File No. 2540/16. Minister Fox to the Secretary of State. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] AMERICAN LEGATION, Quito, June 29, 1907. (Mr. Fox states that at an interview to-day, had at the request of the minister for foreign affairs, he was informed that Aguirre had declined to serve as arbiter, and that Cesar Borja had been appointed and had accepted. Mr. Fox also states that the minister expressed a wish that the President of the United States name arbiter. Mr. Fox adds that the situation has been improved by the position assumed by the department, and that, in his judgment, prompt action should be taken.) File No. 2540/16. The Acting Secretary of State to Minister Fox. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, (Mr. Bacon informs Mr. Fox that in reference to the Guayaquil and Quito Railway Company case the President will be pleased to comply with the wishes of the minister of foreign affairs and will appoint an arbiter at an early date.) File No. 2540/23. The Acting Secretary of State to Minister Fox. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, (Mr. Bacon informs Mr. Fox that the President has designated him as arbitrator in the Guayaquil and Quito Railway case, and that the formal certificate of designation will follow.) File No. 2540/33. Minister Fox to the Secretary of State. [Telegram.] AMERICAN LEGATION, Minister foreign affairs requests me wire ment and people Ecuador well satisfied arbiter; newspaper comments friendly. Quito, July 13, 1907. department that Governaction President naming File No. 2540/87-89. No. 121.] Minister Fox to the Secretary of State. AMERICAN LEGATION, SIR: I have the honor to inform the department that the arbitration tribunal with regard to the controversy between the Government of Ecuador and the Guayaquil and Quito Railway Company was installed on Saturday, October 5, at 4 p. m. Upon official invitation extended to Dr. Cesar Borja, the arbitrator appointed by the President of Ecuador, and myself, we both met at the office of the minister for foreign relations in this capital and there presented our credentials, which were found to be in due form. Minutes of the meeting were prepared and signed by Luis Felipe Carbo, minister for foreign relations; Cesar Borja, arbitrator on the part of Ecuador; Williams C. Fox, arbitrator on the part of the United States; and L. E. Bueno, undersecretary of state for foreign relations, who will act temporarily as secretary of the tribunal until such an official has been selected. I am forwarding under separate cover a joint communication" to the honorable Secretary of State signed by Doctor Borja and myself. A similar communication has been sent to the minister for foreign relations of Ecuador. Under arrangement, agreed upon, the Guayaquil and Quito Railway Company will be formally advised of the organization of the tribunal through the minister of public works of Ecuador. I have, etc., WILLIAMS C. Fox. [Inclosure 1.-Translation.] ARBITRATION TRIBUNAL. By the minutes, which we publish below, our readers will learn that the tribunal of arbitration which is to settle the controversies between the Government and the South Railway Company is already in the full exercise of its functions. The tribunal is formed on the part of the United States by its minister plenipotentiary in Ecuador, his excellency Williams C. Fox, esq., an eminent citizen who has rendered important services to his country, who has attended as its representative the international congresses held at Mexico and Rio Janeiro, and who has long been chief of the International Bureau of American Republics. His spirit tuned to the strictest principles of justice and the conscientious study he has made of the matters now submitted to his judgment are the surest pledge that his decision will be given in perfect justice to the rights of each of the contending parties. And respecting Doctor Borja, the arbitrator on the part of the Ecuadorian nation, what can we say that has not already been said to strengthen the confidence which all of us Ecuadorians repose in him? Superior intelligence, undoubted patriotism. right judgment, firmness of character are qualities which heighten the personality of our compatriot, and which he will have to employ in the delicate and honorable charge the nation has committed to him. For that reason we may rest tranquil in the assurance that his present labors will fully satisfy our aspirations and those of the Government that to-day rules the destinies of the country. Let us wait. a Not printed. [Inclosure 2.] ARBITRATION TRIBUNAL-OPENING MINUTES. In Quito, the capital of the Republic, and in the Department of State, on the 5th day of October of the year 1907, with the object of proceeding to organize the arbitration tribunal, which, according to article 27 of the contract made between the Government of Ecuador and the Guayaquil and Quito Railway Company, must settle the controversies or disagreements between the two contracting parties, there met together Their Excellencies Williams C. Fox, esq., envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States of North America, arbitrator on the part of the Government of that nation, and César Borja, arbitrator by that of Ecuador. Received