Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 7, 1874

No. 490.
Mr. Foster to Mr. Fish.

Legation of the United States,
Mexico, September 2, 1874. (Received September 17.)

No. 176.]

Sir: Referring to my dispatch No. 173, August 23, with which I inclosed a note addressed to the Mexican minister of foreign affairs on the subject of the murders of Messrs. Dunbar and Straus, American citizens, at Mazatlan, and the repeated murders of American citizens in this country without any punishment of the criminals, I now transmit the reply of Mr. Lafragua, received on the 25th ultimo. (Inclosure 1.)

In his reply Mr. Lafragua states that he has received from the government of the State of Sinaloa an application for authority to expel from the republic, as a pernicious foreigner, one Le Count, suspected of complicity in the murder of Straus, upon which the President has deferred action until he should have further details of the case. He also incloses a copy of a report from the government of Jalisco as to the progress made in the trial of the assassins of Rev. John L. Stephens, which contains substantially the information transmitted to the Department of State more than four months ago in my dispatch No. 133. He further informs me that the supreme court has declared the proceedings thus far had in the trial of the murderers of Mr. Sanders, in Nuevo Leon, to be null and void, and has remanded the case for a new trial by another tribunal. He also states that the cases referred to, far from proving the local authorities negligent in prosecuting and punishing criminals, show that up to the present time they have fully complied with their duties. The government, desirous of carrying out the suggestions which I made to avoid these unfortunate events, and of again manifesting the good-will which it entertains for the United States, has addressed to the civil and judicial authorities of the federation and the States a most earnest injunction that in every case they prosecute and punish, with the vigor of the law, the perpetrators of crimes similar to those of which I have complained. On the 29th ultimo, in acknowledging the receipt of Mr. Lafragua’s note, I stated that I could not accept the expulsion from the country of one vagabond foreigner as a due satisfaction for the murders of Dunbar and Straus, when the more numerous and influential criminals escaped unpunished. I thanked him for communicating the intelligence in relation to the trials of the assassins of Rev. Mr. Stephens, the receipt of which I had anxiously awaited, but expressed my disappointment in finding no mention of the proceedings had in the trial of the cura of Ahualulco, to whom the published accounts attributed the responsibility for the assassination, at the same time stating that I could not doubt the desire of his government to secure the complete punishment of the assassins of Mr. Stephens, in view of the expressed disposition to protect the lives of American citizens, and its obligation to indicate the freedom of religious worship, which in Stephens’s murder had been outraged and defied. I also expressed regret at being informed, after the earnest efforts made to secure the punishment of the murderers of Mr. Sanders in Nuevo Leon, that all the proceedings thus far had been declared null.

In answer to Mr. Lafragua’s intimation that it would be desirable to have a detailed statement of the thirteen cases referred to in my note, in order that his government might ascertain the extent of the negligence and indifference of the local authorities, I have replied that it might be difficult to give such facts as would establish this, but that the bad statement that the lives of thirteen American citizens had been taken by violence, without as yet a single punishment therefor, was sufficient basis for the intimation in my note; but that the four cases referred to by him, and now pending, afforded an excellent opportunity for the government to test the zeal and impartiality of the local authorities to administer justice, uninfluenced by popular prejudice.

In conclusion, I made proper acknowledgment for the action taken by the Mexican government, influenced by the suggestion in my note of the 11th instant, in enjoining upon the federal and State authorities a vigorous prosecution and punishment of criminals. I inclose a copy of my note. (Inclosure 2.)

Notwithstanding Mr. Lafragua insists that in the cases discussed, the authorities have been duly diligent, the information furnished me front Monterey and Mazatlan leads me to fear that no punishments will follow the murders of Sanders, Dunbar, and Straus; and that in the case of Stephens, at Ahualulco, the influential and more prominent criminals will escape, as the cura and a number of persons tried before the same tribunal have been, according to the newspaper reports, acquitted, and if any are punished they will be the more obscure actors in the tragedy.

I desire in this connection to call your attention to an announcement which appeared in the Diaño Oficial, the government official newspaper of this city, on the 29th ultimo, in which it is stated that the minister of foreign affairs has instructed the Mexican minister at Washington to take action in relation to certain occurrences in Texas, of which several Mexicans have been the victims, (inclosure 3.)

I am, &c.,

JOHN W. FOSTER.

