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By the terms of the Act of Congress under which the Court was created, its duration, unless prolonged by proclamation of the President, was limited to one year from the date of its organization. Six months of that time were given within which petitions might be filed by the claimants, and a large part of the petitions, as has been shown, were filed during the latter part of this period. Although the claimants seemed to be diligent in preparing their cases, but few, comparatively, were ready for trial until late in the spring of 1875, so that out of the 1,382 claims on file, a large number remained undecided in June last, as heretofore mentioned. On the 2nd of June, 1875, therefore, the President, by proclamation, extended the duration of the Court for 6 months from the 22nd of July, 1875 (as provided by law). The powers of the Court will therefore cease on the 22nd day of January next.

The total number of cases in which judgment is now entered is 682, and the total amount allowed is 2,810,088.84 dollars, exclusive of interest; petitions have been dismissed or judgment has been entered in favour of the United States in 147 cases, involving 3,274,418-35 dollars, exclusive of interest; and 700 cases, involving 5,296,883 58 dollars, exclusive of interest, remain to be acted upon at the date of this communication, of which 12 have been argued, and are now under consideration.

Of the total number of cases submitted, 640 have been decided since the Court met, on the 28th day of April last.

The Court, therefore, direct me to inform you that it is evident to them that they will not be able to complete their work within the time provided by the 8th section of the said Act.

I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant,

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Number of cases yet undisposed of 700, of which 12 are now before the Court.

JOHN DAVIS, Clerk.

Court of Commissioners of Alabama Claims, Washington, November 1, 1875.

CORRESPONDENCE between Great Britain and Turkey, respecting Turkish Proceedings in the neighbourhood of Aden. (Yemen, Lahej, Howshebee, &c.)—1872, 1873.

No. 1.-Earl Granville to Sir H. Elliot.

(Telegraphic.) Foreign Office, January 11, 1873, 12.50 P.M. SULTAN of Lahej expresses to Resident at Aden great fear of an attack being made against him by the Turks in that quarter. Such an act would be regarded in a serious light by Her Majesty's Government, as likely to endanger British territory of Aden. Inquire if the movement is sanctioned by the Turkish Government. In any case you will request that immediate orders be sent to the Turkish authorities to put a stop to hostile operations against any of the Arab Chiefs, calculated to disturb our position at Aden, and which would certainly give rise to a bad impression in England as well as in India.

SIB,

No. 2.-Earl Granville to Sir H. Elliot.

Foreign Office, January 23, 1873.

I HAVE received your telegram of the 12th instant, reporting that no operations have been or will be commenced against the Sultan of Lahej without orders from the Porte, which will do nothing without communicating with Her Majesty's Government.

I take advantage of the present opportunity to send you a copy of a despatch, dated October 26, from the Resident at Aden to the Bombay Government, which was communicated to me by the Secretary of State for India on the 26th November.

I await the communication which you lead me to expect may be made by the Porte, before going into any details on this matter; but in the meanwhile you will make it clear to the Porte that as the safety, no less than the comfort, of the British position at Aden would be seriously impaired by any interference on the part of the Turkish authorities in that quarter with Rulers friendly to Great Britain, Her Majesty's Government would view seriously any proceedings calculated to disturb the country in the neighbourhood of that place. I am, &c.,

Sir H. Elliot.

GRANVILLE.

(Inclosure 1.)-The Resident at Aden to the Government of Bombay. (Extract.) Aden, October 26, 1872.

I HAVE the honour to inform Government that the Sultan of Lahej paid me a visit on the 24th instant, and presented a letter received by him through an emissary from Mushir Ahmed Mookhtar, Pasha of Yemen, translation of which is annexed. In this communication the Sultan is invited to give his allegiance to the Sublime Porte and to wait upon the Pasha.

The Sultan having presented the letter above adverted to, I felt no hesitation as to the nature of the advice that the Resident was bound to give. I accordingly suggested to His Highness that he should reply to the Pasha in a friendly and courteous strain and state that he is the ally and stipendiary of the British Government; that Treaty obligations exist between him and that Government; that a copy of the Mushir's communication would be forwarded through the Resident to Government, and that he, the Sultan, did not desire to act without its wishes being known to him.

