I am. &c.,
[Inclosure.]
Mr. C. A. Van
Bokkelen to Mr. Frelinghuysen.
Port au
Prince, Hayti,
March 19, 1884.
Honorable Sir: According to letter I had the
honor to receive from your Department in reply to mine, inquiring as to
the rights of American citizens before the courts in Hayti, in
accordance with Article VI of the treaty between these two countries, I
duly filed with the civil court of Port au Prince an assignment of my
assets for the benefit of my creditors, this being the sole and only way
to a discharge from said obligations, having been informed by your
Department that I was entitled to all the rights and privileges accorded
to Haytien subjects.
I now again ask that our minister resident be informed of these views,
and that my rights be protected by him.
Having availed myself of these rights, on the 6th day of this month I was
arrested and taken to jail upon a warrant, and upon informing the
authorities that by an order issued in the official journal it was made
obligatory that before a foreigner could be placed in jail, the
complaint should first be submitted to the attorney for the Government
for his examination and approval, and signed with his signature, with
seal attached, I was told that my commitment must stand, and that I must
remain in jail, confined with felons, lunatics, and the like, surrounded
by filth, and my health endangered. To this last fact I have, and did
present, to the authorities the certificates of three physicians, one of
them being Dr. Terres, vice-consul of the United States.
After argument it was decided on the 18th that my imprisonment was
illegal on the original papers, but, being in trouble, had caused others
to step in and cause my detention upon other and different claims which
have to be argued, and in mean time I am confined.
Mr Secretary, I most respectfully ask that protection be afforded me, and
that proper satisfaction be obtained for my first illegal imprisonment,
and from which followed other troubles, and also for damages that may
occur to me from exposure and suffering incurred by my not being allowed
to go to hospital or be confined in a suitable place with some sanitary
condition, not in a Calcutta hole, the fact being well known, as
attested to by the three physicians, of the precarious state of my
general health.
[Page 307]
In addition I would state that the non-fulfillment by the Haytien
Government of its legal obligations is the real cause of my inability to
meet my obligations, my family holding its bonds far in excess of my
debts, and which bonds, if paid, would be used to liquidate my
indebtedness. I notice our minister is pressing a settlement of
these.
I am, &c.,
