No. 715.
Mr. Stallo
to Mr. Bayard.
[Extract.]
Legation of
the United States,
Rome, August 4, 1888. (Received August
18.)
No. 223.]
Sir: I have the honor herewith to transmit copies
of the correspondence between this legation and the Italian foreign office
in relation to the extradition of Salvatore Paladini, a fugitive from
justice, who is under indictment in the United States court for the district
of New Jersey on the charge of passing counterfeit money of the United
States. This correspondence will become intelligible upon a brief review of
the following facts:
I was instructed to demand the extradition of said Paladini by your letter
No. 93, of April 26, 1888, which informed me that the President’s warrant to
receive the fugitive had been issued to one Cono Casale. Casale presented
himself at the office of this legation on the 17th day of May, 1888,
bringing with him the papers relating to the case, including the warrant for
the arrest of Paladini; and I at once, on the same day, dictated the letter
to the foreign office which is herein marked inclosure No. 1, inclosing the
papers and demanding the extradition of Paladini.
It being obviously important to secure the arrest of the fugitive without
delay, I delivered the letter with its inclosures to Mr. Crispi on the
afternoon of that day in person, and called his attention to the urgency of
the matter, and to the danger that Paladini might be informed of the [Page 1038] presence of Casale in Italy, and
of the measures about to be taken for his arrest. Mr. Crispi opened the
letter, requested me to translate it for him, which I did, and then observed
that the matter would have to be referred to the ministry of grace and
justice, but that he would send it there at once, and that measures for the
arrest of the fugitive would be taken forthwith. Although the name of
Salvatore Paladini must have suggested to him that the fugitive was an
Italian, Mr. Crispi asked me no questions as to Paladin’s citizenship.
Before I left I informed Mr. Crispi that Paladini was supposed to be in
Sicily, and that Mr. Cono Casale was at the service of the Italian
authorities for the purpose of aiding in his discovery and
identification.
Five days elapsed after this interview, and I had no communication from the
foreign office in regard to the matter. Casale, meanwhile, was at the office
of the legation every day, and became very impatient; so 1 proceeded to the
foreign office, in order to inquire what had been done.
When I arrived there I found that Mr. Crispi was then, and for several days
had been, confined to his house with illness; but I was assured by one of
his secretaries that the papers had long since been sent to the ministry of
grace and justice, and that the ministry of foreign affairs was in momentary
expectation of the report.
Nearly another week elapsed; and Crispi having meanwhile been taken to
Castelamare by reason of his illness, I requested Mr. Dougherty, the
secretary of legation, to inquire at the foreign office as to the state of
the matter. The information given him by one of the under secretaries was
that Mr. Casale had been there in person the day before; that they were
fully aware of the urgency of the matter; and that I would hear from them
very soon. Accordingly, on the second or third day thereafter, to wit, on
the 2d day of June, 1888, I received a letter (marked inclosure 2), in which
I was informed that my application for the extradition of Paladini had been
communicated to the ministry of grace and justice “without the least delay,”
but that it was important to know of what country Paladini was a native,
what was his paternity, and what was his citizenship.
It will be observed that this inquiry was addressed to me for the first time
when nearly two weeks had elapsed since the date of my application. I
answered this note immediately (inclosure No. 3), informing the ministry
that Paladini was a Sicilian and an Italian subject, a native of Messina, in
Sicily, and was then supposed to be at that place, adding, again, that Mr.
Cono Casale, the agent appointed by the United States Government, knew him
personally, and, as I had informed Mr. Crispi, was at the disposition of the
Italian authorities for the purpose of identifying and arresting the
fugitive.
