I have received your Despatch No. 16 of
22nd February transmitting
a Resolution of the Legislative Council, with reference to the
Appointment of the joint High Commission, representing
the the importance of
the
Island of San Juan, and stating that it is desirable to settle the
boundaries of the Possessions of the United States and the North of
British Columbia and also to consider the question of the Fisheries in
the Pacific.
I approve of the course which you took in not sending back to the
Council these Resolutions.
With reference to the question how far the United States are bound
by the Treaty between Great Britain and Russia of
1825, I enclose for
your information a Copy of a Despatch which the
Duke of Buckingham
addressed to your Predecessor, dated the
17th January 1868.