No. 128.
Mr. Fish
to Mr. Williams.
Washington, November 9, 1874.
Sir: Your dispatch No. 57,* referring to the case of General Le Gendre, and inclosing a copy of the protest of Go Sheki, acting Japanese consul at Amoy, and Mr. Henderson’s reply, has been received.
This protest states that General Le Gendre was the commissioner in China of his Imperial Japanese Majesty, and immunity from trial and punishment, according to the treaty provisions, is claimed for him on that ground.
You discuss this question and the questions which arise from the [Page 221] posit on taken by General Le Gendre in his own protest, filed in the consular court.
The discharge of General Le Gendre, and the dispatch of the Department No. 194, inclosing a copy of a dispatch addressed to Mr. Seward, covering the general questions arising from his arrest and discharge, make further reference to the case unnecessary.
In reference to the protest of the Japanese consul, and the immunity claimed for him by that official and by General Le Gendre, the question, in the absence of any further action by the Japanese authorities, become s an abstract one, and may need no further discussion.
But as it has been intimated that some further action may be expected, the Department will await the necessity of considering it, not being at present precisely advised as to the details concerning the employment of General Le Gendre with the Japanese. If you have any trustworthy information on this point, you will be pleased to communicate it.
The public prints of to-day state, on the faith of a telegram from Shanghai, that the Formosa difficulty has finally been adjusted, and it is sincerely hoped that such may be the case.
I am, &c.,