No. 426.
Mr. Frelinghuysen to Mr. Wallace.
Washington, March 26, 1884.
Sir: I have received your dispatch No. 340, of the 1st instant, stating that the Government of Turkey has refused the demands of your legation in the cases of Messrs. Knapp and Reynolds, and I have to say that our recent instruction shows the attitude this Government maintains with reference to those claims. As you have already been advised, the Turkish minister here has been informed that we do not admit that the court at Bitlis has done its duty. In renewing, as was done, demand for the arrest and trial of Moussa Bey, we sufficiently imply our inability to regard the proceedings at Bitlis, on which the Porte relies for justification, as other than a denial of justice, which, under international law and usage, is a legitimate subject of complaint and redress through diplomatic channels.
I am, &c.,