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On the passage to Hakodate the Algerine visited the river Tinel, latitude 58°, and there took on board the crew of the American steamer Mineola, which sank after striking on an unknown rock. The crew consisted of 31 persons, including a Russian official, a passenger. The commander of the Algerine proposed to land them at Hakodate.

I have, etc.,

LANSDOWNE.

DECLARATION SIGNED AT ST. PETERSBURG NOVEMBER 25, 1904, FOR REFERENCE OF NORTH SEA INCIDENT TO INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY. «

ARTICLE I.

The international commission of inquiry shall be composed of five members (commissioners), of whom two shall be officers of high rank in the British and imperial Russian navies, respectively. The Governments of France and the United States of America shall each be requested to select one of their naval officers of high rank as a member of the commission. The fifth member shall be chosen by agreement between the four members above mentioned.

In the event of no agreement being arrived at between the four commissioners as to the selection of the fifth member of the commission, His Imperial and Royal Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, will be invited to select him.

Each of the two high contracting parties shall likewise appoint a legal assessor to advise the commissioners and an agent officially empowered to take part in the labors of the commission.

ARTICLE II.

The commission shall inquire into and report on all the circumstances relative to the North Sea incident, and particularly on the question as to where the responsibility lies, and the degree of blame attaching to the subjects of the two high contracting parties or to the subjects of other countries in the event of their responsibility being established by the inquiry.

Mr. Ilay to Sir Mortimer Durand.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, December 1, 1904.

DEAR EXCELLENCY: I have the honor to inform you that the President has designated Rear-Admiral Charles Henry Davis, of the United States Navy, an officer of great learning and high distinction, to serve on the court of inquiry.

Very sincerely, yours,

a See also under Russia, page 796.

JOHN HAY.

No. 205.]

Sir Mortimer Durand to Mr. Hay.

BRITISH EMBASSY, Washington, December 6, 1904. SIR: With reference to your letter of the 1st instant, in which you were so good as to inform me that the President had designated RearAdmiral Charles Henry Davis, of the United States Navy, to serve on the court appointed to inquire into the North Sea incident, I have the honor to state that I have received instructions from His Majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs to convey to the President and to the Government of the United States the thanks of His Majesty's Government for the prompt manner in which their request has been complied with. I am to add that His Majesty's Government regard with much satisfaction the appointment of so distinguished an officer as Rear-Admiral Davis to be the United States member of the commission.

I have, etc.,

H. M. DURAND.

GREECE.

VISITS OF UNITED STATES SQUADRONS TO GREECE.

Mr. Loomis to Mr. Jackson.

[Telegram.-Paraphrase.]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, June 7, 1904.

(Mr. Loomis informs Mr. Jackson that Admiral Barker's fleet will arrive at the Piræus on the 30th instant.)

Mr. Jackson to Mr. Hay.

No. 193, Greek Series.]

AMERICAN LEGATION,

Washington, July 6, 1904. SIR: Rear Admiral Albert S. Barker, U. S. Navy, in his flagship, the U. S. S. Kearsarge, and accompanied by the Alabama, the Maine, and the Iowa, and the collier Abarenda, arrived off Phaleron on the afternoon of the 30th ultimo. The U. S. S. Missouri joined these vessels on July 3. All sailed this afternoon.

On the morning after their arrival Admiral Barker, accompanied by Captains Davis, Leutze, Mansfield, and R. P. Rodgers, and other officers, called at the legation and subsequently I went with them to call on the Greek minister of marine and to leave cards on the acting minister of foreign affairs, the court officials, the chiefs of the foreign diplomatic missions, and others. The same afternoon I returned Admiral Barker's visit, being received on board the Kearsarge with the customary honors, and later I visited all the battle ships.

The minister of the marine detailed a Greek officer, Lieutenant Hepites, to attend the admiral during his stay here, and at the admiral's request I have duly thanked him for his courtesy in the admiral's name and my own. Admiral Barker ordered Lieut. J. H. Holden, U. S. Navy, to report to me as an attaché during the stay of the fleet, and that officer performed such services as were required of him in an entirely satisfactory manner.

