_Mr. Fox to Mr. Forsyth_.
WASHINGTON, _June 22, 1840_.
Hon. JOHN FORSYTH, etc.:
The undersigned, Her Britannic Majesty's envoy extraordinary and
minister plenipotentiary, has the honor to transmit to the Secretary of
State of the United States, by order of his Government, the accompanying
printed copies of a report and map which have been presented to Her
Majesty's Government by Colonel Mudge and Mr. Featherstonhaugh, the
commissioners employed during the last season to survey the disputed
territory.
The undersigned is instructed to say that it will of course have become
the duty of Her Majesty's Government to lay the said report and map
before Parliament; but Her Majesty's Government have been desirous, as a
mark of courtesy and consideration toward the Government of the United
States, that documents bearing upon a question of so much interest
and importance to the two countries should in the first instance be
communicated to the President. The documents had been officially placed
in the hands of Her Majesty's Government only a few days previously
to the date of the instruction addressed to the undersigned.
Her Majesty's Government feel an unabated desire to bring the
long-pending questions connected with the boundary between the United
States and the British possessions in North America to a final and
satisfactory settlement, being well aware that questions of this nature,
as long as they remain open between two countries, must be the source of
frequent irritation on both sides and are liable at any moment to lead
to events that may endanger the existence of friendly relations.
It is obvious that the questions at issue between Great Britain and
the United States must be beset with various and really existing
difficulties, or else those questions would not have remained open ever
since the year 1783, notwithstanding the frequent and earnest endeavors
made by each Government to bring them to an adjustment; but Her
Majesty's Government do not relinquish the hope that the sincere desire
which is felt by both parties to arrive at an amicable settlement will
at length be attended with success.
The best clew to guide the two Governments in their future proceedings
may perhaps be obtained by an examination of the causes of past failure;
and the most prominent amongst these causes has certainly been a want of
correct information as to the topographical features and physical
character of the district in dispute.
This want of adequate information may be traced as one of the
difficulties which embarrassed the Netherlands Government in its
endeavors to decide the points submitted to its arbitration in 1830.
The same has been felt by the Government in England; it has been felt
and admitted by the Government of the United States, and even by the
local government of the contiguous State of Maine.
The British Government and the Government of the United States agreed,
therefore, two years ago that a survey of the disputed territory by a
joint commission would be the measure best calculated to elucidate and
solve the questions at issue. The President proposed such a commission
and Her Majesty's Government consented to it, and it was believed by
Her Majesty's Government that the general principles upon which the
commission was to be guided in its local operations had been settled by
mutual agreement, arrived at by means of a correspondence which took
place between the two Governments in 1837 and 1838. Her Majesty's
Government accordingly transmitted in April of last year, for the
consideration of the President, the draft of a convention to regulate
the proceedings of the proposed commission. The preamble of that draft
recited textually the agreement that had been come to by means of notes
which had been exchanged between the two Governments, and the articles
of the draft were framed, as Her Majesty's Government considered, in
strict conformity with that agreement.
But the Government of the United States did not think proper to assent
to the convention so proposed.
The United States Government did not, indeed, allege that the
proposed convention was at variance with the result of the previous
correspondence between the two Governments, but it thought that the
convention would establish a commission of "mere exploration and
survey," and the President was of opinion that the step next to be taken
by the two Governments should be to contract stipulations bearing upon
the face of them the promise of a final settlement under some form or
other and within a reasonable time.
The United States Government accordingly transmitted to the undersigned,
for communication to Her Majesty's Government, in the month of July last
a counter draft of convention varying considerably in some parts (as the
Secretary of State of the United States admitted in his letter to the
undersigned of the 29th of July last) from the draft proposed by Great
Britain, but the Secretary of State added that the United States
Government did not deem it necessary to comment upon the alterations
so made, as the text itself of the counter draft would be found
sufficiently perspicuous.
Her Majesty's Government might certainly well have expected that
some reasons would have been given to explain why the United States
Government declined to confirm an arrangement which was founded upon
propositions made by that Government itself and upon modifications to
which that Government had agreed, or that if the American Government
thought the draft of convention thus proposed was not in conformity with
the previous agreement it would have pointed out in what respect the two
were considered to differ.
Her Majesty's Government, considering the present state of the boundary
question, concur with the Government of the United States in thinking
that it is on every account expedient that the next measure to be
adopted by the two Governments should contain arrangements which will
necessarily lead to a final settlement, and they think that the
convention which they proposed last year to the President, instead of
being framed so as to constitute a mere commission of exploration and
survey, did, on the contrary, contain stipulations calculated to lead
to the final ascertainment of the boundary between the two countries.
There was, however, undoubtedly one essential difference between
the British draft and the American counter draft. The British draft
contained no provision embodying the principle of arbitration; the
American counter draft did contain such a provision.
The British draft contained no provision for arbitration, because the
principle of arbitration had not been proposed on either side during the
negotiations upon which that draft was founded, and because, moreover,
it was understood at that time that the principle of arbitration would
be decidedly objected to by the United States.
But as the United States Government have now expressed a wish to embody
the principle of arbitration in the proposed convention, Her Majesty's
Government are perfectly willing to accede to that wish.
The undersigned is accordingly instructed to state officially to Mr.
Forsyth that Her Majesty's Government consent to the two principles
which form the main foundation of the American counter draft, namely:
First, that the commission to be appointed shall be so constituted as
necessarily to lead to a final settlement of the questions of boundary
at issue between the two countries, and, secondly, that in order to
secure such a result the convention by which the commission is to be
created shall contain a provision for arbitration upon points as to
which the British and American commissioners may not be able to agree.
The undersigned is, however, instructed to add that there are many
matters of detail in the American counter draft which Her Majesty's
Government can not adopt. The undersigned will be furnished from his
Government, by an early opportunity, with an amended draft in conformity
with the principles above stated, to be submitted to the consideration
of the President. And the undersigned expects to be at the same time
furnished with instructions to propose to the Government of the
United States a fresh, local, and temporary convention for the better
prevention of incidental border collisions within the disputed territory
during the time that may be occupied in carrying through the operations
of survey or arbitration.
The undersigned avails himself of this occasion to renew to the
Secretary of State the assurance of his distinguished consideration.