Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 5, 1881

No. 468.
Mr. Morgan to Mr. Blaine.

Legation of the United States,
Mexico, August 11, 1881. (Received August 25.)

No. 252.]

Sir: In your dispatch No. 144 (June 23, 1881)—which relates to the impressment of several parties, said to be citizens of the United States, in the Mexican army, and which are referred to in your previous dispatches No. 71, October 9, 1880, and No. 112, March 14, and in my dispatches No. 125, October 27, 1880; No. 133, November 13, 1880; and No. 144, December 25, 1880; you express the opinion that the proper course for me to pursue with regard to presenting a claim for compensation for their illegal impressment would seem to be that I should take the several cases, according to their circumstances and the status and character of the claimants, and advise the parties as to the amount proper to be claimed by them. You add that the ease with which I have access to the facts of each case makes such a course just and proper.

The only knowledge I possess of the facts of the cases is derived from these copies of the reports to you of Consul Schuchardt (254 and 262) which have accompanied your dispatches No. 71, October 9, 1880, and No. 112, March 14, 1881. From them I can discover very little as to circumstances, status and character, and residence of the injured parties. Assuming the facts to be as stated by Mr. Schuchardt (and I do not question them) they were illegally and improperly used, and are entitled to be compensated, not only, in my opinion, for the losses which they may have sustained, but for the outrage of which they were the victims.

To obtain a knowledge of all the facts and circumstances, I have addressed a note to Mr. Schuchardt, which I inclose. I send it to you that you may forward it, should you deem proper, and because it will reach him sooner via the United States than if I were to trust it to the ordinary post.

I have to call your attention to the fact that so far no claim has ever been presented on the part of the impressed persons, nor has any complaint been made by them. I submit whether this is a prerequisite to making a demand in their name.

In considering the question, I also submit whether Mr. Felipe Burnato is entitled to the interposition on behalf of the United States. He appears to have been born at Menclora, Mexico. On the 1st of November, 1872, in the district court for the county of Maverick, Texas, he declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States. It does not appear that he completed his citizenship. He was arrested at Piedras Negras, about the 1st November, 1879, charged with a violation of the Mexican revenue laws, and sentenced, as appears from the affidavit of his wife attached to Mr. Schuchardt’s report No. 254, to five years’ imprisonment in the military service at Piedras Negras. That he served in the Army, however, is not denied, as you will observe by reference to Señor Mariscal’s note to me of the 24th December, 1880, inclosed in my dispatch No. 144, December 25, 1880, and his case is therefore disembarrassed of that qusetion.

Upon this point you say in your dispatch No. 71, October 9, 1880, that Mr. Burnato’s citizenship should be brought up by the Mexican Government. I am to suggest that for fourteen years he had been a permanent resident of the United States, of which he had declared his intention to become a citizen, and that he has thus been under the protection of that government, its laws and treaties, and that it would be ungenerous for the Mexican Government to insist, under the circumstances, in making any unfavorable distinction in his case. I have not been able to discover any evidence upon the point of his residence, except what is to be found in the affidavit of his wife, made on the 5th May, and she does not say that he was a resident of Eagle Pass, or of the United States, at the time of his arrest, or how long before that event he had gone over to Piedras Negras. In respect, therefore, of Felipe Burnato, it appears to me two preliminary questions arise:

1st. Is he a citizen of the United States, and therefore entitled to protection?

2d. If he be a citizen of the United States, and he was condemned by a competent Mexican tribunal to a punishment not excessive or unusual for a violation of a Mexican law, will the United States interfere in his behalf?

As I feel persuaded that the first objection which will be opposed to any demand which may be made in his behalf as well as against all the others who are the subject of this correspondence, I have endeavored to fortify myself upon them, as well as upon all the other facts connected therewith (to the extent that my judicial training permits), in my letter to Consul Schuchardt; and I have addressed myself to him rather than to the parties, because he knows exactly their places of residence, and will see to it that my questions are answered.

I am, &c.,

P. H. MORGAN.

[Inclosure in No. 252.]

Mr. Morgan to Mr. Schuchardt.

United States Legation,
Mexico, August 10, 1881.

Sir: I have been instructed by the State Department to present the claims of Felipe Burnato, Santos Hernandez, Miguel Guerrero, and George Cinio to the Mexican Government for damages caused to them by reason of their having been impressed into the military service of Mexico.

In order that I may be properly acquainted with all the facts connected with the case of each, I desire to be informed: in respect to Felipe Burnato. He appears to have been born at Menclora, Mexico.

1. On the 1st of November, 1872, he made declaration of his intention to become a citizen of the United States. This declaration was made before the district court of the county of Maverick, Texas. Did he ever complete this act of citizenship? If so, when? Send me copy, properly certified, of the declaration, as well as of the judgment of naturalization, if the latter exists.

