Mr. Van Valkenburgh to Mr. Seward.
Sir: The doubt expressed in my dispatch No. 81, of the 14th August last, whether the Mikado would assume the treaty-making power, has been removed. Mr. Van Palshock, the representative of Holland, informed me this day that, in his capacity of minister plenipotentiary of the King of Sweden and Norway, he had signed a treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation, between that kingdom and Japan.
This treaty confers no privileges not already secured on behalf of the United States.
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.