To this note no reply was made for more than three weeks, during all of which
time Mr. Crispi was prevented, first by illness and then by his occupation
in the Chamber of Deputies, from receiving the foreign ministers. In the
interval Casale had become so impatient that he had proceeded first to
Naples, and then to Messina, in order to be near or on the spot whenever the
attempt should be made to effect Paladini’s arrest. On the 25th of June I
addressed a note (inclosure 4) to the Italian foreign office, to which I
received the reply marked inclosure 5 on the 2d of July, 1888. Seven days
thereafter, on the 9th of July, the foreign office sent me a further note
(inclosure 6) dated July 7, 1888, in which I was informed that the royal
prefecture in Messina, by order of the ministry of the interior, had
attempted to trace up and secure Paladini at Messina without success, and
that the fugitive was believed to have [Page 1039] returned to New York. This note of the foreign office
contained the remark that the Italian ministry of the interior “does not
find itself in a position to avail itself of the services of the agent
Casale, sent to Italy by the Government of the United States.” This remark,
together with the circumstance that the Italian authorities had allowed
nearly seven weeks to elapse before they acted in compliance with ray demand
and their duty, accounts for the tone of the note which I addressed to the
Italian foreign office on July 14, 1888 (marked inclosure 7). Up to this
moment no question had been raised as to the duty of the Italian Government
to extradite Italian subjects, as well as subjects or citizens of other
states, upon the demand of our Government; but in reviewing the
correspondence with the foreign office, and speculating on the probable
causes of the otherwise inexplicable tardiness of the Italian authorities, I
began to suspect that the Italian Government would eventually refuse to
surrender Paladini on the ground that he was an Italian subject. This
suspicion led me to write the concluding passage in my note of July 14–,
1888 (inclosure 7), and it was soon confirmed at my interview with Mr.
Crispi on July 26, 1888, the first I had been able to secure since May 17.
At this interview the Italian minister of foreign affairs took the ground
that the extradition treaty between the United States and Italy did not
require the surrender of Italian subjects, and that there was an express
reservation in said treaty to the effect that its terms should not apply to
the citizens or subjects of the asylum state. I informed him that I was
quite fresh from the reading of the treaty of March 23, 1868, and that he
was mistaken. Mr. Crispi, however, persisted in his assertion, and I left
him with the observation that the further discussion of this subject had
better be in writing. Mr. Crispi assented, and accordingly, on the 27th of
July, I sent him the memorandum marked inclosure 8.
The reply to this memorandum (inclosure 9), though dated the 27th of July,
was not sent to me until the 1st of August, the date at the head of the
letter being probably a mistake.
In this reply it was said that the papers in the extradition case, which I
had delivered to the ministry of foreign affairs on the 17th of May, were
inclosed and returned to me.
Although by some inadvertence the papers were in fact not inclosed (as I
informed the foreign office in the note as per inclosure 10), I inferred
from the announcement of their return by the minister of foreign affairs
that he had definitively abandoned all intention of continuing the pursuit
of Paladini with a view of his surrender, and so informed Mr. Casale, who,
in a letter received the day before, had announced his intention of
returning to the United States on the steamer Olympia, which was to sail from Naples on the 1st or 2d instant. But
suddenly, to my surprise, I was notified by a dispatch from Messina that
Paladini had been arrested. I at once notified Casale not to leave for the
United States, but to go to Messina, and 1 then proceeded to the foreign
office to inform Mr. Crispi of the event by which the concluding sentences
of his note of July 27 (exhibit 9) had lost their force. Mr. Crispi, after
some reflection, said that in his judgment it was not necessary, after all,
to determine at this moment whether it was or was not the duty of the
Italian Government to surrender one of its own subjects upon the demand of
the United States, inasmuch as that question, among others, would be decided
by the court at Messina before which Paladini would have to be brought, in
any event, before he was extradited or finally tried. He observed that his
interpretation, as he called it, of the treaty of March 23, 1868, had been
based upon the circumstance that the law of Italy prohibited the extradition
of Italian [Page 1040] subjects to foreign
jurisdictions, crimes committed by said subjects within such jurisdictions
being justiceable by the Italian courts as much as if the crimes had been
committed in Italy. I answered that I supposed that in Italy, as well as
elsewhere, treaty obligations were a part of the law of the land; so that at
last we were brought back to the question: What was the duty of Italy under
the treaty with the United States? and that the United States, while
conceding the right of the Italian tribunals to determine whether a demand
for extradition had been made upon proper grounds and in proper form, could
not admit their right to narrow the terms of the treaty itself. Mr. Crispi,
thereupon, said that in any view of the case it would be time enough to
continue the discussion of the matter in dispute between us after the
decision by the court at Messina, and promised to do everything in his power
to expedite the proceedings.
