No. 103.
Mr. Bayard to Mr. Beach.

No. 30.]

Sir: Since the date of the last instruction to you in relation to the case of Julio E. Santos, the Department has received your dispatches No. 26, of February 28, 1885, and Nos. 29 and 30, of March 21, 1885; and also Mr. Reinberg’s dispatches Nos. 108 and 109, of March 24 and 27, 1885, and his No. 114, of the 18th ultimo, all on the same subject.

The Department has also received a number of affidavits from parties in the United States, testifying their knowledge of Mr. Santos’s intention to retain his domicil in the United States, here to maintain and fulfill his rights and duties as a citizen of this Republic. Copies of these affidavits are hereto annexed, and taken with those which you have obtained and forwarded in obedience to my telegraphic request, they establish the intention to return to the entire satisfaction of this Government. They thus meet the only ground which the Government of Ecuador has found for opposing the right of the United States to intervene in this case, and dispose of the assumption that by the naked fact of two years’ residence in Ecuador Mr. Santos has renounced his acquired and resumed his original allegiance.

The provision in respect of two years’ residence in the original country, after return thither, which is found in most of our naturalization treaties, is designed to afford presumptive evidence merely of the intent which is necessary to a valid resumption of the original allegiance. That presumption, like any other presumption, is open to rebuttal by satisfactory evidence, and the right of such rebuttal is inherent in the case and available in the party’s behalf, even where the treaty may be silent on the point. In our treaty with Ecuador, however, the right of rebuttal of the presumption of intent which may grow from two years’ [Page 252] residence is expressly stipulated, and this point is therefore removed from the field of argument.

It is part of the sovereignty of every nation to prescribe the terms on which the allegiance of its own citizens shall be acquired and preserved. In the treaty with Ecuador the United States waive a part of such right of decision by admitting that two years’ residence in Ecuador may create a presumption that their citizen intends to remain there. By stipulating for the right of rebuttal evidence on this point of intention, the United States wholly and absolutely regain that right of deciding as to the status of their citizens in a given case. That right is not transferred in any part to Ecuador; it is to be exercised exclusively by the United States as an attribute of their sovereignty. And Ecuador cannot meet that reserved right by any mere denial of the sufficiency of the rebutting evidence which may be satisfactory to the United States. The only privilege of surrebuttal which might remain open to Ecuador would be to show that the party had done some act working an overt, voluntary, and positive renunciation of his United States citizenship of which the laws of Ecuador take cognizance, or which they may prescribe as a condition to the acquisition or recovery of Ecuadorian citizenship. In other words, no surrebuttal is admissible as to intent, but must rest on the full ascertainment of legal fact.

This Government has pushed its construction of the sufficiency of the rebutting evidence beyond the needs of what would have been enough in any ordinary case in order that its conclusion, when reached, should not only be final as of right, but convincing also to the Government of Ecuador, to which it may be communicated as a matter of courtesy.

This conclusion is that the rebutting evidence submitted by and on behalf of Mr. Julio R. Santos establishes his continuous intent to return to the United States, here to discharge the duties of an American citizen; and it furthermore establishes his open and continuous assertion of his American citizenship during the whole period of his sojourn in Ecuador.

This Government must therefore hold that the question of Mr. Santos’s citizenship, under the treaty clauses is no longer debatable, and must likewise hold and firmly insist that Mr. Santos’s rights as a citizen of the United States shall be respected in all matters touching any charge which may have been or be preferred against him of violating the laws of the land of his temporary sojourn. We insist that in the event of such charges being brought against him he shall have immediate and full cognizance thereof, with every opportunity and guarantee of defense in open trial as completely as any other citizen of the United States would be entitled to in Ecuador, or as any citizen of Ecuador would be entitled to and would receive if on trial in the United States. We insist that if no charges be forthcoming, or no trial held without delay, he shall be released. And we insist further that in respect of his property, real or personal, within the jurisdiction of Ecuador, he shall have the same absolute and perfect protection at the hands of the Ecuadorian authorities, and through the official intervention of the representatives of the United States as any other citizen of the United States would be entitled to and must receive under existing treaties and under the law of nations.

