Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the Third Session of the Fortieth Congress
Mr. Plumb to Mr. Seward.
Sir: I have the honor to transmit to you herewith a copy of a note and its accompaniments, which I have to-day received from the Mexican minister of foreign relations, relating to the outrage inflicted upon certain citizens of the United States at Monterey, in the month of April last. I also transmit herewith a copy of my note in reply.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.
Mr. Plumb to Señor Lerdo de Tejada.
Sir: I have received the note which you have addressed to me under date of the 1st instant, and the copies annexed thereto, of communications exchanged between your department and the governor of the State of Nuevo Leon, relating to the occurrence which took place with reference to certain citizens of the United States at the city of Monterey, on the night of the 21st of April last.
In reply I have to state that I will at once transmit a copy of your note and its accompaniments to my government.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
His Excellency Señor D. Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, Minister of Foreign Relations of the Republic of Mexico.
Señor Lerdo de Tejada to Mr. Plumb.
Sir: In your note of the 7th of August last you referred to the case of certain citizens of the United States of America who complain of bad treatment received in the city of Monterey, on the night of the 21st of April last.
In a reply, dated 11th August, this department stated, that if the complaint of those citizens of the United States was well founded, the government of the republic would have the subject investigated and the guilty punished; and information on the subject has already been asked for.
The government of the State of New Leon transmitted to this department, on the 25th of August, a report of the examination of the accused, and stated that justice would soon be rendered in the case. This report was not communicated to you because the case had not been decided. As judgment has not yet been rendered, further information has been asked by this department.
In the mean time I think proper to send you the information that has come to hand.
No. 1 is the communication addressed to the governor of New Leon, on the 9th of May, as soon as I heard of the outrage on American citizens, through the newspapers, inquiring about the facts, and ordering an investigation and subsequent report of the trial.
No. 2 is the report made by the governor of New Leon, on the 22d May, stating that the investigation had not been made, and that no officials had taken part in the offensive acts.
No. 3 is the communication from this department to the governor of New Leon, dated 11th August, asking for a minute account of the affair, and ordering a judicial investigation.
No. 4 is the communication of the 23d of August, from said governor, acknowledging the receipt of the note of the 11th from this department; and No. 5 is the report of the 25th August, by said governor, as before stated.
This report comprehends the chief points in the judicial process, showing that complainant’s conduct had given good cause for their arrest; that plaintiffs had made no accusation, but asked for an ordinary judicial investigation; that the jailor who had confined them for one night had been removed, and that he and his associates would be tried for their offenses.
I also sent you a copy of the communication addressed to said governor yesterday, instructing him to report proceedings, as soon as the case was decided.
The government will see that satisfaction is made in the case, and the guilty punished.
Most respectfully, your very obedient servant,
Mr. Edward Lee Plumb, Chargé d’Affaires of the United States in Mexico.
[Translation.]
DEPARTMENT OF STATE, OFFICE OF FOREIGN RELATIONS—AMERICAN SECTION.
The Monterey newspaper entitled El Atalaya, states that six American citizens were arrested by the governor’s order, and suffered ill treatment in the prison of that city; it says, however, that they were soon set at liberty, and that the mayor was having the case investigated.
In view of this the President of the republic orders you to report the facts, and if true, to have the guilty tried and punished by the proper judicial tribunal.
The Governor of the State of New Leon, at Monterey.
[Translation.]
GOVERNMENT OF THE STATE OF NEW LEON.—NO. 10.
In obedience to orders from the President of the republic, in a note from your department, dated May 9, I state: That the foreigners referred to by the Atalaya of this city were arrested by the police and taken to jail for drunkenness and rioting, as shown by documents on file; that they complained to the judge of the State of ill treatment in jail; and that they were tried the day after their arrest.
This is all I can say positively; but all impartial judges think the facts greatly exaggerated in the newspaper, and the proprietors have been justly reprimanded for the publication of the article. No public officials took part in the outrages referred to.
I have transmitted the dispatch from your department to the proper judge, ordering a prompt investigation and subsequent report to supreme authorities.
Narcisso Davilo, Secretary.
The Minister of Foreign Relations, Mexico.
[Translation.]
DEPARTMENT OF STATE, OFFICE OF FOREIGN RELATIONS—AMERICAN SECTION.
A dispatch was sent to you from this department, on the 9th of May last, ordering an investigation of the occurrences in your city on the night of the 21st April, relating to the treatment of certain American citizens, who were put in jail for riotous conduct. On the 22d of the same month you replied that the Atalaya of your city had published an exaggerated account of the affair; that no public official had taken part in the outrage; and that a trial had been ordered, and a report would be made of the proceedings.
We have been waiting for the result of the investigations, and, though three months have passed, no further report of the case has been made to this department.
For these reasons the President of the republic orders that you make a full report of the case, by the next mail, to this department, so that a proper understanding may be had by the supreme authorities, inasmuch as the government of the United States has made inquiry, and no answer can be given until your report is furnished.
The Governor of the State of New Leon, in Monterey,
[Translation.]
GOVERNMENT OF NEW LEON.—NO. 26.
I have the honor to reply to the dispatch from your department of the 11th instant, asking information of the events of the 21st of April last, in this city, in reference to the alleged maltreatment of American citizens on that night. The account you ask for will be forwarded by next mail. Your communication has been transmitted to the chief justice of the State court.
Carlos F. Ayala, Chief Official.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mexico.
[Translation.]
GOVERNMENT OF NEW LEON.—NO. 27.