2. Inform me where Felipe Burnato resided, from the time he made his declaration of intention to become a citizen of the United States, up to the date of his arrest by the Mexican authorities at Piedras Negras (1st November, 1879). Was his residence in the State of Texas continuous?

3. What was his occupation about the 1st November, 1879?

4. If he was in business of any sort on his own account at that time, what was that business worth to him per annum?

5. If he was a laborer, what wages was he receiving?

6. In your report to Mr. Assistant Secretary Hunter (No. 254, August 15, 1880) you say that Burnato was apprehended at Piedras Negras by custom-house guards for smuggling bottles of beer from Eagle Pass to Piedras Negras, and that for this violation of the revenue laws he was sentenced by Mr. E. Baz, the administrator of the custom-house at that point, to “five years service as a soldier in the thirty-first battalion of the regular Mexican army.” In the affidavit made by his wife on the 5th May 1880 (attached to your report), she says that he was sentenced “to five years confinement” in the military prison at Piedras Negras.

I should be pleased to know whether his punishment was changed from imprisonment to military service or vice versa, and, if so, when the change was made.

7. He appears to have been arrested about the 1st November, 1879. His wife’s affidavit was made on the 5th May, 1880, six months after the arrest. Was this the first intimation you had of his arrest? Was the affidavit of his wife the first step taken towards effecting his release? Can she explain why such a time elapsed between her husband’s arrest and any action on his behalf being taken?

As regards Santos Hernandez:

1. Where was he born?

2. If he was born in Mexico was he ever naturalized a citizen of the United States? If so, where and when?

3. In his affidavit made on the 25th May, 1881 (annexed to your report), Mr. J. W. Barnet declares that in the year 1861 Santos Hernandez was a soldier in the Army of the United States, and that he believes him to be a bona fide resident (he does not say citizen) of the United States.

4. J. W. Barnet, in his note to you (without date), states that one Benito Troquillo knows that Santos Hernandez was a soldier in Captain Barnet’s Company of the First United States Texas Volunteers. If so, he should have his “discharge.” Can you procure it? And if not can he account for its loss?

5. What was the date of his impressment in the Mexican army? In your dispatch No. 262, February 18, 1881, to Mr. Assistant Secretary Hunter, you say that he escaped therefrom. Inform me when he effected his escape?

As regards Miguel and Manuel Guerrero:

In your dispatch (No. 254) you say that they had lived nearly their whole life a San Antonio, Tex. You annex the affidavit of Jesus Samora (20th April, 1880), in which he declares that Manuel Guerrero was born at Bexar County, Texas. Nothing, however, is said with reference to the citizenship of Miguel. Can you furnish me with evidence upon this point?

1. Where was he born?

2. Miguel Guerrero, you say, in your dispatch No. 262, was killed. Can you inform me when he was killed? I have been informed that he was discharged in 1880.

3. Manuel Guerrero, you say (262), was discharged. Let me know the date thereof. I am informed that it was in June, 1880.

As regards Santos Hernandez, Miguel Guerrero, and Manuel Guerrero:

1. It appears from your dispatch No. 254 that they were journeying together (in company with Josefa Hernandez) when they were impressed at Las Vacas. I presume, therefore, that they were in the same condition of life. What was that condition? If they were engaged in any regular business, inform me what that business was, and what profit they could—each of them—reasonably expect to make therefrom? If they were laborers, let me know what wages their labor commanded per month.

2. In your dispatch (No. 262) you state that they were despoiled of their property, viz, three horses, saddles and bridles, two Winchester carbines, one pistol, and their wearing apparel. Please inform me as to the value of this property.

As regards George Cinio:

1. Inform me when he was arrested, as detailed in your dispatch (No. 254).

2. You say that he was a soldier in the United States Army. When did he enlist? To what company and regiment was he attached? When was he discharged? Can he produce his certificate of discharge; if not, how can he prove these facts?

3. What was his occupation when he was impressed into the Mexican service? What wages was he earning? What wages does he earn now?

Please also inform me of the condition of the mother of Miguel and Manuel Guerrero, as regards her means and ability to support herself.

In the discussion which it is probable will take place between Señor Mariscal and myself upon the claims which I have been instructed to present, all the allegations connected therewith will, no doubt, be denied. You will therefore see how important it is that I should be possessed in advance of all the evidence which could be reasonably expected to entitle our fellow-citizens to reparation from the Mexican Government for the unjustifiable injuries which they have received at its hands and I confidently rely upon your coöperation to that end.

I am, &c.,

P. H. MORGAN.