Mr. Portman to Mr. Seward
No. 64]
Legation of the United States in
Japan,
Kanagawa,
October 30, 1865.
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith, No.
1, copy of a memorandum, signed this day, setting forth the course of
action unanimously adopted, in accordance with instructions received
from their respective governments, by the representatives of Great
Britain, France, and the Netherlands.
Similar instructions have, no doubt, been sent to this legation. I would
have preferred to await their arrival, but I knew that a golden
opportunity to place our political and commercial relations with this
country on an improved basis had presented itself, and felt no
hesitation, therefore, in cordially uniting with above-mentioned
representatives in carrying out the instructions that had been
received.
This action is unquestionably in continuation of the policy that was
inaugurated with the successful expedition to Simonoseki, of which the
President was pleased to approve, and which has been productive of so
much benefit. It was, moreover, in harmony with Mr. Pruyn’s views, as
expressed in his several despatches with reference to the Simonoseki
indemnity, and it was, also, well understood, though not frankly
admitted, that the temporary transfer of the foreign legations to
Osacca, at this juncture, could not but be highly acceptable to the
Tycoon and his government, and, in all probability, would be the means
of averting civil war, into which the hitherto existing civil commotion
appeared likely to culminate at an early day.
The Tycoon, and four of the five members of which the Gorogio is
composed, are now at Osacca.
I greatly regret that, on an occasion like the present, there is no
national vessel in Japan. Very acceptable arrangements, however, have
been made by the vice-admiral commanding her Britannic Majesty’s naval
forces on this station for my accommodation on board her Britannic
Majesty’s frigate Pelorus, the largest ship in his squadron next to the
Princess Royal line-of-battle ship, in which the British minister and
staff have taken passage.
The French minister will take passage in the frigate Guerriere, and the
Netherlands consul general and political agent in the Dutch sloop
Tontinan, and at 10 o’clock to-morrow morning the squadron will sail for
Hiogo and Osacca.
The mail closes this afternoon, and only a few hours are left me to
complete all my preparations for this trip; I trust, therefore, that you
will excuse me from sending a translation of accompanying memorandum by
this mail.
I also transmit, No. 2, copy of my letter to the Gorogio, and No. 3, copy
of my letter to the consular officers in this country, announcing the
temporary transfer of the legation to Osacca.
I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your most obedient
servant,
A. L. C. PORTMAN, Chargé d’Affaires ad interim
in Japan.
Hon. William H. Seward,
Secretary of State, Washington.
[Page 266]
No. 1.
[Translation.—Memorandum.]
In virtue of the convention signed 22d October, 1864, the Japanese
government engaged to pay to the governments of the United States of
America, England, France, and the Netherlands, a sum of three
millions of dollars, as indemnity for the expenditures made
necessary by the expedition.
The representatives of the four powers above named, desirous of
testifying to the Japanese government the disinterested views of
their sovereigns, and of their sole desire to improve their
relations with Japan, left to his Majesty the Tycoon the privilege
of settling the payment of this indemnity by opening a new port to
foreign commerce, required by the representatives of the said powers
to declare whether he would or not avail himself of this privilege.
The government of Japan declared about six months ago that it
preferred to pay the indemnity, seeing that the state of the country
caused it to regard the opening of a new port as impolitic; but at
the same time requested the delay of a year to provide for the
second instalment of the indemnity.
The representatives of the four powers, while acknowledging the right
of the Japanese government to choose between the two conditions, did
not consider themselves empowered to grant the postponement asked
for, and had to refer to their respective governments. The
instructions which they asked for on this subject have reached the
undersigned representatives of France, England, and the
Netherlands.
The right of the Tycoon to choose between the payment of the
indemnity in the terms settled by the convention of the 22d October
and the opening of a port on the Inland Sea, is naturally admitted
by each of the said powers, but they differ in opinion on the
subject of the postponement asked for by the Japanese
government.
