for the capital debt carrying "interest at 5 per cent not addable to the principal and to be reckoned from the date on which this contract is duly executed."

In our opinion the payment of the debt with interest is consequently now incumbent upon Chile by virtue of the obligation undertaken by the treaty of peace of 1904 as embodied in the treaty and the supplementary notes and protocol.

The subsequent facts need be touched upon but briefly. In December, 1904, and again in 1907, the Chilean Government offered in settlement of the claim a sum which was the pro rata share of the 6,500,000 pesos provided in article 5 of the treaty of 1904, adding in the latter case a small sum by way of accrued interest, and explaining also that it was the final offer of Chile, and that, if the claimants were unwilling to accept it, they would be invited to turn for payment to Bolivia.

Both these offers were declined, and in 1908 the State Department at Washington asked whether the Chilean Government would furnish information regarding the case, as there was nothing in the archives of the Department which would justify the offer of a sum which was actually less than the debt admitted by Bolivia in 1876. No such information was supplied, and in April, 1909, the Chilean minister in Washington stated that his Government had no such evidence to produce.

No serious effort is made in either the case or the countercase of the Chilean Government to show that if any liability to pay the claim attaches to them the merits of the claim do not warrant payment in full. It is true that suggestions are put forward that Gama's transactions with the Bolivian Government before 1876 were not such as to justify so large an admission of liability on the part of Bolivia as the debt which was recognized in the Wheelwright contract, but we have already stated that there seems to be no sufficient grounds for going behind that contract. The motives which induced Bolivia to sign it and the question whether it was reasonable for her to do so must be matters of mere speculation. Even if the bargain was a bad one for Bolivia, there can be no doubt but that she did in fact admit liability for the sum there mentioned, and in the view we take of the proper construction of the secret notes attached to the treaty of 1904 Chile agreed to relieve Bolivia of that burden.

It is perhaps worth while to point out that the liability which Chile assumed by those notes was not dependent on the merits of the claim. She did not undertake to pay the claim because she considered it a just claim; she agreed to it as part of the price which she was willing to pay for securing the recognition and acceptance by Bolivia of her title to the territory which she had wrested from that Republic by force of arms; and even if she may consider the sum Your Majesty may be pleased to award large, having regard to all the circumstances, it is certainly small as compared with the advantages of a sure title to a valuable territory.

The indebtedness admitted by Bolivia under article 2 of the Wheelwright contract, which it is now incumbent upon Chile to discharge, was 835,000 bolivianos, with interest, but a question arises whether certain profits from the working of the mines by Alsop & Co. ought not to be deducted from this sum.

The United States admit that profits were obtained from the working of six of the mines, and under article 3 of the Wheelwright contract it might be contended that 40 per cent of these profits should be applied in reduction of Bolivia's debt. The amount of profit admitted in the United States case is $45,095.22.

The great majority of the mines appear to have been worked at a loss; and so far as can be gathered from the accounts printed in the appendices, if the working of the mines is regarded as a whole, a loss ensued.

The power of the Bolivian Government to give the firm of Alsop & Co. the right to work the Government "estacas" under the Wheelwright contract was derived from the Bolivian decree of the 2d November, 1871, which enacted that the working of the mines was to be in partnership with the State, the State being considered as an industrial partner and being under no obligation as such to reimburse losses to the partners.

If the working of each individual mine under article 3 of the Wheelwright contract is to be regarded as a separate venture, then losses in respect of any such mine would fall on the firm, while 40 per cent of the profits made at any such mine would go in reduction of the debt.

If the working of the Government " estacas" is regarded as a whole, then a share of the profits made at any particular mine would not go in reduction

of the debt unless the mining venture as a whole was profitable. If, as a whole, the mining venture resulted in loss, the Bolivian Government would not benefit by the profits made at one or two mines.

It is not easy to determine which of these two views is the right one, but it seems to be more reasonable, and more consistent with the intention of the parties, to adopt the latter, and treat the mining venture as a whole.

The accounts of the mining operations of the firm of Alsop & Co. have not been laid before Your Majesty very fully, but the accounts which are printed in the United States case indicate that those operations, treated as a whole, resulted in a loss, and, if that is so, no part of the profits admitted to have been earned at six of the mines would go in reduction of the debt.

We have considered the question whether we ought to report to Your Majesty that further evidence should be called for under the power reserved to Your Majesty in the protocol of submission between the parties. The conclusion at which we have arrived is that it is not incumbent upon Your Majesty to do so.

If Chile desired to diminish the liability which she has undertaken, it was for her to establish that Alsop & Co. made profits out of the mines. Access to the books of the firm has been afforded to her, and she has not availed herself of the offer. In the absence of some proof by her that the firm did make profits out of the mines, we see no reason why Your Majesty should assume it. The liability admitted by Bolivia was 835,000 bolivianos with interest at 5 per cent from the date of the execution of the contract, i. e., from the 26th December, 1876, that is practically 34 years and 6 months. The amount of the debt at the present time, therefore, is 835,000 bolivianos for the principal, and 1,440,375 bolivianos for interest.

As the debt admitted by Bolivia was payable in bolivianos, the award must be payable in the same currency, or in gold at the current rate of exchange. We humbly submit to Your Majesty that Your Majesty should be pleased to award that the sum of 2,275,375 bolivianos is equitably due to the representatives of the firm of Alsop & Co.

And whereas, after mature consideration, We are fully persuaded of the wisdom and justice of the said report:

Now therefore We, George, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India, do hereby award and determine that the sum of two million two hundred and seventy-five thousand three hundred and seventy-five (2,275,375) bolivianos is equitably due to the representatives of the firm of Alsop and Company.

Given in triplicate under our hand and seal at our Court of St. James, this fifth day of July, one thousand nine hundred and eleven, in the second year of our reign.

