No. 346.

Mr. Frelinghuysen to Mr. Langston.

No. 324.]

Sir: I have received your No. 695, of the 17th ultimo, relative to the imprisonment of Mr. Alexander C. d’Almena, an American citizen, at Port-au-Prince, and the refusal of the authorities there to allow you to hold any conversation with him, in view of the provisions of a Haytian law, “which,” you say, “confers upon the judge of instruction such power in connection with the examination of witnesses in criminal matters, even though that examination be only preliminary.”

Detention of witnesses to prevent their disappearance and insure their giving testimony when called for is common in the jurisprudence of all countries, and special provisions exist in those where the principles of the civil law are in force relative to the detention au secret of an accused person; but such detention should be reasonable and not unduly prolonged or harshly enforced, and is merely a temporary measure in the administration of justice.

You will, therefore, in this view of the case, urgently protest against the treatment accorded Mr. d’Almena, as contrary to international rights. He should be fairly tried or released without delay.

I am, &c.,

FRED’K T. FRELINGHUYSEN.