams, our minister at Great Britain, bearing date
August 30, 1865. All will remember the terms of that note, which have
been substantially set forth in the annual message of the President.
Had the case of this vessel arisen subsequently to the note, it would
have been a grave question whether the Committee could have counselled
any present recognition of the claim; but it was otherwise. The case
occurred and the referees were selected before the note. Under the
circumstances, there was no alternative. We had selected our court,
and the damages were determined by the judgment of that court. It
only remains for us to abide by the judgment of the tribunal we have
assisted in establishing.