An audience was requested, and on July 3 I had the honor of presenting Admiral Barker, Captains Leutze, Mansfield, and Rodgers, and eight other officers to His Majesty the King. The King expressed his pleasure, as he did on several other occasions, at seeing the American officers in Greece, regretted that they had come at such a hot season and one so dull socially, and that their stay was to be so short, and received them generally with great cordiality.

On July 4 the ships were dressed with flags, a small Russian vessel

at anchor in the bay having done so as well, and in the evening the King, Prince Andrew, and Princess Alice of Greece, the only members of the royal family in the country at the time, visited the flagship and were the guests at dinner of Admiral Barker and his officers. The King was received with appropriate ceremony, the ships being illuminated after dark, salutes being fired, etc. He inspected the Kearsarge thoroughly and remained on board for about four hours. While at the table Admiral Barker toasted the King, who in turn drank the health of the President. Subsequently I toasted the absent Queen and the other members of the Greek royal family. No speeches were made.

Yesterday a breakfast was given at Tatoi, the King's country place, about two hours distant from Athens, at which the admiral, Captains Davis, Leutze, Mansfield, Rodgers, and W. S. Cowles, and 17 other officers, as well as Mrs. Jackson and myself, were present.

During their stay in the Bay of Phaleron liberty was given to most of the men, and probably about 2,500 of them came ashore. They had just received a month's pay, and altogether it is estimated the fleet brought about $100,000 into the country. The men behaved themselves very well, and they have been very favorably criticised, as usual.

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SIR: I have the honor to inform you of the receipt of a letter from Rear-Admiral T. F. Jewell, U. S. Navy, commanding the United States European Squadron, in which the admiral refers to his recent visit to Corfu (July 26 to 31) as having been very pleasant. Admiral Jewell writes that the commander of the Greek coast-guard vessel Syros came on board the flagship and said that he had been especially charged, by telegraph from Athens, to present the King's compliments and His Majesty's hope that the stay in Greek waters would be agreeable. At Admiral Jewell's request I have written to the Greek minister of foreign affairs to express his appreciation of the courtesies extended, and I have requested the minister to cause a suitable expression of the admiral's appreciation of the complimentary message to be communicated to His Majesty the King, who is at present still absent from Greece.

I have, etc.,

JOHN B. JACKSON.

GUATEMALA AND HONDURAS.

PAYMENT OF GOLD OBLIGATIONS IN SILVER OR PAPER.

No. 131.]

Mr. Combs to Mr. Hay.

AMERICAN LEGATION,
GUATEMALA AND HONDURAS,

January 11, 1904.

SIR: I have the honor to inclose herewith a copy with translation appended of the decree No. 639 issued by the President of Guatemala in regard to the relative values of the national currency.

It excited much discussion and uneasiness. A number of Americans called upon me requesting that I join the other diplomatic representatives here in a remonstrance to the Government.

Friday afternoon, on the 8th instant, Mr. Thornton, the British minister, called and asked me to join him in representations to this Government.

I stated to our citizens and to Mr. Thornton I thought present action premature; that this Government had the unquestionable right to regulate the relations its own circulating mediums should bear to each other; that there was nothing on the face of the decree to which we had a right to object, no difference what opinion might be of the wisdom of the proposed course.

Upon reflection, however, I called upon the minister for foreign affairs Saturday the 9th instant and told him of the existing uneasiness. I further stated the interpretation I had put upon the decree, but that I felt unwilling, in view of existing opinion, to sustain the responsibility of such interpretation unless it was corroborated by the Government. He promised to consult the author of the decree and sent for me this Monday morning to assure me the intention of the decree was exactly what I had thought and an elucidation would be given semiofficially through the press at once.

In order to definitely confirm these interviews with the minister for foreign affairs to place on official record the substance of same, I addressed to him a note, copy of which is herewith inclosed, summarizing my understanding of his expression on the part of his Government as to its intentions in reference to the decree referred to. I have, etc.,

LESLIE COMBS.

346

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