In addition to the affidavits, of which copies are transmitted herewith, I send you copy of the opinion on Mr. Santos’s case prepared by the law officer of this Department, in whose conclusions I concur.

In presenting these facts and conclusions to the Government of Ecuador, you will point out that this Government has strained the point of [Page 253] courteous deference to the contention of that of Ecuador to the uttermost, and that an American citizen has lain in prison in Ecuador for months without trial, and virtually without knowledge of any tangible accusation against him on which trial might be had, pending submission to this Government of the proof of citizenship, and pending the conscientious examination of that proof. The delay which has thus supervened in the conduct of this case having been now removed and an impartial, equitable, and final conclusion of the question of disputed citizenship having been reached, no further delay in doing justice to Mr. Santos can be expected from the Government of Ecuador, or be permitted by, the Government of the United States, without condoning a manifest evasion of the treaty obligations of Ecuador to the continued and wrongful prejudice of a citizen of the United States, whose just rights the President is bound to protect, and will protect, by all the means within his constitutional power.

This instruction will be handed to you by Commander Mahan, of the U. S. S. Wachusett, who revisits the waters of Ecuador by direction of the Secretary of the Navy for that purpose. Commander Mahan will be instructed to remain within reach pending the prompt disposal of Mr. Santos’s case, and, in the probable event of his release, he will be afforded an opportunity to return to the United States on the Wachusett, by way of Panama, should he so desire.

The energy shown by you and Mr. Reinberg in the conduct of this matter hitherto deserves commendation, and it is trusted that your continued zeal and good judgment will help to bring about under the present instruction a speedy and satisfactory ending of this already too long delayed case.

I am, &c.,

T. F. BAYARD.
[Inclosure 1 in No. 30.—Report No. 37.—Imprisonment of Julio Santos by authorities of Ecuador.]

To the honorable the Secretary of State:

Sir: So far as concerns the evidence contained in the annexed papers, there can be no question that Julio R. Santos is a domiciled citizen of the United States. It is very rarely that in cases of this class such strong evidence is produced. The acquaintances of Mr. Santos, who are brought up to testify as to his history and his expectations, are not persons who would either observe carelessly or speak lightly. They include a series of college officers and students of high character, with whom he has passed a number of years, and business associates, who would best know his plans. It is impossible to ascribe to persons of this class either want of opportunities of knowledge, or want of conscientious accuracy. And the case is one of more interest because it represents a type of much importance to the business welfare both of the United States and of the countries with which we are brought into close mercantile relations. It is highly conducive to the beneficial developments of these relations that in selecting selling and other agents in a foreign land, our producing and manufacturing houses should be able to avail themselves of the services of such natives of the countries to be dealt with as have become citizens of the United States. In this way we obtain for ourselves the agent’s knowledge of the language and other conditions of the country to which he is sent, while, from the fact of his naturalization in the United States, we have a political hold on him, and are able, to some extent, to guarantee his personal rights. Hence it is a common practice of our great producing and exporting houses to send to Europe, as well as to South America, agents who are natives of the country of their agency, but who have intermediately become loyal citizens of the United States. There can be no doubt that this practice has proved very beneficial to the country of the agency, as well as to the country from which the agent is sent forth. To limit such an agency to two years would greatly destroy its efficiency. By the rules of international law, as recognized by all civilized nations, an agent of this class may live and do business in the place of his agency (if his intention is to return to dwell permanently in the place from which [Page 254] he is sent) without requiring a domicil, or being subjected to a citizenship in the place of his agency. Nor, so far as concerns citizenship, is this rule modified by the treaty between the United States and Ecuador. That treaty, so far as concerns the present issue, is as follows:

Article III.

A residence of more than two years in the native country of a naturalized citizen shall be construed as an intention on his part to stay there without returning to that where he was naturalized.

This presumption, however, may be rebutted by evidence to the contrary.

