No. 286.
Mr. Davis
to General Schenck.
Washington, September 2, 1873.
Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your No. 472, of the 12th ultimo, accompanied by a copy of the correspondence between yourself and Lord Granville relating to the deportation of criminals and paupers from Great Britain to the United States, and especially to the cases of one Bryan Fitzgerald and the woman Courtney.
The replies of the British authorities are not satisfactory. Lord Granville’s note of the 15th March, 1872, does not state that the convicts had completed their term of service, only that they were “discharged,” which may have been for the purpose and on condition of their being sent to America.
It appears that Fitzgerald was accompanied on board the steamer from the prison by an officer thereof, and that the woman Courtney was not released until it was known that she would go to the United States, and the authorities interceded to obtain aid for her pauper daughter, then an inmate of the work-house, to accompany her, and the local board of Dublin avow their habit of aiding such persons to migrate to America. * * * *
[Page 487]The Department approves the action taken by you in the matter, and your watchful observance of the acts referred to is commended. You are requested to continue your remonstrance (in case of any recurrence) in decided and emphatic terms. The regulations of British convict-service or poor-houses cannot be allowed to justify a violation of friendly obligations toward other powers.
I am, &c.,
Acting Secretary.