by the minister for foreign affairs, the appointments and full powers of the arbitrators duly presented and found in due order, the arbitration tribunal was solemnly declared open. In sign of which the present minutes are signed by the minister of state, the arbitrators, and the undersecretary for foreign affairs. FRANCE. CLAIM OF MESSRS. LAURENT & LAMBERT V. THE UNITED STATES FOR LOSSES SUSTAINED DURING THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. LIABILITY OF A GOVERNMENT FOR THE INDIVIDUAL ACTS OF ITS SOLDIERS. File No. 174. The French Ambassador to the Secretary of State. THE FRENCH EMBASSY, MR. SECRETARY OF STATE: By letter dated May 25, 1905, the Department of State had asked me to furnish certain additional evidence bearing on the claim of Messrs. Laurent & Lambert for losses sustained by them through acts of the federal troops during the Spanish-American war. The minister of France at Habana, to whom I transmitted your request, has sent me the documents of which I have the honor to append copies hereto." These documents are the following: First. An affidavit sworn to before the consul of France at Santiago by three witnesses, from which it appears that about the end of July, 1898, the American troops had established their camp on Messrs. Laurent & Lambert's "finca" and that at that time the houses and buildings that stood there were gradually torn down, gutted, and finally razed to the ground. Second. A letter of the said Messrs. Laurent & Lambert, accompanied by a summons to appear before the board of the "Junta investigadora del ejercito, de reclamaciones." This summons, dated April 15, 1899, was followed by an investigation conducted by Lieut. George R. Armstrong on the spot where he ascertained the facts on which the claim is based. Third. The original of the inventory of the San Pedro finca deposited at the French consulate at Santiago on November 6, 1895. It had been taken for granted that the archives of the board of the junta investigadora were filed in the War Department at Washington, seeing that the military authorities had taken charge of the case, as shown by the above-mentioned summons, and that the said authorities were in consequence both the authors and custodians of the record, and this was the reason why the interested parties had not deemed it necessary to produce the additional proof and evidence furnished by the inclosed documents. a Not printed. I should be thankful to your excellency if you would kindly, in the present state of things, again bespeak for my countrymen's claim the equitable examination of the Secretary of War, at whose disposal I hold the originals of the documents, copies of which I have the honor to inclose in this letter. EXCELLENCY: Referring to your note of the 18th of May, 1906, and the department's reply thereto, I have the honor to say that the department has just received the additional report of the War Department upon the claims of Laurent and Joseph Lambert, together with the report and opinion of the Judge-Advocate-General of the Army, a copy of which is inclosed herewith. The facts are set forth in considerable detail. The authorities of the War Department, as will be seen, have not been able to satisfy themselves that the losses which the claimants sustained were caused by American troops, but even if such were the case, the JudgeAdvocate-General of the Army is of the opinion that the acts could only be considered as those of soldiers in their personal capacity, to which no responsibility attaches on the part of their Government. Accept, etc., File No. 174/4. [Inclosure.] ELIHU ROOT. Report and Opinion of the Judge-Advocate-General. WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, April 25, 1907. Respectfully returned to the Adjutant-General. The honorable the Acting Secretary of State incloses to the honorable the Secretary of War certain papers relating to the claim of Messrs. Laurent and Joseph Lambert for compensation for damage done to their property situated in the neighborhood of Santiago de Cuba, by the American Army, and asks that in view of the papers submitted a further investigation of the case be had. The claimants would appear to be French citizens, and the papers in the case are transmitted to the Department of State by the French ambassador. The papers undertake to show, in the form of affidavits, the following facts: The claimants owned a "finca" (country estate) on which was situated a house with a French tile roof, another with a tin roof, and a third with a thatch roof. About the end of July, 1898, American troops pitched their tents on the "finca," and the buildings were observed to be gradually demolished and gutted and finally to have disappeared. Upon the destruction of the property the owners, now the claimants, advised the French consul at Santiago and requested him to file a claim with the American authorities. This led to the claimants being summoned to appear before a board of officers on April 15, 1899. On their appearing before the board, Lieut. George R. Armstrong, Fifth Infantry, was delegated to investigate on the spot, and was accompanied by the claimants to the estate, where Lieutenant Armstrong was enabled to verify the facts on which this claim rests. |