After this interview I received a formal notice (inclosure 11), through a
note sent by Mr. Damiani, under secretary of state, of Paladini’s
arrest.
My dispatch to Casale fortunately reached him before his departure, and he
informed me by telegraph of his intention to go to Messina without
delay.
It is, of course, impossible to predict what course will be taken by the
Messina tribunals. Meanwhile I deem it important to call your attention to
Article VI of the treaty of March 23, 1868, which provides that “the
expenses of the arrest, detention, and transportation of the persons claimed
shall be paid by the Government in whose name the requisition shall have
been made.” Casale is, or claims to be, without means, so that several weeks
ago I advanced to him at his request 125 francs, which he promised to return
in a few days, but which he now says he can not return until after his
arrival in the United States.
From a perusal of the papers sent me I infer that the President’s order of
arrest and the demand for Paladini’s extradition were issued and made at the
instance and in the interest of Paladini’s sureties, one of whom was
Casale’s father. In view of Article VI, above referred to, it is important
that the agent of the Government be provided with the necessary funds not
only to pay the expenses of the arrest, detention, and transportation of
Paladini, but also, in certain contingencies, to employ counsel to appear in
behalf of our Government before the Messina courts.
I have, etc.,
[Inclosure 1 in No. 223.]
Mr. Stallo to Mr.
Crispi.
Legation of the United States,
Rome, May 17,
1888.
Your Excellency: On the 30th of March, 1888,
the grand inquest of the United States of America within and for the
district of New Jersey, in the third circuit, found an indictment
against one Salvatore Paladini, charging him with feloniously passing,
uttering, publishing, and selling a false, forged, and counterfeited
coin in the resemblance and similitude of a silver dollar coined at the
mint of the United State, on the 1st day of September, 1887, at Newark,
in the said district of New Jersey, he, the said Salvatore Paladini, at
the time knowing said coin to be so forged and counterfeited contrary to
the act of Congress in such case made and provided, and against the
peace of the said United States, the Government and dignity of the
same.
Said warrant having been reported to the district court of the United
States of America within and for the district of New Jersey, in the
third circuit, of the term of January, 1888, a warrant was thereupon
issued by said court, in the name of the President of the United States,
to the marshal of said district of New Jersey, commanding [Page 1041] said marshal to apprehend
the said Salvatore Paladini, and bring him before said court at the
United States court-house in the city of Trenton, to answer the
indictment aforesaid; which warrant was thereupon, on the 30th of March,
1888, returned by said marshal, who reported that said defendant,
Salvatore Paladini, was not found in his district.
It now appears that said Salvatore Paladini, so indicted and ordered to
be arrested as aforesaid, is a fugitive from the justice of the United
States in the Kingdom of Italy.
In consideration and by reason of the premises, the President of the
United States of America has appointed Cono Casale, a citizen of the
United States, as the agent of the Government of the United States,
authorizing and empowering him, in compliance with existing treaty
stipulations between the United States of America and the Kingdom of
Italy, to receive the said Salvatore Paladini and bring him back to the
United States for trial.
I take the liberty, therefore, herewith to transmit to your excellency
the papers evidencing the facts above stated, with the request to cause
the necessary warrant to be issued for the arrest of the said Salvatore
Paladini, and for his delivery into the custody of the said Cono Casale;
and also, after the issuance of said warrant, to return to him, through
me, the papers herewith transmitted.
I avail, etc.,
[Inclosure 2 in No.
223.—Translation.]
Mr. Damiani to Mr.
Stallo.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Rome, June 1,
1888.
Mr. Minister: I communicated without the least
delay to my colleague the minister of grace and justice the application
for the extradition, conveyed in your note of the 17th of May last, of
Salvatore Paladini, charged with having counterfeited and placed in
circulation dollars of the United States of America.
