No. 89.
Mr. Reinberg to Mr. Davis.
United
States Consulate-General,
Guayaquil,
Ecuador, January 27, 1885.
(Received February 17.)
No. 98.]
Sir: You will receive herewith copy of the answer
of the governor at Guayaquil to my dispatches (marked B and C), forwarded on
the 20th instant, also copy of my dispatch to the governor of Manabi, and
copy of my letter to Mr. Julio Romano Santos.
I telegraphed you on the 21st as follows:
Authorities Guayaquil now refer me Government Quito or authorities
Manta for particulars. President interviewed here. Refuses Santos’s
release. Am writing Manta.
You will perceive by the tenor of the governor’s answer that there is a
studied intention of delay in furnishing this office with the repeatedly
requested information for the supposed or real charges against Mr.
Santos.
As regards the governor’s statement that he ignores the arrest, &c., of
Mr. Santos, it is to be doubted, from the fact that General Reynaldo
[Page 228]
Flores, the commander of the
forces in the north of Ecuador, and the officer who ordered the arrest of
Mr. Santos, has been in Guayaquil for nearly two weeks informing his
brother-in-law, the President, of the events which have taken place during
the insurrection of the northern provinces.
I am informed by the agents at this city of Messrs. Santos Hevia Hermanos
that Mr. Julio Romano Santos has been removed from the prison at Manta to
the one at Porto Viejo, capital of the province of Manabi, 50 miles distant
from the coast.
It is supposed that his trial, if the authorities institute any, will take
place at Porto Viejo whenever they see fit to begin it, unless the
Department will take more effective measures to exact from the Ecuadorian
Government the faithful pursuance of the treaty obligations with the United
States.
Copies of all the correspondence referring to Mr. Santos’s case have been
forwarded to Hon. Horatio N. Beach, consul-general, now at Quito, who will
no doubt address the Department direct from there. In the mean time I shall
await for the answer of the governor of Manabi, whom I hope will not fail to
advise me of the charges preferred against Mr. Santos, and which shall be
immediately transmitted to the Department.
I am, sir, yours, respectfully,
MARTIN REINBERG,
United States
Vice-Consul-General.
[Inclosure 1 in No. 98.]
Republic of Ecuador,
Government of the Province of
Guayas,
Guayaquil, January 20,
1885.
To the Consul-General of the United
States of North America:
I hereby reply to your two favors of yesterday, by the one of which you
inform this Government that Mr. Julio Romano Santos is an American
citizen, having been naturalized July 6, 1874, and ask that he be set at
liberty; and request, by the other, that the confiscation of the
property owned by the said Mr. Santos in Bahia may not be allowed to
take effect. I take pleas are in informing you, in reply, that this
Government has no knowledge of the reasons for which Mr. Santos has been
arrested, nor of the confiscation referred to, owing to the fact that
the said gentleman was not arrested within the jurisdiction of the
province of which I am governor. I can only tell you that you should
hereafter address, in relation to this matter, either the Supreme
Government or the government of the province in which the gentleman in
puestion was arrested.
With sentiments of high consideration, and hoping that this matter will
be settled with the cordiality which happily exists between this
Republic and that of the United States, I sign myself, Mr. Consul,
Your very faithful and obedient servant,
[Inclosure 2 in No. 98.]
Consulate-General of the United States of
America,
Guayaquil, January 22,
1885.
Col. José Antonio María
Garcia,
Governor of the Province of
Manabi, Puerto Viejo:
I have the honor to inform you that I received instructions, by
telegraph, from my Government, on the 24th ultimo, to ask for a speedy
and impartial trial of Mr. Julio Romano Santos, an American citizen, now
under arrest in the port of Manta, in the jurisdiction of the province
of Manabi, on the ground that he is believed to be implicated in the
recent revolutionary movement which took place in that province.
As the northern ports were closed, at that time, to communications of all
kinds, and as I did not know where Mr. Santos had been arrested, I sent
an official communication to the governor of the province of Guayas, he
being the nearest authority, transmitting
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to him the instructions which I had received from
my Government. That officer was pleased to send me the following
reply:
“I have to inform you, in reply to your communication, that this
Government, after taking due inquiry, has ascertained that Mr. Julio
Romana Santos is a citizen of Ecuador according to the constitution of
the Republic, and therefore, until the contrary shall have been proved,
I am compelled to decline to inform you of the reasons which the
Government had for causing his arrest.”
I immediately transmitted this answer to my Government, and in reply it
sent me the following instructions:
“Santos naturalized July 6, 1874. Is registered in this Department. Will
send copies. Inform Government and ask for his release.”
I communicated these instructions to the aforesaid governor, asking, as I
was instructed, for the release of Mr. Santos, making inquiry as to the
cause of his arrest and the charges against him, and also requesting
that his property might not be confiscated. To this the governor of the
province of Guayas was pleased to reply, two days after my dispatch had
been delivered to him, and after the departure of the steamer that
carried the American mail as follows. (Here follows the letter of
Governor Gomez, of January 25, 1885, which goes herewith.)
In virtue of the reference made, I hereby address you, asking for the
release of Mr. Julio Santos, an American citizen, in the name of the
Government which I have the honor to represent, begging you, at the same
time, to inform me what were the causes which led to the arrest and
imprisonment of this American citizen, and also to state the reasons
which authorized the Ecuadorian authorities to confiscate the property
of the American citizen, Mr. Julio Romano Santos.
Hoping that this matter will receive all the attention and care that is
required for the continuation of the friendly relations which exist
between the United States and Ecuador, I sign myself,
Your very respectful and obedient servant,
MARTIN REINBERG,
United States
Vice-Consul-General.
Inclosure 3 in No. 98.]
United
States Consulate-General.
Guayaquil, Ecuador, January 22, 1885.
Sir: I have received information from our
Government at Washington of your arrest and incarceration by the
Ecuadorian authorities of your district or place of residence; also,
instructions to do all in my power in your behalf, that is, to request
your speedy and fair trial, and latterly to request your release.
Although I have written to the consular agents at Bahia and Manta for
information, I am as yet without any of the particulars of your case or
the charges which the Ecuadorian Government exhibits against you.
Further, the Government officials here seem to know nothing about your
arrest, as they have officially advised me, but refer me to address the
authorities of Manabi on the subject, to whom I wrote to-day, and also
request them to forward me whatever communication you might desire to
send me.
If you have not already communicated with Mr. Goddard or Mr. L. E.
Santos, acting consular agent at Manta, and have protested against the
steps taken toward you, if you are innocent of the charges raised
against you, you can send me by first opportunity a clear statement and
declarations of the arbitrary acts which you may have suffered from the
authorities, as our Government and I, in representation of same, will
give you all the protection to which our citizens, in unjust cases, are
entitled.
I am, sir, yours, faithfully,
- MARTIN REINBERG,
United States
Vice-Consul-General.
- Mr. Julio Romano Santos, Manto.