No. 222.
Señor Zamacona to Mr. Blaine
.
[Translation.]
Legation of Mexico in the United States,
Washington
,
October 10, 1881.
(Received October
12.)
Mr. Secretary: The accompanying extracts,
copied from an Arizona newspaper, corroborate the statements which I
have had the honor to make to the Department of State, both verbally and
in writing, in regard to the state of insecurity which prevails on that
portion of the frontier, and from which the adjacent districts of Mexico
are sufferers.
The note with which the Department of State was pleased to honor me on
the 29th of August last convinces me that the evil in question is not a
matter of indifference to the Department of State, and I therefore lay
before it the inclosed data, availing myself of the opportunity to
express the hope that the Department will, when it shall have received
information thereof, communicate to this legation the result of the
steps taken by it with a view to securing the restoration of order in
those frontier districts in which lawlessness has become most
prevalent.
I have, &c.,
[Inclosure.—Extracts from the Epitaph,
August 12 and 13, 1881.]
* * * It is a well-known fact that in the southeastern part of this
county there is a hand of desperadoes variously estimated at from
fifty to one hundred men, whose crimes have deserved the severest
penalties, and yet we hear of no effort for their capture. It is
true their depredations have been committed principally upon
citizens of our sister republic, but that is no reason why they
should go unpunished.
* * * * * * *
News was brought to town yesterday of further depredations by a party
of five men, who are supposed to belong to the gang of outlaws
infesting this county calling themselves “Rustlers.” They are
principally from Western Texas and Lincoln Co., New Mexico, from
whence they have been driven by an outraged community, and now seem
to have found the place they long have sought, where they can commit
their depredations without fear of arrest. For a long time this gang
have committed crimes and confined themselves and their operations
to the east of Tombstone, and along the line of Sonora, but seeing
that no steps were taken for their arrest they have become
emboldened to take up their haunts and perpetrate their depredations
nearer the center of business and population.
* * * * * * *
Washington
,
October 10,
1881.
A true copy.
JOSÉ T. DE CUELLAR, Prio.
