No. 351.
Mr. Evarts to Mr. Drummond.
Washington, July 30, 1880.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of Sir Edward Thornton’s note of the 12th ultimo, in relation to the proposed commission of liquidation for the settlement of the Egyptian debts, which has resulted from the negotiations carried on for some time between the Governments of Great Britain, Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, and Italy, and have given the most considerate attention to the statements therein presented respecting the Khedival decree of March 31, last, and the declaration of the same date signed by the representatives of the five powers above mentioned, of which documents you kindly furnish me with copies.
It appears from those documents, taken conjointly with your statements, that the five powers, whose subjects own nearly the whole of the Egyptian debt, have organized among themselves a commission of liquidation for the benefit of the creditors, whether large or small, whose interests are confided to its prudence; that the same powers have united in a declaration to the end of giving force of law to the decisions which the commission shall have arrived at; that the five cabinets are desirous that the decisions of the commission should hold applicable with like force to creditors belonging to powers which, while not represented in the preliminary negotiations for the commission, or in the commission itself, have concurred in establishing the legal administration of Egypt by participating in the establishment of the mixed tribunals; that to this end the adherence of such powers to the work of the commission is requested, in order that those tribunals may have unimpeded jurisdiction over cases of rescinded contracts and other questions which may arise under the operations of the commission; and, that you are instructed by your government to ask the formal adhesion of that of the United States to the joint declaration referred to. Hence you ask that I will acquaint you, so soon as it may be in my power, with the views of this government upon the subject.
The important question to which the attention of this government is [Page 522] thus called had already had careful consideration, based upon the application directly made to it by that of his highness the Khedive through the United States agent at Cairo, and also upon the approaches made to it by that of France in the sense of obtaining the adhesion of the United States to the scheme. The first results of that consideration were not, on the whole, favorable to the concurrence of the United States in the proposal of the foreign powers, and the expressed opinion of the Department was that the United States Government did not feel called upon to accept, in advance, as binding upon its citizens, the action of a commission in the organization of which neither it nor they had had any part. Although, so far as was known, the interests of American citizens, concerned in contracts and like engagements with the Egyptian Government, were not so numerous or important as to make participation in the organization of the commission an indispensable requisite, yet it was regarded as proper to leave undecided, for the time being at least, the question of the acceptability of such action as that commission might hereafter take so far as concerned its operation upon the rights of citizens of the United States, and this view was strengthened by the natural desire of the United States to take no action which, on the one hand, might be tantamount to enforcing its own procedure and remedies, in conjunction with other powers, upon the Khedival Government in matters of its own internal economy, and, on the other, might forego the reservation of the rights of United States citizens, in their direct relations to the Egyptian Government, in case the disparagement of such rights should call for diplomatic representations in their defense.
In leaning to the adoption of such a course on the part of the United States, it was, however, entirely foreign to the purposes of this government to interfere with, or embarrass in any way, the financial relations of the Khedive toward the other powers, or the adjustment, by whatever means it and they might determine, of such obligations as might have arisen and become matters of dispute or compromise between them. It was not perceived that the attitude of discreet reserve, which thus so properly commended itself to this government in respect of a matter wherein it, as a government, had no direct concern, and wherein the interests of its citizens were amply guarded by the direct relations it maintains so happily with the Government of the Khedive, could be regarded as interfering with the entire freedom of that government to make any administrative adjustment of its financial relations with governments having representation in such administration.
While holding these views, therefore, and expressing them frankly through the medium of its diplomatic representation at Cairo, the Government of the United States held itself ready to receive and consider in the most friendly spirit any indications which the Khedive’s Government might present of embarrassment caused to it on this account.
Matters being in this state, advices from the representative of the United States at Cairo were received, exhibiting the apparent interest of the Egyptian Government itself in the solutions reached by the commission of liquidation, and soliciting in the most unequivocal and earnest manner the concurrence of the United States in order to remove the embarrassments winch it was represented would flow from the attempt on the part of the Khedive Government to apply, through the tribunals, the decisions of the commission without the adhesion of the powers represented in the organization of those tribunals; and these considerations induced this government to waive its reserve and accord its adhesion to the administrative plan upon which the Government of his highness the Khedive seemed to put so much value.
[Page 523]The diplomatic agent of the United States at Cairo was accordingly instructed, on the 17th instant, by telegraph, to give the adhesion of this government if that of Egypt regarded it as material to the scheme, and I am since in receipt of advices that he has done so.
Expressing my pleasure in being thus enabled to return a full and, as I trust, a satisfactory response to your note,
I have, &c.,
[Note.—An identical communication was addressed, the same day, to the representatives of Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, and Italy.]