The Department of State has now this subject under
consideration.
The minister of Peru having made representations that there was a state
of war between Peru and Spain, and that Spain was constructing, in and
near New York, thirty gunboats, which might be used by Spain in such a
way as to relieve the naval force at Cuba, so as to operate against
Peru, orders were given to prevent their departure. No further steps
having been taken by the representative of the Peruvian Government to
prevent the departure of these vessels, and I not feeling authorized to
detain the property of a nation with which we are at peace on a mere
Executive order, the matter has been referred to the courts to decide.
The conduct of the war between the allies and the Republic of Paraguay
has made the intercourse with that country so difficult that it has been
deemed advisable to withdraw our representative from there.
Toward the close of the last Administration a convention was
signed at London for the settlement of all outstanding claims between
Great Britain and the United States, which failed to receive the
advice and consent of the Senate to its ratification. The time and the
circumstances attending the negotiation of that treaty were unfavorable
to its acceptance by the people of the United States, and its provisions
were wholly inadequate for the settlement of the grave wrongs that had
been sustained by this Government, as well as by its citizens.
Pages:
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75