[SEAL]

GEORGE R. I.

CHINA.

JOINT INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF THE OPIUM QUESTION IN THE FAR EAST.

File No. 511.4A1/989.

The Netherlands Minister to the Secretary of State. No. 216.]

ROYAL LEGATION OF THE NETHERLANDS, Washington, March 10, 1911. Mr. SECRETARY OF STATE: Referring to my note of November last,1 relative to the meeting of International Opium Conference, I have the honor to inform your excellency, by order of my Government, that in consequence of objections made by some Governments, the date of the opening had to be changed from May 30 to July 1 next. My Government hopes that the Government of the United States will see no objection to the change. It would also attach value to knowing before April 15 next whether your Government accepts the conditions put by the British Government in respect to the repression of the morphine and cocaine trades. As your excellency is aware, the last-named Government subjects its consent to participate in the conference to the following conditions:

1. That the Governments concerned shall prepare, before the conference meets, statistical statements of the trade and manufacture of those two products in their countries;

2. That the question of regulating the said trade and manufacture shall be embodied in the program of the conference;

3. That the Governments shall declare their readiness to take vigorous measures to repress the said trade and manufacture.

In consequence of the foregoing I have the honor to beg your excellency to kindly acquaint me with your views on the subject, if not already made known to the Queen's Government.

Be pleased, etc.,

J. LOUDON.

Acting Secretary of State to the Netherlands Minister.

No. 117.]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, March 22, 1911. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note No. 216 of the 10th instant, in which, referring to your note of November last relative to the meeting of the International Opium Conference, you inform me by order of your Government that in

See Foreign Relations, 1910, p. 321.

consequence of objections made by some Governments the date of the opening of the conference had to be changed from May 30 to July 1 next: also that your Government would attach great value to knowing before April 15 next whether this Government accepts the conditions of the British Government in respect to the repression of the morphine and cocaine trades, as the latter Government had consented to participate in the conference on the conditions which you set forth, namely

1st. That the Governments concerned should prepare before the conference meets statistical statements of the trade and manufacture of morphine and cocaine in their respective countries;

2d. That the question of regulating the said trade and manufacture shall be embodied in the program of the conference;

3d. That the Governments shall declare their readiness to take vigorous measures to suppress the said trade and manufacture.

I am happy to be able to inform you that this Government takes due note of the change of the date of the opening of the International Opium Conference from May 30 to July 1, which is entirely agreeable to this Government; and that the proposals made by the British Government in regard to the manufacture and trade in morphine and cocaine will have its earnest support.

As soon as this Government learned of the proposals of the British Government in regard to morphine and cocaine, Mr. Beaupré, the American minister at The Hague, was instructed on September 27, 1910, to inform your Government of the proposals, and also that the United States was in entire accord with them as being in conformity with resolution 5 of the International Opium Commission. The United States has already completed its examination of the morphine and cocaine questions, and statistics on these subjects are contained in a report, several copies of which have been sent to Mr. Beaupré for transmission to the Netherlands Government.

In addition to the copies of the report sent to Mr. Beaupré for transmission to the Netherlands Government, copies of pending legislation were also sent to him for the same purpose, so that your Government is now fully informed that it is the earnest desire of this Government that the British proposals in regard to the manufacture and trade in morphine and cocaine shall be fully considered in the forthcoming conference.

For your convenience, I take great pleasure in sending you herewith three copies of the above-mentioned report, and three copies each of bills now before the Congress aimed to control the importation, exportation, and interstate traffic in habit-forming drugs; also copies of a bill which is in conformity with resolutions 8 and 9 of the International Opium Commission and applies adequate pharmacy laws to persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States practicing pharmacy in the consular districts of this Government in China. This bill passed the Senate during the last Congress, but failed of action in the House of Representatives by reason of the great pressure of important matters before that body. The Department has no reason to doubt that it will be enacted into law by the forthcoming Congress.

Accept, etc.,

HUNTINGTON WILSON.

File No. 511.4A1/1111A.

The Secretary of State to the American Minister to China.1

WASHINGTON, April 5, 1911.

SIR: You will inform the Government to which you are accredited that the President has appointed as delegates to the International Opium Conference which is to meet at The Hague July 1 next the Right Rev. Charles H. Brent, Protestant Episcopal Bishop of the Philippine Islands; Mr. Hamilton Wright, of Livermore, Me.; and Mr. H. J. Finger, of Santa Barbara, Cal. The secretary of the American delegation is Mr. Frederic Huidekoper, of Washington, D. C.

I am, etc.,

P. C. KNOX.

NOTE. Owing to the inability of certain Governments to prepare for the conference in time for the date mentioned in the foregoing correspondence, July 1, the meeting was postponed to October 1, and again to December 1, as appears below.

File No. 511.4A1/1217.

The Netherlands Minister for Foreign Affairs to the American Chargé d'Affaires.

No. 19191.]

[Translation.]

MINISTRY FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS,

CONSULAR AND COMMERCIAL BUREAU, The Hague, September 30, 1911. Mr. CHARGÉ D'AFFAIRES: Referring to the note of his excellency, Mr. Beaupré, of the 11th of August last, I have the honor to notify you that as all the Governments of the interested powers have now accepted the proposals of the British Government, Her Majesty's Government has decided that the conference against the abuse of opium will meet at The Hague on the 1st of December next.

In adding that Her Majesty's minister at Washington has been requested by telegraph to communicate the above to your Government,

IMPERIAL RUSSIAN EMBASSY,
Washington, January 19, 1911.

The bubonic plague in Manchuria_threatens to spread not only into the Russian dominions, but into Europe and America. Though

1 The same to England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Persia, Portugal, Russia, and Siam.