This is equivalent to saying that when such a citizen’s intention to return to the United States is shown, his citizenship of the United States remains. It is true that white Mr. Santos, though a domiciled citizen of the United States, is resident in Ecuador, he is subject to the penal laws of Ecuador, and that mere alienage, or United States citizenship, will not be a defense if he be tried for treason or other offense against Ecuador. But though this is conceded, the Government of the United States must insist that the trial in such a case, if it be pressed, must be conducted according to the rules of international law; and if it be not pressed, that Mr. Santos must be released; and the rules of international law in this respect are that the party charged should been titled to have counsel, to summon witnesses in his behalf, to cross-examine the witnesses produced against him, and to have a prompt trial. Any invasion of these sanctions will be regarded by the United States Government as a matter of grave concern. Nor is the solemnity of the protest here made weakened by the documents that have come to the Department within the last few days from the United States consul at Guayaquil. The case has undoubtedly been brought before a local judge of Ecuador, but instead of the release or trial of Mr. Santos being ordered, we are told that while the proceedings heretofore held against him are invalid and nugatory and the evidence is worthless, yet Mr. Santos must be remanded to prison. It is impossible for the Government of the United States to view, without serious dissatisfaction, such permanent imprisonment, on evidence admitted to be invalid, of a citizen of the United States of unblemished character, engaged temporarily in Ecuador in a line of business whose maintenance is at least as important to Ecuador as to the United States.

All of which is respectfully submitted.

FRANCIS WHARTON,
Law Officer, &c.
[Inclosure 2 in No. 30.]

United States of America, State of New York,
City and County of New York to wit:

Albert J. Berntich, being duly sworn, says:

I reside in the town of Westfield, N. J., and am engaged in business at No. 76 Broad street, in the city of New York, under the firm name of Berntich Brothers. In the year 1881 my said firm had business transactions with the firm of Santos Hevia, Hermanos, of Bahai le Caráquez, in the Republic of Ecuador, of which latter firm Julio Romano Santos was and is a member. In the month of May or June, 1881, Mr. Santos E. Santos, the brother of said Julio Romano Santos, was in the city of New York, and to my knowledge was engaged in making arrangements on behalf of his said brother Julio to open a branch house of said firm in the city of New York, of which branch house his said brother Julio was to take charge as soon as he returned New York. I was informed by Santos E. Santos that Mr. Julio Romano Santos was then making arrangements and intended to return to the United States as soon as his said brother Santos E. Santos, who was then in New York, could return to Bahia de Caráquez, Ecuador, where said firm of Santos, Heiva Hermanos had its principal place of business.

I further say that I and my partners since that date have been expecting and anticipating; the return of said Julio Romano Santos to this country, but we became aware that the condition of the business of his firm, in Ecuador, prevented him, from time to time, from carrying out his intention of returning to the United States.

I further say that I and my partners have, at all times, since the month of May or June, 1881, believed, and we do still believe, that the stay of said Julio Romano Santos in Ecuador was only temporary, that is, until he could get the business affairs of his firm in Ecuador into such a condition that he could safely return to the United States.

[Page 255]

I further say that in the month of April, 1884, I and my partners were informed that said Julio Romano Santos was finally making arrangements to return to the United States, and that he intended to bring with him some of his relatives; his intention being to establish said branch commission house in the city of New York. In that month, namely, in April, 1884, his brother, Santos E. Santos, called on me and desired to engage my services for the new house, which he, Julio Romano Santos, so intended establishing in the city of New York, and I had intended joining the new house which said Julio Romano Santos was so about to establish and would have done so but for the arrest of said Julio Romano Santos in Ecuador.

I further say that during the whole period of my acquaintance with said firm of Santos, Hevia Hermanos I have always regarded, and I still regard, the said Julio Romano Santos as an American citizen, who was temporarily absent from the United States on business, and who had no intention of either abandoning his residence or his citizenship in the United States.

I further say that Santos E. Santos is now in Panama.

ALBERT J. BERNTICH.

[seal.]
EDWIN B. WOODS
,
Notary Public, Kings County, certificate filed in New York County.
[Inclosure 3 in No. 30.]

