No. 38.
Mr. Bayard
to Mr. Hall.
Department
of State,
Washington, February 6,
1886.
No. 325.]
Sir: I transmit, for your information, copies of
the correspondence exchanged between Mr. Jacob Baiz, consul-general of
Honduras at New York, and this Department touching the movements of the
American steamer City of Mexico outside of the jurisdiction of the United
States. It will be seen from the letters of Mr. Baiz that he labors under
the impression that to prevent a violation of our neutrality laws this
Government should instruct its vessels of war to keep a watch on the City of
Mexico, having as is alleged, an unlawful purpose against the peace of
Honduras.
I have not thought it necessary to discuss the subject with Mr. Baiz. I have
therefore confined myself to the statement that the acts complained of were
committed, if at all, against the sovereign neutrality of Great Britain and
should be dealt with according to British law, and that this Government had
already given abundant proof of its desire to prevent any violation of its
neutrality within the jurisdiction of the United States.
[Page 52]
With these prefatory remarks it appears not inappropriate to add a few
general observations upon the subject.
It is usual, when application is made to this Department to take action to
prevent what are supposed to be impending breaches of neutrality, to base
such application on affidavits, or on statements of proof susceptible of
being reduced to affidavits, on which the interposition of the Department is
asked. This requisite has not been insisted upon in the present instance;
for, supposing the case presented by the letter of Mr. Baiz to be fully
verified, it is not one on which any present action of the Department could
be based.
Breaches of neutrality may be viewed by this Government in two aspects:
First, in relation to our particular statutes; and, secondly, in respect of
the general principles of international law. Our own statutes bind only our
own Government and citizens. If they impose on us a larger duty than is
imposed on us by international law, they do not correspondingly enlarge our
duties to foreign nations, nor do they abridge our duties if they establish
for our municipal regulation a standard less stringent than that established
by international law.
The complaint that Mr. Baiz makes is, that the steamship City of Mexico, a
passenger and freight vessel, claimed to be entitled to carry the flag of
the United States, took on board at Belize, January 12 last, when on her
ordinary coasting route, some political refugees, who it is supposed were
meditating hostile action against the Government of Honduras.
It will scarcely be contended that an act such as this, even supposing it
would be regarded as a breach of neutrality if committed within the
jurisdiction of the United States, can be imputed to the United States when
committed in a foreign port; nor can it be justly urged that, because the
vessel in question sails under the flag of the United States, it is the duty
of this Government to send cruisers to watch her to prevent her from
committing breaches of neutrality when on her passage from one foreign port
to another. For this Government to send armed vessels to such ports to
control the actions of the City of Mexico would be to invade the territorial
waters of a foreign sovereign. For this Government to watch its merchant and
passenger vessels on the high seas, to stop them if they carry contraband
articles or passengers meditating a breach of neutrality, would impose on
the United States a burden which would be in itself intolerable, which no
other nation has undertaken to carry, and which the law of nations does not
impose.
In what has been stated I have referred exclusively to the international
obligations imposed on the United States by the general principles of
international law, which are the only standards measuring our duty to the
Government of Honduras. Whether the City of Mexico, when she returns to her
home port, or those concerned in her or in this particular voyage, may be
subject to adverse procedure under our neutrality statutes, I have not
deemed it necessary here to discuss or decide.
I am, &c.,
[Inclosure 1 in No. 325.]
Mr. Baiz to Mr.
Bayard.
Consulate-General Republic of Honduras in New
York,
New York,
December 24, 1885. (Received December
26.)
No. 231.]
Most Excellent Sir: In the name of the Republic
of Honduras, and as its representative, I have the honor to address your
excellency, for the purpose of making known to you all the events and
antecedents of the warlike expedition which, ever [Page 53] since the month of May last, it has been attempted,
and is still being attempted, to send against the Republic which I
represent. I do this for the double purpose of condensing the facts, and
of begging this Government to furnish all possible aid, or such as, in
view of the friendly relations existing between the two countries, it
may be thought proper to grant, owing to the circumstance that the plans
have been formed and the expedition set on foot in this port.
