No. 360.
Mr. Evarts
to Mr. Foster.
Department
of State,
Washington, September 11,
1878.
No. 505.]Sir: I have to acquaint you with the circumstances
attending the death of one Walter Henry, an American citizen traveling in
Mexico, and the detention of his effects by the Mexican authorities, to the
end that you may make suitable representations in the case to the government
to which you are accredited.
The facts are, briefly, as follows: On the 23d ultimo a telegraphic dispatch
was received here from Mr. William Schuchardt, the commercial agent of the
United States at Piedras Negras, stating that Henry, while on his way to
Saltillo, was murdered west of Zaragoza, on the 20th, and asking if he
should demand the surrender of the property of the deceased, which consisted
of merchandise. This Mr. Schuchardt was authorized to do by a telegram dated
23d ultimo.
A dispatch, numbered 204, and dated the 22d August last, was subsequently
received from Mr. Schuchardt, confirming the report made by telegraph. It
appears therefrom that Henry, while on his way to Saltillo with three
Mexican carts laden with merchandise, was murdered at a halting-place while
asleep under one of the carts, and that the alcalde of Zaragoza had ordered
the body and goods to be conveyed to that town. A subsequent dispatch from
Mr. Schuchardt, numbered 205, and dated the 26th ultimo, reports the
commercial agent’s investigation into the affair, and the discovery of
evidence and facts tending to implicate the, customs officers at Piedras
Negras to the extent at least of knowledge of the crime, if not of actual
complicity. It seems that, notwithstanding that Henry was ascertained to
have paid duties on his merchandise on coming within Mexican jurisdiction,
all record of the payment had disappeared in the custom-house at Piedras
Negras, under circumstances
[Page 604]
strongly implicating one of the officers there, and that the same customs
authorities had seized the effects of the murdered man as contraband, and
refused to deliver them up on demand of Mr. Schuchardt.
A later telegram from Mr. Schuchardt confirms the details above, stating that
the alcalde of Zaragoza, before delivering the property to the custom-house,
sold a portion of it for burial and other expenses, and that delivery of the
rest was still absolutely refused.
I will thank you to make full presentation of the case to the Mexican
Government, basing your statements on those of Mr. Schuchardt now
transmitted, and upon such other details as you may possibly have received
direct from him, and to ask that a searching investigation be made as to the
facts and the apparent complicity of the local officers in the perpetration
of the crime, to the end that if the result should bear out the intelligence
received here, this aggravated case of murder and seizure of the goods of an
unoffending American citizen may not go unpunished.
I am, &c.,
[Inclosure 1 in No. 505.]
Mr. Schuchardt to
Mr. Hunter.
United
States Commercial Agency,
Piedras
Negras, August 22,
1878.
No. 204.]Sir: I have this day sent the following
telegram to the Hon. Secretary of State:
“Walter Henry, an American citizen, was murdered west of Zaragoza,
Mexico, on his way to Saltillo, on the 20th instant. Shall I demand the
surrender to me of his property, consisting of merchandise? A speedy
reply very respectfully requested.”
Yesterday evening I received information by private sources that an
American, who was traveling on the road to Saltillo, with three Mexican
ox-carts, on which a considerable quantity of merchandise was loaded,
belonging to that American, was murdered before daybreak of the 20th
instant, while asleep under one of the said carts.
The deed was committed in the jurisdiction of Zaragoza, a town 36 miles
from this place. The alcalde of the said town of Zaragoza ordered the
body and the three carts with goods to be brought to that town, and had
one of the cart-drivers who reported the occurrences to him, arrested on
suspicion.
Since, through inquiries in this place, I ascertained the following as
regards the person of the murdered man: His name was Walter Henry; was a
native of Ireland, and came to Texas long before her annexation to the
United States, becoming a citizen of the latter at that time. He resided
with his brother for some time in Matamoros, Mexico, dealing in
merchandise, whence he left in 1854, with goods for Zacatecas, Mexico,
returned from there, made several more trips to the interior of Mexico,
and afterwards settled with his brother on a cattle-ranch in Cameron
County, Texas. In 1871, he was seen passing through here on his way to
Chihuahua, where he lived for several years. On the 10th instant he
shipped a considerable lot of merchandise from here to his own
consignment, which he had bought partly in New York and partly in San
Antonio, Tex. He loaded his goods on three Mexican ox-carts, two of
which belonged to Zaragoza and one to this place. Henry had about $400
in hard money with him when he left this place, which, it is supposed,
he carried together with his papers, in a satchel on which his head was
resting at the time he was killed, and which was taken by the murderer.
Walter Henry left no family; whether his brother, with whom he lived in
former years, is alive or not nobody here knows.
I am, &c.,
WM. SCHUCHARDT,
United States
Commercial Agent.
[Inclosure 2 in No. 505.]
Mr. Schuchardt to
Mr. Hunter.
United
States commercial Agency at
Piedras Negras, Mexico, August 23, 1878.
No. 205.]Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of a telegram signed by the Hon. Mr. Seward, dated August 23,
1878, which reads: “May demand Henry’s property for safe-keeping.”
