Office of the Historian

No. 324.
Mr. Blaine to Mr. Lowell.

Department of State,
Washington, June 2, 1881.
No. 172.]

Sir: Referring to my general instruction of the 26th ultimo (No. 166), in relation to the case of Michael P. Boyton, I now inclose to you a copy of a letter of the 30th of the same month from the Hon. Samuel J. Randall, in behalf of Mr. Joseph B. Walsh, a citizen of the United States, who, it appears, was arrested on the 3d of March last, under the provisions of the late act of Parliament, known as the “protection act.” Mr. Walsh is represented as being imprisoned in Dublin, and it is probable that Kilmainham jail is the place of confinement. His relatives in this country, knowing only of his arrest and imprisonment, are. unable to afford the Department any information as to the specific charge, if any, upon which he is held; and it seems quite likely that the prisoner himself is also in ignorance in regard to the particular offense for which he is thus subjected to summary detention and confinement.

Mr. Walsh has been a citizen of the United States since 1875. His character as a law-abiding and good citizen is vouched for by well known and respectable citizens of Pennsylvania. I inclose a copy of his certificate of naturalization.

I have already indicated to you in my instruction of the 26th of May, the entire absence of any disposition on the part of this government to interfere with the administration of the local or general municipal laws of Great Britain. The laws of that country, and especially those that relate to the personal liberty and security of the citizen, have always been so much in harmony with the principles of jurisprudence cherished by Americans as a birthright, that they have never failed to command the respect of the government and people of the United States. But whatever the necessity may be in the estimation of Her Majesty’s Government for the existence and enforcement in Ireland of the exceptional legislative measures recently enacted in respect to that country, this government cannot view with unconcern the application of the summary proceedings attendant upon the execution of these measures to naturalized citizens of the United States of Irish origin, whose business relations may render necessary their presence in Ireland or any other part of the United Kingdom, or whose filial instincts and love for kindred may have prompted them to revisit their native country.

If American citizens while within British jurisdiction offend against British laws, this government will not seek to shield them from the legal consequences of their acts, but it must insist upon the application to their cases of those common principles of criminal jurisprudence which in the United States secure to every man who offends against its laws, whether he be an American citizen or a foreign subject, those incidents to a criminal prosecution which afford the best safeguard to personal liberty and the strongest protection against oppression under the forms of law, which might otherwise be practiced through excessive zeal.

That an accused person shall immediately upon arrest be informed of the specific crime or offense upon which he is held, and that he shall be afforded an opportunity for a speedy trial before an impartial court and jury, are essentials to every criminal prosecution, necessary alike to the protection of innocence and the ascertainment of guilt. You will lose no time in making the necessary inquiries into the cause of Mr. Walsh’s arrest and detention, in which it is probable Mr. Barrows, the [Page 533] consul at Dublin, may be able to aid you. And if you shall find that the circumstances of the case, in the light of this and previous instructions, are such as to call for interference on the part of this government, you will make such temperate but earnest representations as in your judgment will conduce to his speedy trial, or in case there is no specific charge against him, his prompt release from imprisonment.

It is desired that you will report the result of your proceedings to the Department with as little delay as convenient.

I am, &c.,

JAMES G. BLAINE.
[Inclosure in No. 172.]

Mr. Randall to Mr. Blaine.

Philadelphia, Pa.,
May 30, 1881.

Sir: Some days ago I called to see you at the State Department in company with Mr. Thomas Horan, of Philadelphia, in reference to the imprisonment in Ireland of James B. Walsh, an American citizen. He was placed in prison in Dublin, on or about March 3, 1881, for alleged offense against the British law, known as the coercion act.

As to the particulars of the charge under which Walsh is confined, his friends in this country are uninformed, as his uncle, the afore-mentioned Mr. Horan states to me.

The proof of his American citizenship, I herewith inclose in form of a duplicate naturalization certificate properly authenticated The original was issued on the 16th day of October, 1875, from the superior court of the city of New York.

In the interview alluded to you expressed your entire willingness in case Walsh’s American citizenship was established to intercede with the Government of Great Britain with all the influence of the high office you hold.

I urge your early communication with the British minister at Washington, that all the facts in the case may be known and an early release of Walsh secured.

Very respectfully, &c.,

SAM. J. RANDALL.