In the first place, the steamer Dorian sailed from New York on the 29th
of May last for Bluefields, in Nicaragua, having on board a cargo
consisting of the following articles: Fifty boxes of rifles and
bayonets, one box containing a drum, ten boxes of carbines, one box of
cornets, one box of sabers and belts, four boxes of cutlasses and
scabbards, twenty boxes of knapsacks, three boxes of horse trappings,
one box of tools, one box of bags, eight boxes of hardware, four boxes
of shirts, six hundred and ten boxes of cartridges, three boxes of
percussion-caps, and eighty-eight half barrels of flour. With this cargo
she sailed, not for the port of Bluefields, for which she had been
cleared, but for the Republic of Honduras, where she was to discharge
her cargo. Owing to unfavorable circumstances, however, she found it
impossible to accomplish her purpose, and returned with the aforesaid
effects to the port of New York early in July last.
The vessel was cleared for that voyage by the firm of A. D. Straus &
Co.
Toward the close of the aforesaid month of July I was privately informed
that the firm of A. D. Straus & Co. had purchased the steamer City
of Mexico, for the purpose of sending her to the northern coast of the
Republic of Honduras with a revolutionary expedition. This furnished
additional evidence of the object of the expedition which had sailed on
board the Dorian, and, as will be seen, the news was subsequently
confirmed, since the steamer was for a long time at the wharves in New
York, and the detectives whom I had employed to keep watch told me of
mysterious persons who visited her.
Early in September I was informed that, as it had been found impossible
to organize the projected expedition, and as the purchasers had not yet
paid for the steamer City of Mexico, that vessel was about to be sold at
public auction, and the result was that the said steamer was, early in
October, reincorporated into the Alexandria Line, to which she had
previously belonged, and was cleared by said company for a regular trip
to Mexico.
In the latter part of October the Government of Honduras telegraphed to
me to keep a watch on General Delgado, Colonel Morey, Mr. Ayestas, and a
few other persons, who had then recently arrived in New York tor the
purpose, as was sad, of promoting a revolution. In consequence of this
order of my Government I employed detectives, from whom I learned that
the aforesaid persons, under the leadership of Don Marco A. Soto, were
really forming plans to get up another expedition against that Republic;
and early in the present month I learned that the firm of A. D. Straus
& Co. was again in treaty for the purchase of the steamer City of
Mexico, and that it was intended to fit her out once more for a new
expedition. I therefore redoubled my vigilance, and learned that the
ownership of the said steamer had really been transferred to a Mr.
Hollander, who was simply an agent for Messrs. A. D. Straus & Co.,
who were getting the steamer ready for a voyage. I afterwards found that
the cargo which had been brought back by the steamer Dorian, and which
was then in Beard’s storehouses in Brooklyn, was to be put on board of
the City of Mexico, together with some small pieces of artillery and two
steam-launches, and that an effort was being made to recruit two hundred
men, who were ostensibly to be sent to work in the mines of Honduras,
where they were to have constant employment.
This being the case, it seemed to me that the time had come when it was
proper for me to take some official steps to prevent the now possible
and even probable expedition from being successful through aid afforded
it by the United States. I consequently addressed the New York
custom-house authorities, requesting them, in virtue of the laws which
prohibit the organization of such expeditions against friendly nations,
to prevent the departure of that vessel. While things were in this
condition I called on your excellency, in company with the minister of
finance of the Republic of Honduras, who happened to be here at the
time, and we gave your excellency an account of all that was going on.
This had a good effect, and the expedition was apparently broken up in
consequence.
It now appears, according to recent investigations made by me, that the
steamer City of Mexico sailed for Progreso, Mexico, with a cargo of
merchandise, and that the munitions of war above referred to, which were
to be taken by the City of Mexico, have been taken by the steamer Andes,
which is bound to Jamaica, and I am assured that this has been done in
order that the steamer City of Mexico, on her return trip, may touch at
Jamaica and there take those munitions on board, thence proceeding to
her original place of destination.