United States of America, State of New York,
City and County of New York, to wit:

José Antonio B. Martinez, being duly sworn, says:

I reside at No. 28 Waverly Place, in the city of New York, and have resided there about a week. Prior to my coming to New York I resided at Hagerstown, Md., where I arrived from Ecuador in April, 1884. Prior to my residence at Hagerstown I was a resident of Ecuador. I know Julio Romano Santos, of the firm of Santos, Hevia Hermanos, of Bahia de Caráquez, Ecuador, and have known him since boyhood. He came to the United States in or about the year 1865, being then about twelve or thirteen years of age, and entered as a student at Saint James College, Washington County, Maryland. He afterward entered the University of Virginia, where he graduated in the year 1873. He remained there as a professor or tutor after graduating until 1874, when he went to South America, remained there about three months, and then returned to the United States and remained for a time at the university, acting as professor until he received an appointment as engineer on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Afterward, and in the winter of 1879 or 1880, he came to Bahia de Caráquez on a visit to his family and relatives there, whom he had not seen for some years. It was well known to myself and his relatives and friends that he had come to Bahia simply on a visit and with no intention of remaining there permanently.

His brothers had established a commission and export business with Europe and the United States, their place of business being at Bahia de Caráquez. Julio concluded to learn the business and to become a partner therein with his brothers, intending and contemplating as soon as he had mastered the business and as soon as the necessary arrangements could be made to open a house or place of business in the city of New York, for the transaction there of the business of the firm in the United States. Julio contemplated returning to the United States for that purpose in the year 1881, but owing to the condition of the business of the firm at Bahia he concluded to defer his return temporarily, and his return has been since that time, from time to time, delayed by various occurrences, but to my knowledge he has never abandoned nor given up his intention of returning to the United States, resuming his residence therein, and establishing said branch house in the city of New York. I further say that early in the year 1884 arrangements were definitely made for his return to the United States and his establishment of the branch house in New York City. His brother, Santos E. Santos, went to New York City in advance, and was making the preliminary arrangements which would precede the return of Julio, and said Julio was, as I believe, about to return to the United States, and had made all his arrangements for that purpose, or nearly so, when he was arrested in Ecuador, and has been ever since and still is detained in custody.

JÉ. A. B. MARTINEZ.

[seal.]
EDWIN B. WOODS
,
Notary Public, Kings County, certificate filed in New York County.
[Page 256]
[Inclosure 4 in No. 30.]

United States of America, State of New York,
City and County of New York, to wit:

Eugene F. Santos, being duly sworn, says:

I am temporarily residing at the town of Westfield, in the State of New Jersey. I am one of the brothers of Julio Romano Santos, mentioned in the annexed affidavits of Albert J. Berntich and Antonio Martinez. I farther say that I have heard the said affidavits and each of the same read, and I know the contents thereof. I farther say that the statements contained in said affidavits in reference to the residence and the citizenship of my said brother in the United States, and in reference to his connection with the firm of Santos, Hevia Hermanos, of Bahia de Caráquez, and his intention to return to the United States for the purpose of establishing in the city of New York a branch house of said firm, and in reference to his intention of permanently residing in the United States, are, and each of the same is, true, to my personal knowledge. I further say that, to my knowledge, it has been the intention of my said brother at all times since he became connected with said firm to return to the United States and establish in the city of New York a branch of said firm as soon as the arrangements necessary and proper for that purpose could be made, and that he has not at any time entertained, so far as I know or believe, any intention of abandoning his residence or his right as a citizen of the United States.

EUGENE F. SANTOS.

[seal.]
EDWIN B. WOODS
,
Notary Public, Kings County, certificate filed in New York County.
[Inclosure 5 in No. 30.]

State of Maryland, Washington County:

Be it known that before me the undersigned, a notary public of the State of Maryland, in and for Washington County, came Henry Onderdonk, on this 20th day of March, 1885, and deposed and made oath as follows:

That the said deponent is now principal of the college of St. James, in said county and State, and has been principal thereof since 1869; that previous to that time he was the principal of a school near the city of Baltimore, and that among his pupils, in the year 1864, were Flarico Santos, of Ecuador, South America, but now of London, England, and his brother Elio Santos, now a physician, and, as the deponent believes, now in the city of New York; that in the year 1865, Julio Romano Santos, now a prisoner in Ecuador, was entered as a pupil, and that the said Julio remained with him for several years, when he was joined by his brother Santos Elias Santos; that about the year 1868 the said Julio R. Santos entered the University of Virginia as a student, and that he was subsequently assistant professor of applied mathematics in that college.