[Inclosure 1 in No. 176.—Translation.]

Mr. Lafragua to Mr. Foster.

Department of Foreign Affairs,
Mexico, August 24, 1874.

Sir: Referring to your excellency’s note of the 11th ultimo, in which you were pleased to communicate the information which the United States consul in Mazatlan transmitted to your excellency relative to the crimes committed on the persons of John W. Dunbar and Adolphus Straus, American citizens, I have the honor to inform your excellency that at the same time that I received your note above mentioned a communication from the government of Sinaloa reached this ministry, asking that a passport be issued to William LeCount, in order to expel him from the country as a pernicious foreigner; for although the judge, having cognizance of the proceedings instituted against said assassins, placed him at liberty, the antecedents of said individual and his presence there render necessary his expulsion. The President, being informed of all this, has been pleased to order that, before deciding concerning the expulsion of LeCount, information should be asked from the government of Sinaloa as to the reasons the judge may have had for leaving this individual at liberty; and in order, should better information be had as to his criminality as the perpetrator of, or accomplice in, the assassination of Straus, that he be made to suffer the punishment he may merit, reserving the decision as to his departure from the republic for a later date.

In consequence of the lamentable events which have taken place in Mazatlan, your excellency says that, in the short period that the legation has been in your charge, the consuls of your Government in the different places in the republic have informed you of the death by violent means of thirteen American citizens, and of other cases of personal attacks and outrages which have not resulted in the loss of life. Your excellency then makes some further remarks, doing justice to the desires of the government, and expressing the wish that rigorous and effective measures may be adopted to put an end to this grievous catalogue of crimes. In reply, I have the honor to state to your excellency that it would be desirable to detail the cases of which the general government has had no knowledge, to the end that it may order efficacious measures to secure the prosecution and punishment of the delinquents, and know how far the local authorities may appear guilty of neglect and indifference.

I must take advantage of this opportunity to inform your excellency that regarding the latter, of which the government has had knowledge, being those relative to Sanders and Stephens, the government, in addition to having effectively incited the authorities of Nuevo Leon and Jalisco, in order that prompt and merited justice might be administered, asked information from the governors of those States, in order to direct that which should be proper in accordance with their powers. As a result of this action, the government of Jalisco, on the 27th of July last, made a report, a copy of which I have the honor to remit to your excellency herewith, in which you will see that the local judges of said State are moving with activity and rigor, even to sentencing the apparent criminals to death; but at the moment of executing the sentence the criminals demanded “amparo,” which, as your excellency knows, is a legal recourse to which all the inhabitants of the republic have a right. We now await the determination of the “amparo,” and will give your excellency early notice of the final result of this matter.

The assassins of Sanders, likewise condemned to death by the local authorities of Nuevo Leon, also availed themselves of the right of “amparo,” which was conceded by the supreme court of justice, June 27 last, on the ground, not that they are or are not criminals, but that the authority which judged them had no jurisdiction, so that the criminals remain to be tried before a judge competent to hear a new trial, and to apply the punishment which they merit according to the law. The foregoing information, based upon undeniable facts, is sufficient to show that the local authorities, far from appearing negligent in prosecuting and punishing the criminals, are fulfilling completely their duty so far as may be expected, notwithstanding the delay of proceedings in some cases; for this grows out of complications in the affairs, and the sometimes insurmountable difficulties in the way of obtaining the proofs which the law enacts, or many other circumstances independent of the will of the authorities.

Further, in order to remove the apprehension that the Mexican people are hostile and prejudiced against the citizens of the United States of the North, it is also sufficient to present the facts relative to the American citizen Straus, in whose assassination, according to the information which has been received up to to-day, the foreigner LeCount appears to be the assassin or accomplice, while it may not be possible to prove his criminality judicially; but the suspicions entertained by the government of Sinaloa itself fall upon the said foreigner, whose nationality is unknown, but undoubtedly is not Mexican. In addition to this case, many others can be cited in which many foreigners of various countries have appeared to be guilty of crimes which have disturbed society, who, not distinguishing nationalities, have caused serious damage, being persons without occupation and immoral, and who have been subject to severe punishment, or who have been expelled from the republic as pernicious.

