No. 436.
Mr. Manning to Mr. Bayard.
Mexico, March 8, 1887. (Received March 16.)
Sir: I received last night your dispatch of the 7th instant, relative to the rescue of prisoners who were in custody of American officials on United States territory, near Nogales, on the 3d instant, and I called on Mr. Mariscal this morning and communicated to him the contents of the same.
In reply to your dispatch I sent you this forenoon a telegram.
I requested Mr. Mariscal that prompt measures be taken for the immediate delivery of the rescued prisoners to the American authorities from whose custody they had been taken, and also that the rescuers might be promptly and rigorously punished.
Mr. Mariscal, in reply, informed me that the Government had already been advised of the affair, and that orders had been issued for the delivery of the prisoners to the American jurisdiction. He also said the minister for war had ordered the arrest of Lieutenant Gutierrez, who seems to have been the instigator of the trouble and who led the Mexican soldiers in their attack. Governor Torres, of Sonora, acted very promptly in redressing this outrage on the spot, and Mr. Mariscal assures me that his Government will follow it up, and will punish the Mexican officers and soldiers who were engaged therein.
It gives me great pleasure to call your attention to the promptitude with which the Mexican Government has acted and to the thorough good feeling displayed by it.
I am, etc.,