No. 224.
Mr. Blaine to Señor Zamacona.
Washington, November 15, 1881.
Sir: I have the honor to refer to my note to you of August 29 last, relative to the unfortunate condition of affairs existing on both sides of the border, and beg to invite your attention particularly to the circumstances of your complaint of the hanging of José Ordiña, a Mexican citizen, by certain residents of Arizona, for horse stealing, having recently received a letter upon that subject from Mr. John J. Gosper, acting governor of that Territory.
In furtherance of the Department’s request to ascertain the facts connected with the hanging of the individual referred to, Mr. Gosper called in person upon the Mexican consul at Tucson to obtain from him directly everything in relation to the deplorable circumstance.
It appears that the only information the consul possessed upon the subject was derived, first, from a lady who wrote him at the time of the occurrence; and second, from Mr. Paul, the sheriff of Pima County, a copy of whose letter to the Mexican consul at Tucson accompanies your note of August 8, 1881.
A personal interview was also had with Mr. Paul, who was requested to narrate all the facts as far as he was familiar with them. “His statement to me, by word of mouth,” adds Mr. Gosper, “was substantially as stated in his communication to the consul of Mexico, with the additional statement, that the citizens of the Gila whose horses had been stolen were as certain that the two men whom they had captured were regular horse thieves as though they had been tried in court and regularly proven as such; that they did not intend to take the life of Ordiña, only intending to let him hang long enough to compel him to give information of the whereabouts of the stolen animals, and by mistake let him hang too long.” Mr. Gosper states, also, that he learned from other credible sources that the two Mexicans adverted to as in part the subject of the Department’s correspondence were, without doubt, habitual thieves.
While admitting to the Mexican consul the illegal and unfortunate circumstance of the hanging of one of these men without due process of law, yet it appears from the acting governor’s communication that the consul agreed with him that the two men in question were probably outlaws, and that even if the persons connected with the hanging of one of them were to be arraigned before a court of justice it was doubtful if there could be found a witness to appear before the magistrate to testify against them.
[Page 408]The consul was assured by Mr. Gosper that in the event of further knowledge upon the subject coming to him he would promptly act in the interest of peace and the enforcement of the law.
In this connection it seems not inappropriate to include, for your further information, two paragraphs from Mr. Gosper’s letter to me upon the general subject of plunder and lawlessness on both sides of the border, believing, as I do, that, coming from such a source, they will not only serve to dispel all idea that the prevailing condition of things may be directly attributable to the acts of American citizens alone, but will suffice to convince you of the actual situation of affairs in that quarter, in which your own citizens are not infrequently prominently concerned.
I quote from the letter of Mr. Gosper, who states as follows:
While it is true Americans on our side of the line dividing the United States from Mexico are often guilty of murder and theft upon citizens of Mexico, it is equally true that Mexicans on their side of said line are equally guilty with Americans in the matter of murder and theft; and until recently, since the cow-boy combination along the borders for plunder, the crimes committed against the citizens of both the Governments of the United States and Mexico along the border were, in most part, committed by citizens of Mexico.
While the local and general civil authorities of both governments should be active and earnest in enforcing the laws, I think the civil authorities of the Government of Mexico are sometimes perhaps more sensitive over crimes committed by Americans than the circumstances in particular cases would justify. Mere rumor and false statements often, for a time, create an uneasiness which a knowledge of the facts quickly dispels.
In conclusion, I beg to repeat what must be already known to you, that the Department has uniformly given to your several complaints in relation to the border difficulties every possible attention, and has sought upon each occasion the co-operation of the competent officers of this government to remedy, as far as may lie in their power, the evils complained of. I shall do so in the present instance, in view of the statements contained in Mr. Gosper’s letter; and in connection with the general subject of our border troubles, it gives me pleasure to inclose herewith for your information a copy of a letter from the Secretary of War of the 1st instant, from which it appears that all proper assistance will be given by his department to effect a better and more satisfactory condition of affairs in that section.
I can confidently assure you of the desire of the general government to suppress all unlawful disturbances and maintain a proper respect for law and order on the border, and that it will willingly pursue such means as may be found practicable to obtain that result.
Believing, as I do, therefore, that, recognizing the necessity for increased vigilance on the part of the Mexican authorities in that quarter, that you will not fail to impress this upon your government in order that it may adopt and vigorously prosecute all possible measures calculated to insure that desirable end, and regretting deeply the act by which a citizen of your government lost his life in Arizona,
I beg, &c.,