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SETTLEMENT OF CLAIMS IN SAMOA

Convention signed at Washington November 7, 1899
Senate advice and consent to ratification February 21, 1900
Ratified by the President of the United States March 5, 1900
Ratifications exchanged at Washington March 7, 1900
Entered into force March 7, 1900
Proclaimed by the President of the United States March 8, 1900
Terminated by an arbitral decision rendered on October 14, 1902, by the King of Sweden and Norway^[1]

31 Stat. 1875; Treaty Series 315

Convention Relating to the Settlement of Certain Claims in Samoa by Arbitration

The President of the United States of America, His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia, in the name of the German Empire, and Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, being desirous of effecting a prompt and satisfactory settlement of the claims of the citizens and subjects of their respective countries resident in the Samoan Islands on account of recent military operations conducted there, and having resolved to conclude a Convention for the accomplishment of this end by means of arbitration, have appointed as their respective plenipotentiaries:

The President of the United States of America, The Honorable John Hay, Secretary of State of the United States;

↑ TS 415; for text, see II Malloy 1591 or 1902 For. Rel. 444. The King's decision read, in part: "We are of opinion that . . . His Britannic Majesty's Government and the United States Government are responsible, under the Convention of the 7th of November, 1899, for losses caused by said military action; while reserving for a future decision the question as to the extent to which the two Governments, or each of them, may be considered responsible for such losses."

No decision was ever rendered on the reserved question because the United States and Great Britain later agreed that each would pay half of the sums found due to the subjects of other governments, and each would take care of the losses found due its own subjects. In the final settlement the United States and Great Britain paid, in equal moieties, $40,000.00 to Germany; $6,782.26 to France; $1,520.00 to Denmark; $750.00 to Sweden; and $450.00 to Norway (American Journal of International Law, 1913, vol. 7, pp. 769-771).

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[1] TS 415; for text, see II Malloy 1591 or 1902 For. Rel. 444. The King's decision read, in part: "We are of opinion that . . . His Britannic Majesty's Government and the United States Government are responsible, under the Convention of the 7th of November, 1899, for losses caused by said military action; while reserving for a future decision the question as to the extent to which the two Governments, or each of them, may be considered responsible for such losses."

No decision was ever rendered on the reserved question because the United States and Great Britain later agreed that each would pay half of the sums found due to the subjects of other governments, and each would take care of the losses found due its own subjects. In the final settlement the United States and Great Britain paid, in equal moieties, $40,000.00 to Germany; $6,782.26 to France; $1,520.00 to Denmark; $750.00 to Sweden; and $450.00 to Norway (American Journal of International Law, 1913, vol. 7, pp. 769-771).

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