That in 1881 the said deponent learned from Santos E. Santos that his brother Julio, after leaving the University of Virginia, was employed as a civil engineer on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and that he had also occupied a professor’s chair in the University of Alabama or some other Southern college; that in 1881 three other brothers, viz, Bonifacio, Alexander, Eugene, were placed under the care of said deponent for the purpose of education, especially in the English language, as New York would be their probable future home, as it was the intention to establish a commercial house in that city; that these three brothers remained at the college of St. James until September 15, 1884, excepting Bonifacio, who died in February, 1883.

That on the death of the said Bonifacio the deponent made such arrangements at his burial that the body could be removed to his former home in Ecuador, and that he so informed the relations of the deceased; that the said relations ordered the interment to be made permanent and a proper monument to be placed over the grave, giving as a reason that the family, or at least a large part of it, expected to remove to the United States; that the said three brothers, before the death of Bonifacio, upon receipt of letters from their home in Ecuador, frequently said that their brother Julio was coming to the United States and would bring their two younger brothers to the college of St. James, and their mother and sisters to New York to take up their residence in that city, but the death of Bonifacio, from its unhappy effect upon the mother, delayed this action on their part; that the said younger brothers came to the college of St. James, 1884, and are still there; that their cousin Antonio Martinez, a young [Page 257] man of about twenty-six years of age, accompanied these boys to the United States to be connected with the house that Santos was to establish in New York, and that the said cousin resided at the college of St. James from July 18 to December 18, 1884, and is now in New York; that deponent was informed by the Santos family that the commercial house would be established on January 1, 1885, but subsequently that it was postponed by reason of the revolution at that time existing in Ecuador.

[seal.]
HENEY ONDERDONK
.
WM. S. WILLIAMSON,
Notary Public.
[Inlosure 6 in No. 30.]

State of Maryland,
Washington County:

Be it known that on the 21st day of March, in the year 1885, that before me, a notary public of the State of Maryland, appointed in and for the said Washington County, appeared Dr. Henry U. Onderdonk, who, being duly sworn, deposes and says that he, the said deponent, is vice-principal and teacher of mathematics in the college of St. James, Washington County, Maryland.

That in May, 1881, he had a conversation with Santos Elias Santos, a brother of Julio Romano Santos, the said Santos E. Santos being then on a visit to the college of St. James, Washington County, Maryland, for the purpose of entering as pupils at the said college his three brothers, Bonifacio, Alejandro, and Eugenio.

That during this conversation, the deponent questioned the said Santos E. Santos concerning his brother, Julio R. Santos, who had been a school-mate of the deponent. The deponent asked if the said Julio R. Santos was still a professor at the University of Alabama, to which the said Santos E. Sautes replied that Julio R. Santos had returned to Ecuador to assist in the business of the firm of Santos, Hevia Hermanos, thereupon the deponent expressed his surprise that Julio R. Santos should abandon a professional career for which he seemed so eminently fitted, for a mercantile life, and asked if it was probable that the said Julio R. Santos would remain in South America, to which Santos E. Santos replied that it was not likely, that a business life was not congenial to Julio R. Santos, and that the said Julio R. Santos had expressed his intention to return to the United State when certain business arrangements which were then pending in New York, were completed.

That in December, 1882, and in January, 1883, the deponent was told by Bonifacio and Alejandro Santos, brothers of Julio R. Santos, that they were expecting the said Julio R. Santos to come to the United States early in 1883, they having received letters from home to the effect that Julio R. Santos was to bring with him to the United States in February, 1883, two younger brothers to place at school.

In February, 1883, Bonifacio Santos, mentioned above, died. That in March, 1883, the deponent heard Alejandro Santos, aforementioned, say that the news of the death of the aforementioned Bonifacio Santos reached their home in Ecuador on the day before that which the said Julio R. Santos had appointed to sail for the United States with his younger brothers, and that all preparations had been made to sail upon the appointed day, but that the death of Bonifacio Santos had so affected his mother that she would not consent to the departure of her sons at that time, and that on this account Julio R. Santos’s return to the United States was postponed.

  • A. U. ONDERDONK, M. D.
  • WM. S. WILLIAMSON,
    Notary Public.