No. 318.
Mr. Blaine
to Mr. Lowell
.
Washington , March 31, 1881.
Sir: I have received your dispatch No. 140, of the 12th instant, in relation to the arrest of Mr. Michael P. Boyton and his application for protection as an American citizen. Your action thereon, in connection with your previous action on Mr. Boyton’s application for a new passport, receives the entire commendation of the Department as discreet and proper.
The facts so far elicited show the wisdom and importance of a careful examination of cases giving rise to international complaints; and while it is most desirable to omit no steps or take no positive action which might result in unduly embarrassing an American citizen in the assertion of his personal rights or hindering his immediate protection in case of urgent need, it is on the other hand equally desirable that you should be (as you appear to have been) watchful to guard against introducing any avoidable element of uncertainty or contradiction into the discussion of questions of such intrinsic gravity between the two governments. In the case of Mr. Boyton, as in any other which may [Page 524] arise, I have every confidence in your discretion equally with your zeal in the protection of American rights.
I am, &c.,