I need scarcely refer to the many Treaties that exist between Government and the independent chieftains in the vicinity of Aden, and to the feeling with which they will regard us, if they are coerced by the Turks against their will, while we, as they would suppose, looked on with indifference or with no power to prevent such a proceeding. It is obvious that the Pasha of Yemen has made his overtures to the Sultan of Lahej as the recognized principal and most

influential chief in the lowlands, feeling confident that, if he gives in his adhesion to the Sublime Porte, the other Chiefs would follow in his footsteps as a matter of course. I have ascertained that the Howshebee Sheikh replied recently to an emissary that he would wait and see what course the Sultan adopted before replying to the overtures made to him.

The compulsory transfer by the Sultan of Lahej and other Chiefs of their adherence to another Power would, of necessity, alter our intimate relations with them. At present the British Government is respected and feared by these Chiefs. They are all more or less subsidized by Government and look to it for advice and assistance through the Resident, and they consult his wishes and generally abide by his suggestions; but if they are coerced and incorporated with the Turkish possessions in Yemen, Government can no longer be regarded as the paramount authority here, and difficulties and complications will probably follow, the result of which it is now impossible to see. The Turks would control the whole land around Aden up to the Owlakee country, including the ports of Shugra and Howr. When convenient the Chiefs would declare that they can only do so and so with the permission of the Turks, or that they adopted a particular line of conduct under their instructions; but supplies from the interior, absolutely necessary to our existence here, may even be interrupted, and the great trade that is carried on between the neighbouring States in the interior and Aden may, by prohibitive transit duties, be diverted to other parts in the Red Sea.

A copy of this letter and its annexment will be forwarded to Her Majesty's Secretary of State for India by the Bombay mail which may be expected to-morrow.

Charles Gonne, Esq.

J. W. SCHNEIDER.

(Inclosure 2.)-The Mushir Sayyid Ahmed Mookhtar, Pasha of Yemen, (Translation.) to Shaikh Fadhl bin Mohsin, the Abdalee.

(After compliments.)

Sana, 8 Rajib, 1289 (August 29, 1872).

WE write you this letter after our arrival, by command of our Lord the Sultan of Al-Islam, the devout follower of the religion of the two Holy Cities, the Monarch of the Kingdom of the East and West, nay his magnificence be perpetual, and may the monument of his glory be raised aloft, and the full moon of his life, in the land of Yemen, to resuscitate the kingdom which his ancestors the Sultans founded, by the revival of religion and the promulgation of the ordinances of the Chief of Prophets, and thanks be to God, it has taken place according to the desire of the Sultan, by the assistance and grace of God, without causing us any trouble, nor has any

trouble whatsoever befallen the people of the country; by the favour of God, indeed, the intention of our Sultan has been accomplished. May his glory continue! And we have not turned our attention to the ordering of your territories till the rest of the country should have been completely settled from your boundaries to above Sana. However, we have long known the way in which you preserve yourself and your country from workers of sedition, and for that we thank you much, and how excellent is he who, in times of anarchy, preserves his dignity! But, to-day, God has graciously favoured the Sublime Government. Praise be to Him for it. And our Lord the Sultan of Al-Islam has turned his attention to the districts of Yemen, and you are (praised be God) one of the members of the Government and of the people who serve it and your country, by the favour of God, one of those whose people come within the circle of its attention. We have also heard that you are afraid, and we are very much astonished at you. How is it you are afraid when nothing has previously been done by you to us? But we have granted safety to those near and to those distant, to the freemen and to the bondsmen, and, by the favour of God, nothing unpleasant has been caused by us to any one. Every one knows this; then wherefore do you fear, or why should one like you be afraid? On this account your fear is a wonderful thing. But the Sheikh Mohideen-al-Akel visits us constantly, and is acquainted with our character and our mode of dealing with people, with our clemency and our justice. And if there should be anything against you in times past, for you there is now no chiding, and should there be anything against you of a later date still there is nothing which can be called a fault. So you have, up to the present time, a clean page; and we look forward to your coming to us that you may receive the good things and the high honour you deserve, and trust you will accompany the messenger now sent to our presence, and we promise you safety under the security of God, of His Prophet, of the Sultan of Al-Islam, and of ourselves, to come with him and return with him. So trust in this, and trust in God, and listen to the counsels of the messenger sent to you, for we have heard of the friendship between you and him. Upon you be peace.

No. 3.-Sir H. Elliot to Earl Granville.-(Received January 28.)
MY LORD,
Constantinople, January 13, 1873.

I HAVE communicated to Khalil Pasha your Lordship's instructions in reference to any hostile operations against the Arab chieftains in the immediate neighbourhood of the British territory at Aden.

His Excellency said that no such operations had been commenced

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