The cabinets of St. James and the Hague require either the strict
execution of the articles of the convention of the 22d October in
this respect, or, instead, consent to this postponement, and even to
the abandonment of two-thirds of the indemnity on the three
conditions following:
First, that the Japanese government open the port of Hiogo and the
city of Osacca on the 1st January, 1866; second, that the Mikado
ratify the treaties concluded with the foreign powers; third, and
last, that the tariff of duties of import be fixed for the greater
part of merchandise at five per cent., and can in no case exceed 10
per cent. The cabinet of Paris, on the contrary, would not see any
obstacle to according the postponement to the Japanese government,
if the latter should act in good faith in respect to the powers,
signers of the treaties, and would perceive a danger in imposing on
it the opening of Osacca before the epoch fixed by the additional
convention of 1862. The cabinet of Paris declares, besides,
formally, what is also admitted by the cabinets of St. James and the
Hague, that the Tycoon being free to choose between the payment of
the indemnity and the opening of a port, we would not have the
right, if the prince execute one of these conditions, to exact the
opening, by anticipation, of Hiogo and Osacca. ‘The minister of the
Emperor adds in recapitulation, in the despatch which his excellency
addressed to the cabinets of London, of Washington, and of the
Hague, under date of 22d July, 1865, that the imperial government is
of opinion that the solution of this question may be devolved on the
representatives of the four powers in Japan. In answer to this
communication, Earl Cowley has informed Mr. Drouyn d’Lhuys that the
government of her Britannic Majesty consented to this last
proposition.
The representative of the United States of America has not received
any instructions from his government; but the measures settled by
the present memorandum being only the consequence of the policy
which has been inaugurated between the four powers, signers of the
treaties, Mr. Portman, chargé d’affaires ad interim, does not
hesitate on this occasion to unite with his colleagues. Mr. De
Graeff Van Polsbroek has received from his government identical
instructions. In this state of things the undersigned,
representatives of the United States of America, of England, of
France, and of the Netherlands, have deemed it necessary to assemble
for the purpose of a mutual understanding—First, on the means of
reconciling the instructions of their respective governments, while
preserving intact the union and community of purpose which have
already given them such power; second, on the steps to be followed
so as to make the best possible of the actual situation. After
having examined the question in all its aspects; considering, on the
one hand, that the proposition of the government of her Britannic
Majesty to abandon a part of the indemnity in return, first, of the
opening by anticipation of the port of Hiogo and of the city of
Osacca; second, of the ratification of the treaty by the Mikado;
and, third, of the revision of the tariff of duties, conforms with
the spirit of the convention of the 22d October, 1864; considering,
on the other hand, that the government of his Majesty the Emperor
does not diverge from the propositions of the cabinet of St. James,
except what there might be in them inopportune; considering the
state of par ties in Japan: considering that the conditions claimed
by England and the Netherlands, if they were spontaneously granted
by the government of Japan would no longer present the dangers which
France apprehended, if such conditions should be imposed, and would
be preferable for all interested in the payment of thier third of
the indemnity, and that France would then have no objection to
oppose to this new arrangement, which, is repeated, is in ful
conformity with the spirit of the convention of the 22d of October;
considering that the [Page 267]
well-understood interests of the powers, signers of the treaties,
and of Japan itself, require a prompt solution of questions
depending, and that the abandonment of two-thirds of the indemnity
might facilitate and hasten the ratification of the treaties by the
Mikado, a ratification which is the best guarantee of the future
good relations of the foreign powers with Japan, and that, moreover,
the government of the Tycoon has engaged to obtain it from the
Mikado; considering that the absence of the Tycoon and his principal
ministers renders any negotiation at Yedo, if not impossible, at
least illusory—that it is important, however, to affirm our right to
obtain in due time the execution of an agreement and of a solemn
convention, and to convince the Japanese government, as well as the
Mikado and the Daimio, that the foreign powers have irrevocably
determined to exact the opening of Hiogo and of Osacca at the time
fixed by the treaties, if not obtained before in consequence of a
mutual understanding—the representatives undersigned have agreed by
common consent to transfer for the moment the seat of their
negotiations to Osacca. This measure, which is in perfect conformity
with the spirit of the treaties, because the said representatives
are accredited to the Tycoon in person, will have, besides, in the
eyes of the friends and enemies of the Tycoon, a signification which
will singularly influence the happy issue of events which are in
preparation.
