No. 197.
Mr. Francis to Mr. Fish.
Athens, February 22, 1873. (Received March 24.)
Sir: * * * * * *
Referring to my dispatch No. 107, relative to the alleged kidnapping affair at Corfu, I have just finished the perusal of the correspondence on the subject between the Nomarch of Corfu and the Italian consul stationed there.
The facts of the case, as stated by the Nomarch, are substantially as presented in my dispatch referred to. The Italian consul, however, denies [Page 435] that the refugee Caratacciolo was decoyed on board the Italian mail-steamer as alleged, and asserts that he went on board, without persuasion or stratagem to induce him to do so, just as he had before been in the habit of visiting these vessels. But, on the other hand, I have been shown a memorandum made by Baron Seabury, the British consul at Corfu, in which he states that “two letters were written inviting the departed refugee on board the steamer. One of these letters, much to the point, I have seen.” The Italian consul also denies that the captain of the mail-steamer, the Principe Oddone, threatened to resist the Greek police officials by force if they attempted the rescue of the prisoner. He further states that “the sacred asylum accorded to such refugees as Caratacciolo has led to the formation in Corfu of a band of all those malefactors who succeeded in escaping from the pursuit of justice in Italy—assassins, thieves, and unfaithful guardians of revenue—and who extend their machinations to the provinces along the Italian coast, planning the commission of further depredations,” &c., and that agents of the Italian police have been for some time employed to frustrate their designs. He then states that if certain of these agents happened to be on board the mail-steamer and arrested an Italian malefactor on that vessel, “they employed no means, direct or indirect, to draw him into their power,” &c.
I am informed that the Greek prime minister, Mr. Delegeorges, has demanded of the Italian government the restoration of the deported refugee to his home at Corfu, and that proper reparation be made by it “for,” to quote the language of the Nomarch of Corfu, “the insult offered to the sovereign rights of Greece.” No reply to Mr. Delegeorges’ communication has yet been received.
I am, &c.,