No. 75.
Mr. Hall to Mr. Bayard .

No. 605.]

Sir: With reference to my dispatch No. 574, of the 27th October, and to your instruction, No. 409, of the 27th November last, relating to the recent law upon the general subject of citizenship and the status of foreigners in Salvador, I have the honor to inclose an abstract of a note from the minister for foreign affairs of that Republic to One of my colleagues in answer to his inquiry as to the interpretations to be given to articles 39, 40, and 41 of the referred to law.

The answer was not satisfactory, and the minister for foreign affairs was so informed.

In his second note the minister gives assurances that the law will be amended and that such amendments were under consideration. In view of this information, I have thought it advisable to address Señor Delgado upon the same subject and in the tenor of your above-mentioned instruction. I shall transmit his reply to the Department when received.

I have, etc.,

Henry C. Hall.
[Inclosure in No. 605.—Translation.]

Abstract of a note from the minister for foreign affairs of Salvador, in relation to the law of the 29th of September, 1886, concerning the status of foreigners, naturalization, matriculation, etc., in that Republic.

The minister was requested to state in regard to the interpretation to be given to Articles 39, 40, and 41 of the law of the 29th September, 1886, whether it is to be understood that the intention of the Assembly was to declare that no recourse is to be had against a denial of justice after a judicial decision has been pronounced, even should it be alleged that the decision is iniquitous or given in express violation of law.

The minister replied, under date of 29th November, 1886, affirmatively, and substantially as follows:

That in Article 39 of the law referred to it is established that foreigners can have diplomatic recourse in case of a denial of justice or of a voluntary retardation of its administration, but that it is essential that they shall previously have made use of the ordinary recourses established by the laws of the Republic.

That Article 40 defines what is understood to be a denial of justice, that is, when a judicial authority refuses to give a formal decision in a case before him or upon any incident thereof; but when a judge shall have given a sentence or decision, in whatever sense it may be, even should it be alleged that the resolution is iniquitous or given in express violation of law, there can be hp recourse to the diplomatic channel.

He further says, that the object of the Assembly Was to establish clearly the cases in which foreigners can have diplomatic recourse, in order to put a stop to unjust claims to which the subjects of powerful nations are so frequently inclined to resort. That it is well known that in the history of these Spanish American Republics there are recorded claims of manifest injustice; for the same reason these countries have been compelled to establish the cases in which such claims can be instituted, and thus to avoid the complication and difficulties that unfounded claims give rise to.