No. 93.
Mr. Hall to
Mr. Bayard.
Legation of
the United States in Central America,
Guatemala, February 4, 1888.
(Received February 24.)
No. 771.]
Sir: With reference to my dispatches numbered 753
and 756 of the 12th and 21st December last, and 767 of the 13th ultimo, to
your instructions 523 and 532 of the 6th December and 6th ultimo, and to
other correspondence relating to the alleged seizure by Nicaraguan
authorities of two small vessels carrying the flag of the United States, I
have the honor to inclose herewith translations of a note, dated the 24th
ultimo, from the minister for foreign affairs of Nicaragua, and of the
several inclosures accompanying it, from which it would seem that as regards
the schooner Merida the facts have been
misrepresented.
From these papers it appears that the Merida, after
having carried the Nicaraguan flag for a number of years and having become
unserviceable as a sea-going vessel, was sold to Mr. N. P. Allen, a citizen
of the United States. Mr. Allen had the vessel towed to the mouth of the
Rama River, and it is claimed outside of the reservation, where he converted
it into a shop, from which it is alleged a contraband trade was carried on,
liquors were sold without license, it was rendezvous of gamblers and
disorderly persons of both sexes; over this disreputable resort the owner
had raised the American flag, and it would seem claimed
exterritoriality.
General Urtecho’s letter to the consular agent at Bluefields, inclosure 4, is
probably a correct version of the affair, although it may have been
communicated already. I beg to commend it and its inclosures to your
notice.
I am, etc.,
[Page 123]
[Inclosure 1 in
771.—Translation.]
Señor Zavala to Mr.
Hall.
Department of Foreign Relations,
Managua, Nicaragua, January 24, 1888.
Sir: I have before me your courteous
communication of the 21st December last past, in which your excellency
calls the attention of my Government to the reports received from the
consul at San Juan del Norte, in regard to the seizue of two American
vessels by the Nicaraguan authorities established at the mouth of the
Rama River, near to the territory of the Mosquitia Reservation.
Complying with the wishes your excellency expresses by instruction of
your Government, I have to inform you that the acts to which these
reports refer have not taken place.
Inclosed herewith I send your excellency copies of a dispatch from the
minister of Government, and of communications upon the subject,
addressed to the Government and to the American consular agent by the
governor and intendent of the district of the Siguia. By these documents
your excellency will perceive that there has been no undue seizure of
any American vessel, and all that occurred was the searching of the
schooner Merida of Mr. N. P. Allen, which unsea
worthy vessel, unfitted for navigation, had been converted into a
store-hulk, in which a contraband trade and a retail trade in strong
liquors were carried on without payment of the license dues established
by law, and without the permission of these authorities; the vessel was
also a general center of frequent disorderly acts of all kinds.
I have no doubt that the foregoing will suffice to explain the conduct of
the Nicaraguan authorities in the Siguia district, and that the consul
at San Juan del Norte, with better data in his possession, will have
rectified his reports.
With assurances, etc.,
[Inclosure 2 in
771.—Translation.]
The minister of
government to the minister for foreign
affairs of Nicaragua.
Managua, January 12,
1888.
Sir: In response to the wishes expressed in
your note of yesterday I inclose an authenticated copy of the report of
the Government intendent of the district of Siguia to this ministry
concerning the search ordered to be made by Nicaraguan authority of the
schooner Merida, belonging to Mr. N. P. Allen, an
American citizen.
In that document it is clearly shown that there was no seizure of any
vessel whatever, and that the search of Mr. Allen’s schooner, turned
into a commercial establishment, was made in virtue of a complaint made
to the governor of police of Siguia that great disorders were committed
therein, and strong liquors were sold at retail without the license of
the authority, and without payment of the duties established by law.
With every consideration, etc.,
[Inclosure 3 in
771.—Translation.]
General Urtecho to
the minister of government of
Nicaragua.
Republic of Nicaragua and Intendenoy of the District of
Siguia
December 20,
1887.
Sir: In the section of cablegrams of the
“Diario Nicaraguense” of the 3d instant appears the following:
“New Orleans, November 29, 1887.
“The captain of the steamer Harlan publishes a
letter signed by the captain of the schooner Merida in Escondido River, announcing that on the 20th of
November Nicaraguan soldiers seized his schooner and the steamer William S. Moore without any cause therefor, and
being asked by what right they did so, showed their rifles.”
[Page 124]
In anticipation of your inquiry I report to you what actually took place,
and I do this making use of the annexed copy of a communication on the
subject which I addressed to the consular agent of the United States at
this port, in which all the facts are set forth.
With high respect, etc.,
[Inclosure 4 in No.
771.—Translation.]
General Urtecho to
the United States consular agent at
Bluefields.
Republic of Nicaragua, Government and Intendency of tee
District of Siguia,
Bluefields, December 16,
1887.
No. 21.]
Sir: I have received your communication of the
14th instant relative to the complaints presented to your consular
office by N. P. Allen, an American citizen, in consequence of a search
ordered to be made by Nicaragua authorities of his vessel, the schooner
Merida, lying on the banks of the Rama River.
I have taken note also of the letter addressed to you by the same Mr.
Allen, and of which you transmit me a copy.
I give you with much pleasure the information you ask for upon the
subject, but before entering into the facts which gave rise to the
complaint, permit me to make known the antecedents which will enable you
to form a correct judgment of the case.
The so called schooner Merida is not, properly
speaking, a vessel; it was at one time, and when it became useless for
navigation, was towed to the river and made fast to the shores of the
Rama and Siguia, and was made use of as a trading establishment. Such at
present is the schooner Merida of Mr. Allen.
In that establishment every kind of trading is carried on without the
least regard to morality; there is gambling and drinking, and it has
become a general resort for men and women, who may be properly styled
professionals. What the schooner Merida was as a focus of rioting, before the
establishment of Nicaraguan forces in that locality, every one here can
inform you; but better than that, the wounds that Mr. Allen carries upon
his body are indelible marks of that life of libertinage. Since the
establishment of Nicaraguan forces at that point things have improved
very much, but they are still far from being satisfactory. I now take up
the subject of your communication.
The ordinance of the district of Siguia, within whose jurisdiction Mr.
Allen resides, prohibits the introduction of spirituous liquors, without
the previous payment of duties. Besides special laws upon the subject
prohibit the retailing of the same liquors without the license of the
authority.
On the 20th November last there was a fight on board the Merida between men under the influence of liquor,
and in consequence the clandestine sale of ardent spirits by Señor Allen
was denounced to the governor of police. In virtue thereof, the
establishment (hulk) was searched; the act was perfectly correct,
inasmuch as Mr. Allen had neither paid duties nor did he hold a
license;
Mr. Allen refused to permit the search, closed the establishment, threw
the keys at the police agent and withdrew. A servant of the same
establishment picked up the keys, and through him the search was made a
small demijohn, with a small quantity of rum, was found, and also very
marked indications of liquors having been run off. After the search the
keys remained in the possession of the same servant, and in the
afternoon of the same day Mr. Allen was, by his own voluntary act, at
the head of his establishment again, which indicated that he withdrew
his claims and protests. This all took place with Mr. Alien.
He claimed that he held an old license from the authorities of the
reservation, but this subterfuge has no value whatever; aside from other
reasons, which it is unnecessary to set forth at this time, the laws of
the reservation prohibit the sale of liquors outside of the towns, and
in no case would it have been conceded to Mr. Allen.
With high consideration, etc.,
