Accept, sir, a renewed assurance of my high consideration.
L. de Geofroy, &c., &c., &c.
Mr. Speed to Mr. Hunter
Attorney General’s
Office,
Washington,
May 9,
1865.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge
the receipt of your letters of the 6th and 8th instant,
respectively, enclosing for my information copies of a note and
memorandum addressed to your department by Mr. L. de Geofroy,
relative to the alleged proceedings of certain persons, within
the limits of the United States, to fit out expeditions to
Mexico from our ports, and who may bring themselves within the
provisions and penalties of the acts of Congress for the
preservation of the neutrality of the United States. I thank you
for this information, and will address, immediately, letters to
the district attorney at New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and
other places similarly situated, instructing them, in peremptory
terms, to exercise the utmost vigilance in the detection and
prosecution of persons who may be guilty of offences against the
statutes referred to.
I enclose a copy of a letter on the subject, addressed to the
district attorney at the city of New York.
A similar letter will be addressed to each of the law officers of
the government in the other important districts.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient
servant,
JAMES SPEED, Attorney
General.
Hon. W. Hunter,
Acting Secretary of State.
[Page 436]
Mr. Ashton to Mr. Dickinson
Attorney General’s
Office,
Washington,
May 9,
1865.
Sir: I have the honor to enclose
you herewith copies of a note and memorandum received at the
State Department from the legation of France, calling the
attention of the government to certain proceedings alleged
to be on foot in your district, and in other districts of
the United States, for the purpose of fitting out
expeditions to Mexico, with intent to violate the acts of
Congress for the preservation of the neutrality of the
United States. It is the desire of the government that you
exercise proper vigilance and care in the detection and
conviction of persons in your district who may bring
themselves within the provisions and penalties of the
statutes on that subject.
The enclosed documents may serve to indicate the movements of
the persons alleged to be engaged in the fitting out such
expeditions, with sufficient fullness and precision to
enable you, and the marshal of your district, to obtain
evidence that will warrant the arrest and binding over of
the guilty parties to be of good behaviour, under the
Constitution and laws, even if testimony sufficient to
convict them cannot now be procured.
The Attorney General does not think it necessary to indicate
the particular statutes on the subject of neutrality, with a
view to direct you with regard to the means and methods, of
your procedure, in order to enforce the law and punish the
guilty, with respect to the preservation of the neutrality
of the government. He assumes that your acquaintance with
the statutes, and zeal and fidelity in the execution of your
office, will enable you, whenever a case fit for prosecution
or conviction of the kind referred to is presented, to do
all that a national sense of justice and dignity, or a
foreign state interested in the subject, could require and
demand of the executive department, of the government of the
United States.
You will please report the receipt of this letter, and the
result of your investigation on the subject to which it
relates.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J. HUBLEY ASHTON, Assistant
Attorney General.
Daniel S. Dickinson, Esq., United States District Attorney, New
York.
