Marquis de Noailles to Hamilton Fish, June 9, 1873

No. 121. Marquis de Noailles to Mr. Fish.

Mr. Secretary of State: Although temporarily absent from Washington I do not wish to delay sending to your excellency the inclosed copy of a dispatch which I have just received from my government.

So far as I have been able to understand from the few words which I have heard from the mouth of your excellency in relation to the treaty which has just been proposed to the government of the Mikado by the minister of Italy in Japan, in relation to the privileges to be granted to his countrymen traveling in the interior of the empire, I think I may hope that the views of the Department of State will coincide with those expressed in the dispatch of the minister of foreign affairs of France. It is, indeed, a matter of great importance, as well for the United States as for France, that the representatives of the principal powers in Japan should act harmoniously, and your excellency has several times been pleased to state to me how important you considered it that their harmonious action should not be interrupted.

Be pleased, &c.

Draft of a provisional convention relative to the travel of foreigners in the interior of Japan, presented by the minister of Italy to the government of the Tenno.

1. Italians may travel freely in the interior of the empire, with the proviso that, if they shall go beyond the limits of the jurisdiction of their consuls, they shall be under the protection and jurisdiction of the territorial authorities, according to the usages which prevail in the countries of Europe and America.

2. To this effect Italians of good character and conduct shall obtain, through the intervention of the authorities under whose jurisdiction they are, a personal passport from the ministry of foreign affairs.

3. If an Italian subject, or his property, shall suffer injury, the Italian government shall have the right to demand satisfaction, conformably to the laws of Japan. It is understood, however, that the said government shall not interfere in any matter of this kind so long as that one of its subjects who shall have been injured in person or property shall not have used all the means rendered available to him for the obtainment of justice before the Japanese tribunals.

There shall be no exception to this rule, save in the case of an evident denial of justice.

4. The Japanese government engages that foreigners condemned by its courts shall not be subjected to cruel punishments.

Such persons shall only be liable to imprisonment, with or without compulsory labor. (Sic.)

5. If a crime shall be committed rendering the perpetrator liable to capital punishment, the local authorities shall not execute the sentence without having first referred the matter to the seat of the government of the Tokeï, in order to conform to the usages adopted in this empire in the case of a Japanese under a similar sentence.

[These two paragraphs are wanting in the text of the draft furnished by the Japanese government to the French government.]