His excellency the minister of grace and justice has now replied to me
that in the documents accompanying your esteemed note it was not
indicated of what country the aforesaid Salvatore Paladini is a native,
neither his paternity, and not even his citizenship.
This information is most necessary to ascertain the identity of the
person, especially as the family and baptismal names of Salvatore
Paladini are very common in Italy.
The minister of grace and justice also remarks to me that from an
examination of the documents communicated by your legation it appears
that a certain Vincenzo Casale has deposed that “Paladini is a
freeholder of three pieces of land in Peshine, city of Newark, and that
the same owns a house there.” Such deposition would make one suppose
that Salvatore Paladini, becoming a property holder in the United States
of America, had obtained American citizenship.
Therefore, at the request of the minister of grace and justice, I beg you
to furnish me with the the information above indicated, with which it
will be easy to establish the identity and the citizenship of Paladini
and to search for him in the Kingdom.
Be pleased, etc.,
[Inclosure 3 in No. 223.]
Mr. Stallo to Mr.
Crispi.
Legation of the United States,
Rome, June 2,
1888.
Your Excellency: I have the honor to
acknowledge the receipt of the communication addressed to me by the
ministry of foreign affairs on the 1st instant in regard to the
extradition of Salvatore Paladini, and in answer thereto I have the
honor to state that the said Salvatore Paladini is a native of Messina,
in Sicily and has never been naturalized as a citizen of the United
States, having been in the United States only a few months before
committing the crime imputed to him.
The supposition of his excellency the minister of grace and justice that
the said Paladini is a property-holder in Peshine, city of Newark,
probably rests upon a misapprehension. Upon examination of the papers it
will be found, I think, that Vincenzo [Page 1042] Casale declared, not that Paladini was a property
holder, but that he, Vincenzo Casale, who offered himself as surety for
Paladini, was a property-holder in Peshine, city of Newark. I may add
that the said Salvatore Paladini is believed to be in Messina, Sicily,
at this moment, and that Mr. Cono Casale, the agent appointed by the
United States to bring the said Paladini back within the jurisdiction of
the district court of New Jersey, knows him personally very well and is
in possession of two photographs of him. Mr. Casale will, of course,
place himself at the disposition of the officers of the Government of
His Majesty the King of Italy in assisting to identify and arrest him.
The names of the parents of Salvatore Paladini are unknown to me.
I avail, etc.,
[Inclosure 4 in dispatch No.
223.]
Mr. Stallo to Mr.
Crispi.
Legation of the United States,
Rome, June 25,
1888.
Your excellency: On the 17th day of May, 1888,
I had the honor to address to your excellency a note transmitting the
papers relating to the indictment by the grand inquest of the United
States of America within and for the district of New Jersey, in the
third circuit, of one Salvatore Paladini, on the charge of feloniously
passing, uttering, publishing, and selling counterfeit coin in the
similitude of silver dollars of the United States of America, said crime
being the one mentioned in paragraph 6 of Article II of the convention
now in force between the United States and the King of Italy for the
surrender of criminals.
In pursuance of this convention, I had the honor to request the issuance,
by the proper authorities of the Kingdom of Italy, of the necessary
warrant for the arrest of the said Salvatore Paladini and of his
eventual delivery to Cono Casale, a citizen of the United States,
appointed by the President as the agent of the Government of the United
States, to receive the said Salvatore Paladini and bring him back to the
United States for trial.
In answer to this note I received on the 2d of June, 1888, a
communication from the ministry of foreign affairs of the Kingdom of
Italy, requesting certain information relating to the identity of said
Salvatore Paladini, which information I had the honor to furnish in
another note addressed to your excellency on the same day. Since that
time I have received no advice as to whether the warrant prayed for in
my note of May 17 has been issued or whether any steps have been taken
for the arrest of the said Salvatore Paladini. I take the liberty,
therefore, to state to your excellency that according to my latest
information the said Salvatore Paladini, in the early part of last week,
was still at Messina, Sicily, and that Mr. Cono Casale, the agent of my
Government, is also at this moment at Messina, where he may be found at
the office of the consul of the United States of America, and where he
is entirely at the service of the Italian authorities for the purpose of
identifying the person sought to be arrested.
