. Doc EXTRADITION TREATY BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND GREAT BRITAIN. MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, TRANSMITTING Documents relative to the execution of the extradition article of the treaty of 1842 between the United States and Great Britain. DECEMBER 27, 1876.-Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and ordered to be printed. To the Senate: When Congress adjourned in August last, the execution of the extradition article of the treaty of 1842 between the United States and Great Britain had been interrupted. The United States had demanded of Her Majesty's government the surrender of certain fugitives .from justice, charged with crimes committed within the jurisdiction of the United States, who had sought asylum and were found within the territories of Her British Majesty, and had, in due compliance with the requirements of the treaty, furnished the evidence of the criminality of the fugitives, which had been found sufficient to justify their apprehension and commitment for trial, as required by the treaty, and the fugitives were held and committed for extradition. Her Majesty's government, however, demanded from the United States certain assurances or stipulations as a condition for the surrender of these fugitives. As the treaty contemplated no such conditions to the performance of the obligations which each government had assumed, the demand for stipulations on the part of this Government was repelled. Her Majesty's government thereupon, in June last, released two of the fugitives, (Ezra D. Winslow and Charles J. Brent,) and subsequently released a third, (one William E. Gray,) and refusing to surrender, set them at liberty. In a message to the two houses of Congress on the 20th day of June last, in view of the condition of facts as above referred to, I said: The position thus taken by the British government, if adhered to, cannot but be regarded as the abrogation and annulment of the article of the treaty ou extradition. Under these circumstances it will not, in my judgment, comport with the dignity or self-respect of this Government to make demands upon that government for the surrender of fugitive criminals, nor to entertain any requisition of that character from that government under the treaty. Article XI of the treaty of 1842 provided that— The tenth article (that relating to extradition) should continue in force until one or the other of the parties should signify its wish to terminate it, and no longer. In view, however, of the great importance of an extradition treaty, especially between two states as intimately connected in commercial and social relations as are the United States and Great Britain, and in the hope that Her Majesty's government might yet reach a different de cision from that then attained, I abstained from recommending any action by Congress terminating the extradition article of the treaty. I have, however, declined to take any steps under the treaty toward extradition. It is with great satisfaction that I am able now to announce to Congress and to the country that by the voluntary act of Her Majesty's gov ernment the obstacles which had been interposed to the execution of the extradition article of the treaty have been removed. On the 27th of October last, Her Majesty's representative at this capital, under instructions from Lord Derby, informed this Government that Her Majesty's government would be prepared, as a temporary measure, until a new extradition treaty can be concluded, to put in force all powers vested in it for the surrender of accused persons to the Government of the United States, under the treaty of 1842, without asking for any engagement as to such persons not being tried in the United States for other than the offenses for which extradition had been de manded. I was happy to greet this announcement as the removal of the obsta cles which had arrested the execution of the extradition treaty between the two countries. In reply to the note of Her Majesty's representative, after referring to the applications heretofore made by the United States for the surrender of the fugitives referred to in the correspondence which was laid before Congress at its last session, it was stated that on an indication of readiness to surrender these persons, an agent would be authorized to receive them, and I would be ready to respond to requisitions which may be made on the part of Her Majesty's government under the tenth article of the treaty of 1842, which I would then regard as in full force until such time as either government shall avail itself of the right to terminate it provided by the eleventh article, or until a more comprehensive arrange ment can be reached between the two governments in regard to the extradition of criminals-an object to which the attention of this Government would gladly be given, with an earnest desire for a mutually satis factory result. A copy of the correspondence between Her Majesty's representative at this capital and the Secretary of State on the subject is transmitted herewith. It is with great satisfaction that I have now to announce that Her Majesty's government, while expressing its desire not to be understood to recede from the interpretation which in its previous correspondence it has put upon the treaty, but having regard to the prospect of a new treaty, and the power possessed by either party of spontaneously de nouncing the old one, caused the re-arrest on the 4th instant of Brent, one of the fugitives who had been previously discharged; and, after awaiting the requisite time within which the fugitive is entitled to ap peal or to apply for his discharge, on the 21st instant surrendered him to the agent appointed on behalf of this Government to receive and to convey him to the United States. Her Majesty's government has expressed an earnest desire to re-arrest and to deliver up Winslow and Gray, the other fugitives who had been arrested and committed on the requisition of the United States, but were released because of the refusal of the United States to give the assurances and stipulations then required by Great Britain. These persons, however, are believed to have escaped from British jurisdiction; a diligent search has failed to discover them. As the surrender of Brent, without condition or stipulation of any kind being asked, removes the obstacle which interrupted the execution of the treaty, I shall no longer abstain from making demands upon Her Majesty's government for the surrender of fugitive criminals, nor from entertaining requisitions of that character from that government under the treaty of 1842, but will again regard the treaty as operative, hoping to be able before long to conclude with Her Majesty's government a new treaty of a broader and more comprehensive nature. WASHINGTON, December 23, 1876. U. S. GRANT. List of papers. Sir Edward Thornton to Mr. Fish, May 13, 1876. Sir Edward Thornton to Mr. Fish. PHILADELPHIA, May 13, 1876. (Received May 15.) SIR: In compliance with the request of the governor-general of Canada, I have the honor to inform you that a person of the name of Maraine Smith, late of the city of Detroit, Mich., was, on the 4th of last month, committed to jail at Sandwich, in the county of Essex, Ontario, as a fugitive from the justice of the United States, on the charge of having murdered one Daniel R. McKeon. As the usual application for the surrender of this man under the extradition treaty has not been received by the governor-general, his excellency has requested me to inform you that on the 4th of June, two months from the date of his committal to prison, the prisoner will be entitled to claim his discharge. I have, &c., EDWARD THORNTON. Mr. Fish to Sir Edward Thornton. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 13th instant, informing me, at the request of the governor-general of Canada, that one Maraine Smith, late of Detroit, was committed as a fugitive from justice in the county of Essex, Ontario, upon the 4th of April last, and, as the usual application for his surrender under the extradition treaty had not been received, that upon the 4th of June he will be entitled to claim his discharge. Upon the 11th ultimo the governor of Michigan addressed me, stating that the person referred to, after an examination, had been committed for the crime of murder, and was held to await extradition, and requested that the proper steps be taken for that purpose. The case had not been brought to the attention of this Department prior to that time. As Her Majesty's government, at the time of the receipt of this communication, had already informed the United States that Winslow and other fugitive criminals then in British jurisdiction, in whose cases the necessary steps had been taken, and who had been committed for extradition, would not be surrendered pursuant to the stipulations of the tenth article of the treaty of 1842, it was deemed advisable to desist from preferring applications for extradition in new cases until the final decis ion of Her Majesty's government on that question should be reached, and the governor of Michigan was informed of this conclusion. While, therefore, requesting you to express the thanks of this Government to his excellency the governor-general for his courtesy in furnishing the information referred to, I have to request that you will inform him of the reason why no formal request has been preferred in this case pending the decision of Her Majesty's government in the Winslow and other cases now before it. I have, &c., HAMILTON FISHI. Sir Edward Thornton to Mr. Fish. WASHINGTON, May 23, 1876. (Received May 23.) SIR In compliance with a request which I have received from the governor-general of Canada, I have the honor to inform you that two men, named Walter Moore and Frederick Moore, charged with the crime of murder in Canada, are fugitives from justice, and are now under arrest in Boston, having been remanded till to-morrow, and to ask that, when the necessary forms shall have been complied with to your satisfaction, a warrant may be issued for their extradition, and for their de livery to Alphonse Cinq, who is authorized to receive the prisoners. I have, &c., EDWD. THORNTON. |