Notwithstanding this, the government, desirous of following your excellency’s suggestions, in order to avoid these unfortunate acts, and to give new evidence of the goodwill which it entertains toward the United States, which your excellency, with notable justice, recognizes in your courteous note which I have the honor to answer, has ordered to be addressed, through the proper channels; to the civil and judicial authorities of the federation and of the States the most urgent exhortation that the perpetrators of such crimes as your excellency denounces be in every case prosecuted and punished with all the rigor of the law, not only because it is just, but also because it accords with the decorum of Mexico, and the harmony and understanding that happily exist between the two republics.

I repeat to your excellency the sentiments of high consideration and distinguished regard with which, I am, &c.,

T. M. LAFRAGUA.

[Inclosure in 1 in No. 176.—Translation.]

Mr. Vallarlo to Mr. Lafragua.

Supreme Government of the State of Jalisco,
Guadalajara, July 27, 1874.

To the Citizen Minister of Foreign Affairs:

The citizen president of the supreme tribunal of justice to-day communicated to me the following:

“Under date of the 25th of the present month the citizen judge of the first criminal court informs me that which I copy, as follows: ‘You will please inform the supreme tribunal of justice that the cases of the accomplices in the assassination of Stephens is in a condition to be submitted to the decision of the jury, as the requirements of decree No. 59 of the state legislature have been complied with in the proceedings. I have the honor to inform you of the above, in reply to your official communication No. 2251.’ I do myself the honor to inform you of the above, in reply to the official communication relative thereto from the American section of your ministry, and dated the 10th of this month, and to add that the execution of the criminals, José Ma. Hernandez, Merced Arias, Comelio Casas, Quirino Rubio, and Felipe Chavarria, who were undergoing religious preparation, in Ahualuco, to suffer capital punishment, as they had been refused pardon, has been suspended by the district judge. The same authority also has suspended since the 11th of May ultimo the execution of Francisco Solo, accomplice likewise in the above case, and up to this date the “amparo” which suspends these executions has not been determined.”

Independence and liberty.

• YGNACIO L. VALLARLO.
• F. G. RUESTRA, Secretary.

[Inclosure 2 in No. 176.]

Mr. Foster to Mr. Lafragua.

Legation of the United States,
Mexico, August 29, 1874.

Sir: I have received your excellency’s note of the 24th instant, in which you acknowledge the receipt of my note of the 11th instant, on the subject of the murders of the American citizens Dunbar and Straus, at Mazatlan; inform me of the passport requested by the government of Sinaloa for the expulsion from the republic as a pernicious foreigner of one LeCount, suspected of complicity in the murder of Straus inclose to me a report from the government of Jalisco as to the progress made in the trial of the assassins of Rev. John L. Stephens; and give me information of the proceedings in the case of the murder of Alexander Sanders, in the State of Nuevo Leon. I am gratified to learn from your excellency’s note that the President did not think proper to adopt the method proposed by the government of Sinaloa for punishing the crimes committed at Mazatlan, until he should have further details of the efforts made by the courts and authorities to ascertain and punish the authors of the murders. It would hardly seem compatible with the demands of justice that the simple expulsion from the country of one vagabond foreigner would atone for two such revolting murders as those referred to, and it would certainly be inconsistent with the past position of this legation to recognize, as a due satisfaction toward outraged American citizenship, the exercise of what it regards as an anti-republican and dangerous constitutional faculty, when those who most likely are the more numerous and more influential criminals are left unpunished by the local authorities. It is much more important that those who may have been able to secure the inactivity and favor or awaken the prejudices of the officials should be made to feel the power and justice of federal authority. In reading the facts attending the murders at Mazatlan, as stated in my note of the 11th instant, I think your excellency will conclude that the crimes must have been the work not of one person, but of one or more bands of men. Besides, it does not appear that LeCount, whom it is proposed to punish by expulsion from the country, is suspected of complicity in more than the single murder of Straus. In that of Dunbar I have as yet no information that even any arrests have been made.