I avail, etc.,
[Inclosure 5 in No.
223.—Translation.]
Mr. Damiani to Mr.
Stallo.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Rome, July 2,
1888.
Mr. Minister: I hastened to communicate to my
colleague, the minister of grace and justice, the information furnished
me in your note dated June 25 last.
My said colleague communicated the notice to the royal ministry of the
interior, which has certainly already taken the necessary steps to
establish the identity of the person named Salvatore Paladini, charged
with having counterfeited silver dollars of the United States of
America.
The ministry of the interior has also been advised of the fact that Mr.
Cono Casale, special agent of the Federal Government, holds himself at
the disposition of the authorities of public safety of Messina to aid,
if needed, in identifying the individual sought for, who is at the
present time in that province.
Holding myself ready to communicate, in continuation, whatever other
information may reach me in the matter,
I renew, etc.,
Damiani,
Under Secretary of State
[Page 1043]
[Inclosure 6 in No.
223.—Translation.]
Mr. Damiani to Mr.
Stallo.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Rome, July 7,
1888.
Mr. Minister: In continuation of my note of the
2d instant I hasten to communicate to you the following information sent
me by the ministry of the interior regarding the search for and capture
of Salvatore Paladini, from Messina:
“The royal prefecture in Messina, to which was intrusted the charge of
making, in all urgency, the tracing up of the person named Salvatore
Paladini has made known that the latter returned from America in October
of last year and was employed as a clerk in the office of the usher
Pugliese, of Messina.
“The said royal prefecture believes, however, that Paladini has really
returned to New York, where he has a mother and sister. In any case the
efforts for his apprehension will continue to be made.
“In the actual state of affairs the ministry of the interior does not
find itself in a position to avail itself of the services of the agent
Casale, sent to Italy by the Government of the United States of
America.”
I hasten to communicate to you the foregoing in order that you may be
able to give notice of it to the Federal Government, which will
certainly make search for Paladini in New York, or will furnish us with
further information as to the place where the above-named implicated has
taken refuge.
Accept, etc.,
Damiani,
Under Secretary of State.
[Inclosure 7 in No. 223.]
Mr. Stallo to Mr.
Crispi.
Legation of the United States,
Rome, July 14,
1888.
Your Excellency: I have the honor to
acknowledge the receipt of the communication addressed to me by his
excellency the under secretary of state on the 7th instant, informing me
of the measures taken by the Italian Government in compliance with my
letter of May 17, 1888, relating to the extradition of Salvatore
Paladini, and my two subsequent letters of June 2 and June 25.
In accordance with the suggestions of his excellency the under secretary
of state contained in his letter of the 7th instant, just referred to, I
shall at once report its contents, together with the correspondence
preceding it, to my Government, and to this end I take the liberty to
request your excellency, if it be not inconsistent with the rules and
traditions observed by the Italian Government in similar cases, to
return to me the papers accompanying my letter of May 17, or at least
that part of them which authorizes Mr. Cono Casale to receive Salvatore
Paladini in case of his arrest and extradition.
Meanwhile I thank your excellency for the measures taken by His Majesty’s
Government in the attempt to secure the arrest and extradition of the
person incriminated, at the same time regretting that the Italian
authorities have not deemed it expedient to avail themselves of the
services of Mr. Cono Casale in the discovery and identification of the
said Salvatore Paladini during his sojourn in Messina, which, according
to a report just made to me by the said Casale, extended at least to the
20th of June.
It may not be improper to observe that in my original letter of May 17,
1888, and the documents accompanying it, there was no reference to the
question whether or not Salvatore Paladini was an Italian or American
citizen, or whether or not he was a property-holder in the United
States, for the sole and simple reason that I was and am still unaware
that in the treaty of March 23, 1868, there was any distinction between
fugitives from justice who were citizens of the United States and those
who were not, or between such fugitives as did and those who did not
hold property in the United States.
