glad to avail itself of the religious feelings of its subjects, and saw with great satisfaction that their donations would powerfully contribute to the political conquest of the Californias; but the object of the donors was the religious conquest alone, though they too might have felt some pride in the consciousness that they were at the same time contributing to the extension of the possessions of Spain.

The alms, however, solicited in the first instance by the Jesuit fathers, and the donations subsequently made by piously disposed persons were neither political nor national; they were directed to the religious conquest of the Californias, and were the gifts of private persons for that particular object.

On the expulsion of the Jesuits from the Spanish Dominions, and the abolition of the Order, occurrences which the donors to the Pious Fund could not have foreseen, the Spanish Government naturally became the trustee and caretaker of that fund, but it took charge of it avowedly with all the duties and obligations attached to it. The missions were confided to the Franciscan Order, and subsequently they were divided between this Order and the Dominicans, but although the Pious Fund was administered by the Spanish Government, its proceeds were applied to the maintenance of the missions belonging to both Orders.

When Mexico became independent she succeeded to the trust which had been held by the Spanish Government, and continued to apply the proceeds of the fund to the maintenance of the missions. In 1836 it was considered desirable to establish a Bishopric which was to comprise the two Californias.

An Act of Congress was passed for this purpose, and the same act entrusted to the Bishop, who was to be appointed, the administration and application of the Pious Fund in accordance with the wishes of its founders.

On the 8th of February, 1842, President Santa Anna repealed the latter part of the Act of 1836 and assigned the administration and application of the fund to the Mexican Government, but the decree which he signed for this purpose also declared that the object of the donor was to be carried out by the civilization and conversion of the savages. On the 24th of October of the same year another decree was issued by the above-mentioned President to the effect that the real estate and other property of the Pious Fund were to be incorporated into the national treasury and were to be sold at a certain price, the treasury recognizing the total proceeds of these sales at an

interest of six per cent and the preamble of this decree declaring that the assumption by the Government of the care and the administration of the Pious Fund was for the express purpose of scrupulously carrying out the objects proposed by the founders.

Neither by the Spanish nor by the Mexican Government was it ever pretended that the proceeds of the fund were not finally to find their way into the hands of the ecclesiastical authorities in the Californias, or that they were to be applied to any other objects than those pointed out by the donors. Subsequently to the decree of October 24, 1842, the Mexican Government admitted its indebtedness and the obligation it was under to remit the proceeds of the fund to the Bishop of California by issuing orders in his favor on the custom house at Guaymas.

This obligation is still further acknowledged by the Act of Congress of April 3, 1845, which restored to the Bishop of the Californias and to his successors all credits and other properties belonging to the Pious Fund which were still unsold, for the objects mentioned in the law of September 29, 1836, without prejudice to what Congress might decide with regard to those properties which had already been alienated.

The above-mentioned credits must surely have included the indebtedness of the Government with regard to the unpaid interest upon the property sold, the proceeds of which had been incorporated into the national treasury. The umpire does not find that any further legislation has been effected upon the subject since the Decree of April 3, 1845.

Such then was the state of the Mexican laws with regard to the Pious Fund at the time of the cession of Upper California to the United States, and the umpire is clearly of opinion that both the acts of the Mexican Government and its decrees above mentioned as well as the Act of Congress of 1845 are so many admissions that the Mexican Government was under the obligation to remit to the Bishop of California and his successors the interest on the proceeds of the property belonging to the Pious Fund which were held in trust by the Mexican Treasury, in order that the Bishop and his successors might carry out the wishes of the founders of that fund.

The umpire has already stated that he considers that as far as Upper California is concerned, the claimants are the direct successors of the Bishop of California, whose Diocese before the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, comprised both Upper and Lower California; and they ought therefore to receive a fair share of the interest upon

the proceeds of the Pious Fund, in order to devote it to the purposes for which it was founded, and which are of so decidedly a religious. nature, that the ecclesiastical authorities must be the most proper persons to be employed in its application.

