them to accede to
them." Declaring that the three rules had not been recognized
theretofore as International Law by her Majesty's Government, it was
a fair agreement that they should be recognized thereafter, and that
the combined influence of the British and American Governments should
be used to incorporate them in the recognized code of the world.

But the Government of England has been unwilling to perform the duty
which had thus been agreed upon, and this refusal gives rise to the
impression that England does not desire to bind itself with other
nations as she has bound herself with the United States. As the
matter stands, if England should be involved in war with a European
power, the United States is strictly bound by the letter and spirit of
these three rules; but if two Continental powers become engaged in war,
England is not bound by those rules in her conduct towards them. She
certainly has gained much in securing the absolute neutrality of the
United States when she is engaged in war, but it cannot be considered
an honorable compliance with the obligations of the treaty if she
fails to use her influence to extend the operation of the rules.

Following the provision for arbitration of the _Alabama_ claims, the
Treaty of Washington provided for a Commission to adjust "all claims on
the part of corporations, companies or private individuals, citizens of
the United States, upon the Government of her Britannic Majesty; and on
the part of corporations, companies or private individuals, subject
of her Britannic Majesty, upon the Government of the United States."
These were claims arising out of acts committed against the persons or
property of citizens of either country by the other, during the period
between the 13th of April, 1861, and the 9th of April, 1865, inclusive,
--being simply the damages inflicted during the war. The tribunal to
which all such claims were referred was constituted of three
Commissioners; one to be named by the President of the United States,
one by her Britannic Majesty, and the third by the two conjointly.

The Commission was organized at Washington on the 26th of September,
1871, and made its final award at Newport, Rhode Island, on the 25th
of September, 1873. The claims presented by American citizens before
the Commission were only nineteen in number, amounting in the aggregate
to a little less than a million of dollars. These claims were all
rejected by the Commission--no res