The chief justice of the supreme court of this State reports this day as follows:
“In order to expedite the business of procuring the information desired by the department of foreign relations, as expressed in the communication which you sent to me yesterday, I gave a verbal notice to the judge to order the case before him, on petition of the foreigners referred to in the communication, and have a legal investigation instituted as soon as possible, although all the witnesses might not be ready to give their testimony.
“The judge has obeyed the order, and the result was sent to the chief justice on the 30th day of April, for his confirmation.” The report of the case is as follows:
“In conformity to the order which I received yesterday from the citizen president of the supreme tribunal of justice of this State, to investigate the present condition of the cause instituted against the ex-Alcalde Juan N. Vara, and his accomplices, for maltreatment of certain strangers on the night of the 21st of April last, and on the morning of the next day; and in view of the communication of the 11th instant from the department of foreign relations, which was addressed to the governor of the State, and sent by him to this supreme tribunal, I proceed to give due fulfillment to that superior order.
“On the 22d of April of the present year the foreigners, Ernest F. Luckhardt and F. F. Potter, presented a petition to the judge of the first court of record in the first judicial district of this State, asking that prosecution be commenced against the prisoners, Adrian Alguin, Pedro Marroquin, and Lorenzo Chapa, and the Alcalde Juan N. Vara, for outrages received by the three former when they were taken to jail, and for the participation of the alcalde in the violence offered by those mentioned as having taken the complainants to jail on the night of the 21st of the month already specified, adding these words in the report: ‘As to the person whom we consider as the primordial cause of all this, we reserve our rights to promote what is most convenient.’
“Soon afterwards the court opened the investigation of the case with corresponding zeal, receiving, with the greatest activity, all the depositions which he thought to be pertinent to the case, among them the depositions of the accusers and of the accused, and of other persons cognizant of the events. According to the evidence collected, it seems that on the night of the 21st of April the accusers and four other strangers, with a few Mexicans, who came in about eleven o’clock, entered the drinking-house called the Gran Sociedad, situated in Doctor Meir street, and having imbibed freely of intoxicating drinks, became drunk, and made much noise, when citizen Davila, (Narciso,) acting secretary to the governor, who lives in the state-house, sent for the chief of police to stop the disturbance. Thereupon a corporal and two police assistants came to the place, and finding the rioters had left the drinking-house and gone into the street fronting the place looking towards the east, called out halt! as is customary, and quien vive! who goes there! and the reply was, Mejico, as the police and other witnesses testify; and then the strangers uttered curses, when they were arrested and taken to jail by the police, after consulting with citizen Narciso Davila, who was in his room. The persons arrested were, however, first taken before the alcalde, who ordered them to jail, where they were taken by a proper mandamus.
“During that night, and on the morning of the following day, Alguin, Marroquin, and Chapa, who were appointed to preserve order in the jail, maltreated the prisoners by word and deed, and even struck two of the foreigners, giving as a reason for it that they had disobeyed orders and violated the regulations of the place, and because they refused to work at cleaning the premises, such as sweeping up the filth and carrying out the barrel in which it was put.
“For these acts it was declared that the alcalde and his accomplices, three in number, were liable to prosecution for these outrages to the foreigners, and the alcalde was removed from office, and the other men were put in jail; but the alcalde had to give security for his appearance, and the others were to be tried for taking the strangers to jail for disturbing the peace.
“The accused appealed from this judgment to the supreme court of the State; which judgment having been considered, was confirmed by said court.
“Having heard the confessions of the accused, time was given to the prosecutors to prepare their case. This was made on the 25th of June last, in the following terms:
“We have determined to take no part in this criminal prosecution, but hope the authorities will punish the guilty for their mistreatment of us, and this we are sure will be done by the just and impartial authorities to whom we trust the case.’
“After making this declaration, the accusers reserve the right of taking testimony hereafter, if necessary, in case of further claims or complaints; for they say this suit [Page 626] only concerns the alcalde and his agents, who committed the outrages on the night of the 21st and the morning of the 22d of April last.
“After the 25th of June the trial came on, and progressed rapidly considering the number of witnesses to be examined, and the penalties to be inflicted upon the guilty; and the record in the case already amounts to 122 pages of writing.
“Some of the accused furnished counsel, and it was granted to the others by the court, each one having a separate lawyer, as the cases were different in criminality. All have made their defenses, and one of them occupied four days in producing his evidence. The accused are still in jail, and will not be released until their sentence is passed.
“Such is a summary of the conditions of the suits; but nothing positive can be said until the trials are concluded.
“In furnishing you the above information, I have the honor to be yours, &c.,
“MANUEL Z. GOMEZ.”
And I have the honor to transmit it to you, in compliance with my promise to you on answering your dispatch of the 11th of the present month.
Carlos F. Ayala, Chief Official.
The Minister of Foreign Relations, Mexico.
[Translation.]
DEPARTMENT OF STATE.—OFFICE OF FOREIGN RELATIONS—AMERICAN SECTION.
In the report you made to this department, on the 25th of August last, of the case of certain American citizens who suffered maltreatment on the 21st of April last, you said the case would soon be decided and the guilty duly punished. As I have not yet heard of its termination, I again address you, by order of the President of the republic, to know what has been done in the case since the 25th of August last, requesting you to send a copy of the judgment as soon as pronounced. If the trial is not yet over, you will do all you can to expedite the process, and have it brought to a conclusion as soon as possible.
The Governor of the State of New Leon, at Monterey.