The beneficiaries of this share of the fund are the Roman Catholic Church in Upper California, and the heathens who are to be converted to Christianity; and indirectly all the inhabitants of the State of California, and even the whole population of the United States, are interested in the proper application of the portion which should be entrusted to the claimants, upon whom, considering the purposes to which the founders assigned their donations, the employment of the fund would most suitably devolve.

With regard to the proportion of the interest which should be paid to the claimants, the umpire is of opinion that nothing can be fairer than that the whole of the interest for twenty-one years should be divided into two equal parts, of which one should be paid to the claimants.

It has been argued that the award should be made in proportion to the populations respectively of Upper and Lower California.

The umpire is not of that opinion; for it seems to him that as the population and civilization increase, the number of conversions to be made diminish and there can be little doubt that Lower California needs the beneficial assistance of the Pious Fund as much and even more in proportion to its population than Upper California now does. The equal division of the interest seems to be the fairest award.

After a careful examination of the data furnished with regard to the yearly amount of the interest, the umpire is constrained to adopt the views of the commissioner of the United States. A larger sum is claimed on the part of the claimants; but even with regard to this larger sum the defense has not shown, except indirectly, that its amount was exaggerated.

There is no doubt that the Mexican Government must have in its possession all the accounts and documents relative to the sale of the real property belonging to the Pious Fund and the proceeds thereof; yet these have not been produced; and the only inference that can be drawn from silence upon this subject is that the amount of the proceeds actually received into the treasury was at least not less than it is claimed to be.

The annual amount of interest therefore which should fall to the share of the Roman Catholic Church of Upper California is $43,080.99 and the aggregate sum for twenty-one years will be $904,700.79.

It has been urged that interest should be paid upon each annual amount from the respective date at which it became due. The umpire is not of this opinion. It is true that the Archbishop of San Francisco states in his deposition that when in the City of Mexico in 1852, he demanded payment of the amounts, or property of the Pious Fund, and that receiving no answer to his demands he reiterated the same, and only after a long time was officially informed that the Government could not accede to them.

From a man of the position and character of the Archbishop there can be no doubt of the truth of this statement; but yet there is no documentary evidence of these facts, and the umpire therefore supposes that the demand and the refusal were both verbal. Upon a matter of such serious importance the umpire does not think that a verbal refusal by a Government to make a certain payment can be taken as its final determination upon the subject. The refusal may even have been qualified by the inability of the Government to provide the necessary funds at the time of the demand. Of this in the absence of any writing upon the subject, no judgment can be found. The umpire further thinks that considering the troubles and difficulties to which Mexico and her Government have been subject for several years past it would not be generous nor even fair to punish them for their failure to pay interest upon a capital of the nature of the Pious Fund, so far as to insist upon the payment of interest upon that interest. As a matter therefore both of justice and equity the umpire thinks that this second interest ought not to be demanded.

The umpire consequently awards that there be paid by the Mexican Government on account of the above-mentioned claim the sum of nine hundred and four thousand, seven hundred Mexican gold dollars and seventy-nine cents ($904,700.79) without interest.

Washington, November 11, 1875.

Decision of Sir Edward Thornton, amending the award of the original Pious Fund Case before the United States and Mexican Claims Commission of 1868.-Washington, October 24, 1876.1

Upon consideration of the agent of Mexico to amend the award made herein, the umpire rendered the following decision:

With reference to the case of "Thaddeus Amat et al. vs. Mexico"

1United States and Mexican Claims Commission, Opinions (MS. Dep't of State), vol vi, p. 544.

No. 493, the agent is quite right in stating that there is an error of $1,000 in the addition of the sums which are considered as bad debts, and which should be deducted from the total of the "Pious Fund."

Instead of being $46,617, these bad debts are $47,617. The total of the fund will therefore be $1,435,033. The half of the interest upon this sum at six per cent will be $43,050.99 the amount of which for twenty-one years will be $904,070.79.

The umpire therefore finally awards that there be paid by the Mexican Government on account of the above-mentioned claim the sum of nine hundred and four thousand and seventy Mexican gold dollars and seventy-nine cents ($904,070.79) without interest. Washington, October 24, 1876.