I have anxiously awaited the receipt of official intelligence of the progress made by the State government of Jalisco in the punishment of the assassins of Rev. John L. Stephens, whose terrible death has awakened a wide-spread interest and sympathy in the United States; and I thank your excellency for communicating the report, accompanying your note, of the legal proceedings. In examining said report, I was disappointed in finding no mention of the proceedings had in the trial of the cura of the parish of Ahualulco, to whom the published accounts of the lamentable event attributed the responsibility for the assassination. I will not allow myself to question the zeal or the sincere desire of the Mexican government to secure the complete punishment of the authors and perpetrators of this crime, because it has two great motives to incite it to unusual diligence; first, its expressed disposition to protect the lives and persons of American citizens; and, second, its obligation to indicate in the fullest manner the freedom of church worship and religious toleration in this republic, which in the assassination of Mr. Stephens was outraged and defied. The present government of this country is too strongly committed to this acknowledged principle of liberal republicanism to allow, in a case so notorious and flagrant as this, the law-delays and technicalities, the indifference of the local tribunals and officials, or the intolerance or prejudices of any portion of society to defeat the demands of justice, or set at defiance the principles of religious liberty.

While I highly respect the impartiality and wisdom of the supreme court, I cannot fail to express regret at the intelligence you communicate in the case of the murder of Mr. Sanders. The circumstances of his murder and the locality where it occurred, in my opinion, called for the most rigorous measures, the promptest trial, and the speediest execution of the criminals. And I was led to believe that such would be the result of the active interference of the consul at Monterey, of this legation, and of the federal government, with the local authorities. I trust that the nullification of all the legal proceedings thus far in this case may not disappoint my expectations. Your excellency refers to the statement I make in my note of the 11th Instant, of the number of murders of American citizens which have been reported to me, and to the desire I expressed that the Mexican government would adopt vigorous and effective measures to put an end to this grievous catalogue of crimes, whereupon you state that it would be desirable to detail the cases of which your excellency’s government has had no knowledge in order to secure the prosecution and punishment of the delinquents, and to know how far the local authorities may appear guilty of negligence and indifference. It might be difficult in all the cases which have been reported to me to give such facts as would establish the negligence or indifference of the authorities or the prejudices of the people; but the bare statement of the fact contained in my note of the 11th instant, that the lives of thirteen American citizens had been taken by violence or outrage, and not a single punishment had thus far resulted from them, is sufficient to base the expression of the conviction which followed. In the past four months I have brought to your excellency’s attention the details of the four, murders which are alluded to in your note of the 24th instant, all of which afford excellent opportunities for the government to test the zeal and impartiality of the local authorities to administer justice, uninfluenced by popular prejudice.

In the cases at Mazatlan, the consul of the United States expressly charges indifference on the part of the police to detect and arrest the guilty parties, predicted in advance of the trial that there would be no one punished, and has informed me that all the murderers are at liberty.

In the assassination of Stephens, it is charged that the assault was openly instigated by the parish cura, participated in by the military, and publicly rejoiced over by the community. And it is also alleged that the chief authors of the crime have either not been arrested or have been acquitted by the courts.

In the case of the murder of Sanders, the consul expressed to me the belief that, notwithstanding the flagrant nature of the act, and the well-known good character and standing of the murdered man by the highest officials of the State, judging from the past, no punishment would follow. And when I repeat to your excellency what I stated in a former note, that nine of the thirteen murders referred to have occurred in or adjoining the consular district of Monterey, you can infer the reasons upon which the consul bases his opinion, and will agree with me that the case of Sanders may afford the federal government occasion to secure before the local courts a proper protection to the lives of American citizens.

I receive with pleasure the information that your excellency’s government, acting in conformity with the desire expressed in my note, has addressed to the civil and judicial authorities of the federation and the States a most earnest injunction that in every case they follow and punish with the rigor of the law the perpetrators of crimes similar to those of which I have complained. I accept this action as another expression of the sincere desire which animates the present government of Mexico to preserve cordial relations of friendship with the United States, and to afford just protection to its citizens, and I trust this measure may add increased honor to the great achievement of the present chief magistrate of Mexico, in preserving peace during his administration, and promoting a more impartial enforcement of and respect for the law.

Your excellency will please to accept the assurances of my high consideration,

JOHN W. FOSTER.

[Inclosure 3 in No. 176.—Translation.]

THE MEXICANS IN TEXAS.

[Diario Oficial, City of Mexico, August 29, 1874.]

A Matamoras paper calls the attention of the minister of foreign relations to the occurrences which have taken place in Texas, in the United States, in which several Mexican citizens have been the victims. Mr. Lafragua, on learning the facts, at once sent instructions to the Mexican minister at Washington to take proper steps in the matter.