[Page 605]
Since I reported the death of Walter Henry, in my dispatch No. 204, dated
August 22, facts have been developed in regard to that sad event which
must create in one’s mind the suspicion that the custom-house officers
at Piedras Negras are implicated in that horrible affair. I have
ascertained the fact that Henry made the transaction of the importation
of his goods with R. Morel, the principal officer (administrator) of the
custom-house of Piedras Negras, to whom he paid the amount of import
duties, and who gave Henry the necessary custom-house document for the
transit of his goods to the interior. I have also ascertained that Morel
has not made entry of the transaction in the books of the custom-house,
but appropriated the money for his own and the use of his subaltern
accomplices. A few minutes after I had received the sad news of the
death of Henry, I repaired to the custom-house; in my judgment the
proper place to obtain information as to the time when Henry had passed
through this port, by looking in the books for the entry of the
importation of his goods, which I knew already had passed through this
post on the evening of the 10th of August. The business hours of the
custom-house at that time were over, and only Morel, Mr. Montellano, the
cashier (contador), and the commandante of the custom-house guards, were
present. When I related the case to them with the object to obtain any
dates about Henry, some of these officers pretended not to know Henry or
anything about him; no entry whatever could be found in the books. Mr.
Montellano, who manages the whole busiiness of the office (being the
only officer who possesses, any knowledge of customhouse business, and
who showed himself always very strict) probably is the only one who
really does not know about the transaction of Morel. A short time after
Morel had left the office I met an American merchant of this place, who
is on very confidential terms with Morel and his subalterns, the guards,
and who told me, when I expressed my surprise to him that no entry of
Henry’s goods existed at the custom-house, that he saw Morel, who felt
very uneasy about the matter being discovered, and that he did not know
how to extricate himself. Morel, in his efforts to conceal his first
crime of stealing the revenues of his government, conceived the idea of
a second by attempting to steal the goods of the unfortunate dead man,
seizing them as smuggled. To accomplish this he sent immediately a
confidential guard to Zaragoza, to secure the custom-house document,
which was furnished by him to Henry, and which proved his fraudulent
transaction. In this he failed, all papers having disappeared, together
with Henry’s money contained in the satchel which the murderers had
taken. This action Morel confided to a merchant of Eagle Pass, who
related it to me. Morel being informed that no papers were found, felt
greatly relieved, and proceeded at once officially against the property
of Henry. He sent four guards and four soldiers to Zaragoza to seize and
bring to this place Henry’s goods, which meanwhile the alcalde of that
place had taken in his custody. The alcalde refuses to deliver the goods
to the guards, stating that he had proof that they were not smuggled.
One of the custom-house guards offered to one of the cartmen $500 if he
would make a statement to the effect that they (the cartmen) had
received the goods of Henry in the chaparral near Piedras Negras in the
night and not at Eagle Pass in bright daylight, as is proven by the
United States collector and inspector at Eagle Pass, who saw the goods
exported on the public ferry-boat during office hours. Since the refusal
of the alcalde of Zaragoza to deliver the goods to the custom-house
guards some more soldiers have left for that place, which indicates that
the custom-house officials are determined to get the goods in their
possession at any rate. I have demanded from the alcalde of Zaragoza
Henry’s property for safe-keeping, but he very courteously declines to
comply with my, demand, stating that he could not deliver the goods
while the case is under investigation. This signifies, according to my
experience in this country, that the investigation of Henry’s murder
will be carried on as long as there is anything of his property left,
and as soon as there is everything consumed in costs and expenses the
investigation will be at an end, resulting most likely in not finding
out the culprits. Every day while the property exists in the custody of
the alcalde costs and expenses accumulate considerably. I am informed
that the costs of bringing to Zaragoza the body of Henry and its
interment amounted to $70; besides there are four men guarding the goods
by day and night. In a case like this, where the effects which respond
for the expenses made belong to a foreigner, it is the custom to pay
very liberally and higher for any service or thing than at the rates in
use in the country under other circumstances. In fact, it seems that
everybody considers the property of a foreigner falling in their hands
under such circumstances as a public prey, and everybody thinks himself
entitled to some part of it, even small it may be, Should the alcalde of
Zaragoza hold the goods until the investigation is concluded, the heirs
of Henry will receive very little, or nothing; should the custom-house
succeed in getting the goods in their possession, then there is no
remedy at all, and no hope to recover any part of them. In the latter
case an open robbery of the property of an American citizen for the sake
to conceal the crime of a rascally Mexican official is committed, which
should not be tolerated by our government, who should not only demand
and recover Henry’s property, but also exact the money paid to Morel
from him, the goods then being obliged to be recrossed
[Page 606]
to Eagle Pass. The goods of Henry are
American property and should be protected with the same efficiency as
now the cattle and horses of our frontiersmen are protected and
recovered on Mexican soil whenever found by our troops.
All Americans at Eagle Pass feel very indignant, and public opinion goes
so far as to accuse Morel as instrumental to the murder of Henry.
I am, &c.,
[Inclosure 3 in No.
505.—Telegram.]
Mr. Schuchardt to
Mr. Evarts.
Piedras
Negras, August 30,
1878.
Hon. Secretary of
State,
Washington, D. C.:
Custom-house of Piedras Negras has taken from the alcalde of Zaragoza the
goods of Walter Henry as contraband. Henry had paid to principal
custom-officer import duty on his goods, and he appropriates the money
for his own use, not making entry in books of his office. Custom-house
documents issued by that officer to Henry which proved officer’s
transactions and payment of duty by Henry having been stolen by the
murderers, together with Henry’s money, the custom-house officer tries
to cover his first crime by a second—taking Henry’s property by calling
it contraband. On my demand of property of Henry was refused by alcalde
of Zaragoza. Alcalde of Zaragoza, before delivering the property to
custom-house, sold part of it for burying and other expenses. Henry’s
property can be recovered now by force only.
WM. SCHUCHARDT,
United States
Commercial Agent.