For this reason I again address your excellency, begging you, if it is
your desire and in your power once more to do something to prevent this
expedition from reaching its destination, to do so, either by making
representations to the authorities of [Page 54] the Island of Jamaica, or by causing the American
vessels of war now stationed in the waters of the Antilles and Central
America to he instructed to watch the said steamer. I ask this in view
of the fact that the munitions in question left; a port of the United
States and in consideration of the friendly relations existing between
our two countries.
To this effect I have addressed the consular representatives of Great
Britain and Mexico, asking them to use their good offices in Jamaica and
at Progreso, and I have had the satisfaction to receive such replies
from them as were to be expected from the representatives of nations
which are on friendly terms with the Republic of Honduras.
I hope that the action taken by your excellency will likewise be
favorable, and that you will issue suitable orders in the case, using
your influence, as far as possible, to prevent the expedition in
question from being successful. This, I trust, that you will do, to
prevent the tranquillity of the country which I represent from being
disturbed, and to forestall, as a humanitarian act, the effusion of
blood which will naturally take place if the success of the expedition
can in nowise be frustrated.
In the name of my Government I have the honor to express to you my
deepest gratitude for the assistance which I have received from the
customs authorities in New York, and I desire to express the same in
advance for anything that you may be pleased to do in compliance with
the request which I take the liberty to address to you by this
communication, all of which I shall report in detail to my
Government.
I have, &c.,
[Inclosure 2 in No. 325.]
Mr. Bayard to Mr.
Baiz.
Department of State,
Washington, January 7,
1886.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of your letter of the 24th ultimo relative to alleged
revolutionary attempts which have been made, and are still being made,
by certain individuals against the peace of Honduras. A copy of your
letter has been given to the Attorney-General and the Secretary of the
Treasury for their information.
I am, &c.,
[Inclosure 3 in No. 325.]
Mr. Bayard to Mr.
Baiz.
Department of State,
Washington, January 12,
1886.
Sir: In connection with my letter to you of the
7th instant, I have now to apprise you of the receipt of a communication
from the Acting Secretary of the Treasury, of the 9th instant, saying
that his Department will use all legal endeavors, through its collectors
of customs, to prevent any violation of the neutrality laws on the part
of any individuals against the Republic of Honduras.
I am, &c.,
[Inclosure 4 in No. 325.]
Mr. Baiz to Mr.
Bayard.
Consulate-General of Honduras in the United States of
America,
New
York, January 18,
1886. (Received January 19.)
Sir: I have the honor of owning the receipt of
the communications of your excellency, dated 7th and 12th instant, and
in reply beg to tender best thanks, in the name of my Government, for
the efficient measures adopted towards preventing a violation of the
neutrality laws on the part of any individuals against the Republic of
Honduras, which I have the honor of representing.
I shall consider it my duty to inform your excellency of any new
occurrences that may transpire, regarding the revolutionary movements in
question, and remain, &c.
JACOB BAIZ,
Consul-General.
[Page 55]
[Inclosure 5 in No. 325.]
Mr. Baiz to Mr.
Bayard.
Consulate-General of Honduras in the United States of
America,
New
York, January 26,
1886. (Received January 27.)
No. 248.]
Sir: I have the honor of confirming my note to
your excellency of 18th instant? and now beg leave to inclose a clipping
from the New York Times of this date, relative to the movements of the
American steamer City of Mexico, since she left this port last
month.
Your excellency will observe that the revolutionary purpose for which
said steamer was intended, and which was frustrated here, as explained
in my communication to your excellency of 24th of December last, is
apparently being carried out now, and consequently I beg leave to
reiterate my request, contained in my stated note, that orders be
transmitted to the United States war vessels stationed in those waters
to watch the steamer City of Mexico, and prevent her from perpetuating
any hostile acts against the Republic of Honduras, said steamer having
left this port ostensibly for that purpose.
