t them at liberty, thus omitting to
comply with the provisions and requirements of the treaty under which
the extradition of fugitive criminals is made between the two
Governments.

The position thus taken by the British Government, if adhered to, can
not but be regarded as the abrogation and annulment of the article of
the treaty on 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.

It will be a cause of deep regret if a treaty which has been thus far
beneficial in its practical operation, which has worked so well and
so efficiently, and which, notwithstanding the exciting and at times
violent political disturbances of which both countries have been the
scene during its existence, has given rise to no complaints on the part
of either Government against either its spirit or its provisions, should
be abruptly terminated.

It has tended to the protection of society and to the general interests
of both countries. Its violation or annulment would be a retrograde step
in international intercourse.

I have been anxious and have made the effort to enlarge its scope and
to make a new treaty which would be a still more efficient agent for
the punishment and prevention of crime. At the same time, I have felt
it my duty to decline to entertain a proposition made by Great Britain,
pending its refusal to execute the existing treaty, to amend it by
practically conceding by treaty the identical conditions which that
Government demands under its act of Parliament. In addition to the
impossibility of the United States entering upon negotiations under
the menace of an intended violation or a refusal to execute the terms
of an existing treaty I deemed it inadvisable to treat of only the one
amendment proposed by Great Britain while the United States desires an
enlargement of the list of crimes for which extradition may be asked,
and other improvements which experience has shown might be embodied in
a new treaty.

It is for the wisdom of Congress to determine whether the article
of the treaty relating to extradition is to be any longer regarded as
obligatory on the Government of the United States or as forming part
of the supreme law of the land. Should the attitude of the British
Governme