No. 699.
Mr. Preston to Mr. Bayard.
Washington , October 27, 1888. (Received Oct. 30.)
The undersigned, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of Hayti, in confirmation of the note he had the honor to address to the Secretary of State of the United States on the 25th instant, upon the situation in Hayti, regrets to bring to his knowledge the following incident, which the department of foreign relations has charged him to communicate to the honorable Thomas F. Bayard:
The Haytien war steamer Dessalines has captured, at the entrance of the port of St. Marc, the American steamer Haytian Republic, which attempted to run the effective blockade of this insurgent port. The Haytian Republic had on board a delegation of rebels, taken at Cape Haytien, with armed soldiers, arms, and munitions of war. This vessel thus armed had been in the ports of the south of Hayti remaining faithful to the Government of the Republic—Miragoâne, Jérémie, Aux Cayes, Aquin, and Jacmel—where the expedition has unsuccessfully tried to rouse the populations of these towns against the regular Government. In con sequence of the failure of this culpable enterprise the American vessel has been captured, with its armament, at the moment of forcing the blockade of the port of St. Marc, conducted to Port au Prince, and its case has been submitted to the prize court, having undoubted jurisdiction.
[Page 990]While awaiting the verdict of the court the prisoners and crew of the vessel are respected and well treated by the local authorities.
As soon as the undersigned shall receive the dispatches he expects by the next mail from his Government he will hasten to inform the Secretary of State more fully of this vexatious incident, which has been communicated to him by telegraph.
The undersigned, etc.,