I avail, etc.,
[Inclosure 8 in No. 223.]
Mr. Stallo to Mr.
Crispi.
Legation of the United States,
Rome, July 27,
1888.
Your Excellency: The questions relating to the
extradition of Salvatore Paladini (an Italian subject charged with the
crime of counterfeiting in the United States), which were the subject of
discussion during my interview with your excellency on [Page 1044] yesterday at the consulta, appear to me to be so important that I beg leave to
submit the following memorandum:
The position taken by your excellency, as I understood it, was that the
Italian Government could not extradite Paladini because he was an
Italian subject, though the crime with which he stands charged was
committed in the United States. And your excellency was under the
impression that the treaty between Italy and the United States relating
to the extradition of criminals (treaty of March 23,1868) contained a
provision to the effect that its terms should not apply to citizens or
subjects of the state upon which the demand of extradition is made. As I
had the honor to observe yesterday, my recollection differed from that
of your excellency, it being my strong belief that the treaty referred
to contained no exception in favor of the citizens or subjects of either
state.
I have now again carefully examined the treaty of extradition concluded
between Italy and the United States on March 23, 1868, and am able to
state with entire confidence that its stipulations require a surrender
of all persons convicted of or charged with crime in the demanding
state, irrespective of the question of their citizenship or allegiance
to the asylum state.
As I understand it, your excellency agrees with me that international
rights and duties concerning the extradition of fugitives from justice
are now purely the results of treaty convention. I am aware that in
former times it was the policy of many European states (among which were
Great Britain and France) never to deliver up their subjects to a
foreign state, but to assume jurisdiction to try them for crime wherever
committed. But this policy is no longer universal, and in Great Britain
and France at least (as well as in Switzerland and many other states) it
has been definitively abandoned. On the 9th day of August, 1842, a
treaty was concluded between Great Britain and the United States
providing for the “giving up” (i. e., extradition) “of criminals
fugitive from justice in certain cases,” in which there was no exception
as to citizens or subjects of the state in which the criminal had sought
refuge; and ever since that time Great Britain has always surrendered
fugitives from justice upon the demand of the Government of the United
States without inquiring whether or not the fugitive was a British
subject; and later, in 1877, a commission appointed by the British
Government on extradition reported as follows:
“On the whole the commission unanimously were of
opinion that it is inexpedient that the state should make any
distinction in this respect between its own subjects and foreigners; and stipulations to the contrary should be omitted
from all treaties.”. (Cf. Wharton, Conflict
of Laws, § 841, note.)
Similar observations apply to the treaty of extradition concluded between
France and the United States on November 9, 1843, whose terms are almost identical with those of the treaty with
Italy.
So far as I am aware the French Government has never refused to extradite
fugitives from justice on the ground that they were French citizens or
subjects. And it is my strong impression that up to this time the
Government of His Majesty the King of Italy has never taken the ground
which is now taken in the case of Paladini. Moreover, I think that your
excellency will find, upon proper inquiry, that the Italian Government
has repeatedly demanded the extradition, at the hands of my Government,
of American citizens charged with crime committed in Italy.
But the case is still stronger. I venture to say that
since the middle of the present century no state has asserted the
right to refuse the extradition of its own subjects charged with the
commission of crime abroad unless the treaty under which the
extradition was demanded contained a clause justifying such
refusal: Accordingly in all treaties between the United States
and European states which deemed it proper to reserve the right to try
their own subjects on charges of crime committed abroad there is a
distinct article making the reservation. Thus, in the treaty between
Austria and the United States, concluded July 3, 1856 (twelve years before the conclusion of the treaty with Italy),
the second article provides:
“Neither of the contracting parties shall be bound to deliver up its own
citizens or subjects under the stipulations of this convention.”