In fact, the undersigned have been informed that the Tycoon, yielding
to the instances of the Mikado and the Daimio who surrounded him,
had consented to receive the Prince of Nagato as recipient in regard
to conditions which this rebel Daimio had accepted some eight months
before from Prince Owari, generalissimo of the Tycoon’s army, but
which, upon various pretexts, he had not complied with. But the
Tycoon, distrusting, with reason, the real dispositions of his
subject, fixed a period (the 13th of December) after which he would
consider the favorable conditions which he was willing to have given
the rebel Daimio as not-having befallen, and would proceed at once
to his chastisement.
The arrival at Osacca of the representatives of the powers, signers
of the treaties, happening at this decisive moment, followed by a
respectable naval force to treat amicably with the ministers of the
Tycoon, will prevent, there is room to believe, the commencement of
hostilities, which would, perhaps, be the signal for civil war, the
consequences whereof, whatever they might be, could not but injure
the political as well as the commercial interests of foreign powers
in Japan; at all events, this arrival could not but give the
Japanese government the moral support that would facilitate the
results of its measures, to the effect of obtaining from the Mikado
the ratification of the treaties.
In consequence the undersigned agreed immediately to address to the
commanders of the naval forces of their respective countries, in
order to have them understand the political situation, and to invite
them to proceed to Osacca, where they would sojourn during the time
necessary to lead to a good result the important negotiations which
call them thither.
The undersigned take this determination, with the intimate conviction
that it may lead to very fortunate results, and that in any event it
is not of a nature to compromise the safe and conciliatory policy
which their respective governments have ordered them to follow in
respect to Japan.
Done at
Yokohama, in quadruplicate, the 30th of October,
1865.
A. L. C. POSTMAN, Chargé d’ Affaires of
the United States in Japan.
HARRY S. PARKES, H. B. M.’s Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in
Japan.
LEON ROCHES, Minister Plenipotentiary of
the Emperor of the French.
D. DE GRAEFF VAN POLSBROEK, H. N. M.’s
Political Agent and Consul General in
Japan.
No. 2.
Mr. Portman to the Gorogio
Legation of the United States in
Japan,
October 30, 1865.
After conferring with my colleagues, the representatives of England,
France, and the Netherlands, I have formed with them the unanimous
opinion that the promptest mode to secure a solution, alike
satisfactory to the Japanese government and to the treaty powers, of
all that relates to the convention of the 22d of October, 1864, is
to settle the important matter by negotiation with the ministers who
are at present with the Tycoon.
I have, therefore, the honor to inform your excellency that I propose
immediately to proceed to Osacca with my colleagues, the
representatives above named.
The object, as above stated, is so eminently of a friendly character
that it cannot fail to be productive of substantial benefit to the
government and people of Japan.
With respect and esteem,
A. L. C. PORTMAN, Chargé d’ Affaires of
the United States in Japan.
His Excellency Midluno Idlumi no Kami,
Minister for Foreign Affairs, &c, &c,
&c, Yedo.
[Page 268]
No. 3.
Mr. Portman to Mr. Fisher
Legation of the United States in
Japan,
October 30, 1865.
Sir: I have the honor to inform you that in
concert with the representatives of Great Britain, France, and the
Netherlands, I have determined upon temporarily transferring the
legation to Osacca, at present the seat of the government of this
country, with a view of bringing more promptly to a successful
termination important negotiations that have been in progress for
some time.
I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant,
A. L. C. PORTMAN, Chargé d’ Affaires ad
interim in Japan.
George S. Fisher, Esq., United States Consul, Kanagawa.