In behalf of the Government of Honduras that I have the honor of
representing, I beg to anticipate my thanks to your excellency for
whatever measures the United States Government may deem convenient to
adopt in this matter, and remain, &c.,
JACOB BAIZ,
Consul-General.
[Inclosure 6 in No. 325.—Extract from the
New York Times of January 26, 1886.]
wrecked on the honduras coast.
New
Orleans, La., January
25.
The steamship City of Dallas, Captain Read, from Puerto to Cortez, via
Livingston and Belize, Honduras, with a cargo of tropical products,
arrived this noon. She reports that the heavy norther which prevailed on
the coast of Honduras on the 8th instant destroyed thousands of banana
plants and drove ashore many small coasting vessels, among which were
the Mississippi and Cold Stream, belonging to the American Fruit Company
at Tela. The American steamship City of Mexico, from New York, touched
of Belize on the 12th instant and took on board a number of political
refugees from the Spanish American republics, and sailed to the
eastward. The report of the arrival of the City of Mexico, with a
filibustering crew, alarmed the people on the coasts of Guatemala and
Honduras, and caused a general suspension of business, the banana negro
laborers and the mahogany wood-cutters fleeing to the bush to avoid
being pressed into military service.
[Inclosure 7 in No. 325.]
Mr. Baiz to Mr.
Bayard.
Consulate-General of Honduras in the United States of
America,
New
York, January 28,
1886. (Received January 29.)
No. 249.]
Sir: In confirmation of what I had the honor of
reporting to your excellency in my communication of 26th instant,
relative to the American steamer City of Mexico, I now beg to transmit,
for the information of your excellency, the following extract from a
letter of the commander of Puerto Cortes, Republic of Honduras, dated
18th instant, and which I received to-day. It says thus:
“City of Mexico arrived on 10th instant at Belize, and sailed on 12th for
Bluefields. Delgado, Morey, and twenty-odd more filibusters on board.
She is said to go from Bluefields to Kingston for arms. I am sorry they
did not come here; should have given them a hot reception. If they come
again, and I get sure information where they are, I shall start with 100
men for them. We want to stop this; the effect on business is very bad,
though they cannot do any harm. We are everywhere prepared for
them.”
The foregoing, which I submit for the consideration of your excellency,
confirms the former reports regarding the hostile intentions of the
American steamer City of Mexico, and in behalf of my Government I
respectfully solicit that your excellency [Page 56] adopt such measures as may prevent the consummation
of hostile acts against the Republic of Honduras by a vessel under the
United States flag.
Anticipating my thanks to your excellency for kind attention to the
matter at issue, I am, &c.,
JACOB BAIZ,
Consul-General.
[Inclosure 8 in No. 325.]
Mr. Bayard to Mr.
Baiz.
Department of State,
Washington, February 5,
1886.
Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of the
several communications which, in the absence of the diplomatic
representative of Honduras, you have addressed to me under date of the
26th and 28th instant, relative to the movements of the steamer City of
Mexico in the waters of Belize and Honduras.
It appears from your statements that the acts of which your Government
complains were effected while the City of Mexico was within the
jurisdiction of Great Britain.
It is said that the City of Mexico took on board, at Belize, certain
persons hostile to Honduras, and carried them to Honduranean territory.
It is immaterial to consider whether this act was a fitting out of a
hostile expedition, for, even assuming it to have been such, the offense
would be against the sovereign neutrality of Great Britain, to be dealt
with by British law, and not punished by the armed hand of the United
States.
I have no desire to prejudge any judicial resort which may be sought,
should the City of Mexico or the persons carried by her come hereafter
within the jurisdiction of the United States. I desire merely to
establish the principle that this Government is under no obligation to
follow the vessels rightfully bearing its flag into the ports of any
foreign country there to enforce the laws of such country with respect
to neutrality.
Of its determination to enforce the laws of the United States within the
jurisdiction of the United States, to prevent the fitting out and
departure of armed force against the peace of our neighbors, this
Government has given abundant proof.
I am, &c.,