Precisely the same express reservation is made in Article IV of the
treaty with Belgium (March 19, 1874), in Article IV of the treaty with
Sweden and Norway (March 21, 1860), and in Article III of the old treaty
with Prussia (June 16, 1852), and in Article VI of the treaty with
Mexico (December 11, 1861). But no such reservation is
contained in the treaty with Italy; and I should very much
regret if the case of Salvatore Paladini (who by this time has probably
made his escape pede claudo both from the
jurisdiction of Italy and that of the United States) should establish a
precedent which would constrain the Government of the United States to
revise all its traditional rules for the interpretation of international
treaties.
I avail, etc.,
[Page 1045]
[Inclosure 9 in No.
223.—Translation.]
Mr. Crispi to Mr.
Stallo.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Rome, July 27,
1888.
Mr. Minister: As soon as your esteemed note of
the. 14th of this month, relative to the arrest and extradition of
Salvatore Paladini, was received, I hastened to ask the ministry of
grace and justice to inform me clearly upon the three observations made
by you.
As to the first, viz, if it be comformable to the rules and customs
practiced in Italy in similar cases to return in all or part the
documents communicated in support of a request for extradition, that
ministry has remarked that, conformably to what is practiced with all
other Governments, it believed it well to retain those acts necessary in
case the arrest should be made. However, you requesting them, I have the
honor to return them herewith.
As to the second observation, to the effect that the Government of the
King had not esteemed it useful to avail itself of the aid of Mr. Cono
Casale for the discovery and identification of the person sought for,
the ministry of the interior, which, according to the existing rules
upon the extradition of criminals, relating to the search and capture of
Paladini, communicates to me that the said individual not having been
found, it could not have recourse to the work of Mr. Casale to identify
and recognize him.
Finally, as to the third remark, viz, as to whether one’s own citizens be
or not exempt from the liability to being surrendered according to the
convention cited, the ministry of grace and justice remarks that in the
present state of things it can not be further treated (non si possa piú trattara), for this reason: According to the
rules which govern extradition among us, it is necessary to hear case by
case—
- (1)
- The opinion of the crimes section of the court of appeals in
whose district takes place the arrest of the malefactor asked
for. (Articles 853 and 854 of the code of penal
procedure.)
- (2)
- That of the council of state (article 8, No. 2, of the law of
March 20, 1865; of No. 2248, Annex D) on the demand of
extradition; that is, whether or not it is conformable to the
compacts of the convention.
Now, Paladini not being under arrest, a decision simply theoretical can
not be invoked.
If, then, you desire that the first article of the convention cited for
future extraditable crimes be interpreted in accord between the two
Governments, my colleague informs me that in case of being formally
asked he will not fail to set forth the views of the Royal
Government.
For the rest, if the ministry pursues the matter, it is simply by way of
argument, in response to the argument contained in your note.
Considering that the active researches made in order to trace up
Salvatore Paladini have remained fruitless, it seems proper to conclude
that that individual is not at present in Italy.
Be pleased, etc.,
[Inclosure 10 in No. 223.]
Mr. Stallo to Mr.
Crispi.
Legation of the United States,
Rome, August 1,
1888.
Your Excellency: I have the honor to
acknowledge receipt of your excellency’s communication of the 27th
instant (which has reached me this moment), in which your excellency
announces the return of the papers in the case relating to the
extradition of Salvatore Paladini. But by some inadvertence the papers
are not actually returned to me, and I take the liberty therefore to
repeat my request that they be sent to me.
As to the further contents of your excellency’s note, I must content
myself for the present with saying that I shall at once communicate them
to my Government and report to your excellency its reply as soon as it
is received.
I seize, etc.,
[Page 1046]
[Inclosure 11 in No.
223.—Translation]
Mr. Damiani to Mr.
Stallo.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Rome, August 2,
1888.
Mr. Minister: The documents concerning
Salvatore Paladini, which should have been inclosed in the note of July
27 last, were, by an inadvertence, forgotten. But while I was about to
send them to you, I have been obliged to return them to the ministry of
grace and justice, inasmuch as, by a telegram dated yesterday informing
me that Paladini has been arrested, they have been again requested of
me.
Be pleased, etc.,
Damiani,
Under Secretary of State.
