No. 146.
Mr. Evarts
to Mr. Seward.
Washington, January 22, 1880.
Sir: Your dispatch No. 505, of the 18th of November last, concerning the judicial system and mixed courts in China, has been received and read with satisfaction.
In reply, I have to state that the main proposition advanced in the memorandum submitted by you at the conference of the foreign representatives at Peking, and accepted by your colleagues, that mixed cases, civil and criminal, in which foreigners and Chinese are concerned, should be heard and determined in the proper court of the defendant and in accordance with the laws of his country, appears to agree with the position which has uniformly been held by the department, and is therefore approved.
You are instructed to proceed, in concert with your colleagues, as suggested in the report of the committee upon the administration of justice.
I am, &c.,