Mr. Speed to Mr. Seward
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 2d day of October, together with an extract from despatch No. 13, of William H. Corwin, chargé d’affaires of the United States in the city of Mexico, and also translations of decrees recently issued by Maximilian, now exercising the authority of an emperor in Mexico, in relation to immigration into and colonization in that country.
You ask me whether, under these decrees, peonage or any other form of slavery can be instituted in Mexico.
The decrees, of which you have sent to me copies, are, in substance, as follows:
It is recited that, considering the scant population of Mexican territory, it is desirable to give the fullest guarantees of property and liberty to immigrants; it is then decreed—
1. That Mexico shall be open to emigration from all nations.
2. Agents of emigration are to be appointed, and their powers and duties prescribed.
The 3d, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, and 9th articles set out and declare what shall be the rights and privileges of emigrants.
The 6th article reads thus: “Immigrants who wish to bring, or cause to come, working-men, in considerable number, of whatever race they may be, are [Page 478] authorized to do so; but these working-men will be the object of special protective regulation.”
The second decree is supplementary, and in it are the special protective regulations for working-men referred to in the 6th article. These regulations read as follows:
1. In conformity with the laws of the empire, all men of color are free by the fact, alone, of having trod on Mexican territory.
2. They shall make with the patron who shall have engaged them a contract by which he shall bind himself to feed, clothe, lodge, and take care of them in their sickness, as well as pay them a salary, the amount of which shall be settled between them. The patron shall bind himself beside to deposit to the credit of the working-man a sum equivalent to one quarter of his salary in the savings bank, which will be further mentioned below. The working-man shall, at the same time, bind himself to his patron to execute the work to which he shall be set during the term of five years at least, and ten years at most.
3. The patron shall bind himself to provide subsistence for the children of his working-men; in case of the death of the father, the patron shall have the guardianship of the children, and they shall remain in his service until the age of majority, on the same condition that the father was.
4. Every working-man shall have a book, inspected by the local authority, on which shall be given his description, the indication of the place where he works, and a certificate of good life and conduct. In case of change of patron, the consent of the first patron shall be inscribed on the book.
5. In case of the death of the patron, his heirs, or the individuals who have acquired his property, are bound toward their working-men on the same terms the patron was; and the working-man, on his part, is bound in respect to the new proprietor in the terms of his first contract.
6. In case of desertion, the working-man apprehended shall be employed without any pay, on the public works, until he shall be reclaimed by his patron.
7. Every unjust act of the patron towards his working-man shall be turned over to the courts.
8. Special commissioners of the police shall watch over the execution of the present regulation, and shall, by virtue of their office, prosecute those contravening the same.
9. The government will establish a savings bank for the ends hereinafter mentioned.
10. The patron shall deposit in the bank every month, to the credit of the working-men, a sum equal to one-quarter of the salary to which they are entitled by reason of their contract.
11. The working-men may, besides, deposit in the savings bank the sum of which they shall have full credit.
12. The deposits shall have the advantage of five per cent. annual interest.
13. At the close of their engagement, the working-men, on the presentation of their book, shall receive their peculium integrally.
14. If, on the expiring of the contract, the working-men be disposed to leave their money in the savings bank, they can withdraw the interest due, or leave it on deposit; and in the latter case it shall be capitalized with the primitive capital, and shall also bear interest.
15. In case of death, intestate, or without heirs, the peculium of the working-men shall pass into the possession of the public treasury.
The sixth article of the decree and regulations is inconsistent and contradictory. Whilst the sixth article of the decree speaks of working-men of every race, the regulations under it seem to embrace men of color only.
Notwithstanding the broad declaration in the first regulation, that all men of color are free by the fact alone of having trod on Mexican territory, it is manifest that in the subsequent regulations a grinding and odious form of slavery is sought to be established.
[Page 479]Slavery is a law by which one man asserts dominion over the conduct of another, either for a specified time, or for life.
The law of slavery makes the man a mere machine, controlled and governed by another. The slave has but little occasion to exercise and use the noble faculties of his mind. The physical man is alone of value to the master or patron, and he, of course, looks only to the physical wants of the slave.
That the regulations make slaves of working-men and their families is evident.
1st. They are required to sell themselves for not less than five nor more than ten years.
2d. They are required by law, no matter how circumstances may change, or things may occur that were not reasonably within the contemplation of the parties, to specifically fulfil the engagement.
3d. They must execute every work to which they shall be set by their patron during that time.
4th. They cannot feed, clothe, lodge, or take care of themselves, either in health or in sickness.
5th. They cannot provide for the subsistence of their children, nor educate them, unless by permission of the patron; and in case of death, their children become the slaves of the patron until their majority.
6th. The patron or master can sell or dispose of them to whom he pleases.
7th. They may complain to the police of the harsh treatment of their master, but have no right to petition for or seek a change of any law which may be regarded as oppressive or unjust to them or to their class or country.
8th. If the police refuse to hear their complaints, or, hearing, deny interference, they are without redress.
9th. These regulations contemplate that the working-men require physical comforts only; their minds must remain uncultivated, their morals neglected, and their religious training not cared for.
10th. There is no provision by which the working-man can purchase himself or his time, or release or improve the condition of his children.
11th. What is to become of the working-man and his children after he shall have faithfully served his term is not provided. Is he to be a free citizen, or is he still to be regarded as a working-man, and again compelled to sell himself and his family?
I have no hesitation in saying that these regulations constitute a law which deprives working-men of rights which we in this country regard, and which in every well-organized community should be regarded as inestimable, inalienable, and indestructible, and certainly makes them slaves. The history of this country, and particularly the history of the troubles from which we are just emerging, shows that no society can be organized permanently and remain at peace within its own borders, and with the outside world, where these great and important rights are denied to any considerable class of men.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State.