Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 3, 1888, Part II
No. 807.
Mr. Bragg
to Mr. Bayard.
Mexico, August 29, 1888. (Received September 7.)
Sir: I have the honor to advise you that, on the 26th instant, I received from Consul-General Sutton a letter of Consular-Agent King, inclosing one from the American citizen, B. C. Work, imprisoned in the State of Tamaulipas, on charge of homicide, copy of which letter and its inclosure are made inclosures herewith.
Upon receipt of such communication I addressed Mr. Mariscal a note, copy whereof is also herewish inclosed, which I trust will meet your approval.
This case will be recalled by reference to my Nos. 10 and 35.
I am, etc.,
Mr. King to Mr. Bragg.
Sir: I have the honor to inclose the accompanying letter, which explains itself.
Since Mr. B. C. Work’s arrest for defending himself on the highway, I have been in this city and had ample opportunities of finding out, more or less, the true history of the case. The best Mexican citizens in the district where the shooting took place denounce Mr. Work’s unjust treatment by the authorities in the strongest language. That a man, for protecting his life, should be tried like a criminal and put to great expense is indeed hard to bear. Moreover, it is generally known that the man killed was a bad character, while Mr. Work is a sober, hard-working man of family; and it is too absurd for one moment to imagine that he would deliberately stop a Mexican on the highway and shoot him without cause.
Mr. Work has been anxious to avoid publicity, and, therefore, did not until now invoke the aid of this consular agency.
I have, etc.,
Mr. Work to Mr. King.
Sir: I have the honor to lay before you my distressed condition of my family and self. I have been here a prisoner since the 1st of March for homicide.
On the 29th of February, on the highway from Linares to the San José mines in this State, with funds to pay off monthly pay-roll of miners on mines of A. W. Gilford, W, Segovia, B. C. Work & Co., I was run down by three robbers; returning fire I killed one, the others ran off. I at once gave myself up to the sheriff, claiming protection.
Some time in the night, between 7 and 8 o’clock, the robbers returned to my house near by and set fire to the house, running my wife and daughter into the mountains, which has greatly impaired the health of my wife. I was sent to San Carlos and imprisoned for twenty-five days, then sent here the 1st of March. I have been, refused a speedy trial, as was promised in correspondence of 5th of May to the honorable T. F. Bayard by Mr. Mariscal to Mr. Bragg, City of Mexico, May 3.
First I deny the charge of crime. Second, that there is no evidence against me but the evidence of the other two robbers implicated in the attempt to rob me and burn up my wife and daughter. You have seen that they refuse to take evidence in my favor. I request that you will at once place this complaint before the proper authorities, and demand my immediate trial and release.
You are fully posted on the injustice practiced in my case and if there is no justice for me I appeal to you for the protection of my wife and daughter, who have been compelled to leave our interests and are at this time suffering. I submit to you as reference Senator R. Coke, Governor S Ross, Ex. Gov. John Ireland, T. B. Loyd, Fort Worth, Texas; W. W. Cunningham; 45 and 47 South Front street, Philadelphia.
Hoping that this will meet with your approval,
I am, etc.,
Mr. Bragg to Mr. Mariscal.
Mexico, August 28, 1888.
Sir: I have the honor to recall the attention of your excellency to the case of the American citizen, B. C. Work, who is in prison at Ciudad Victoria, in the State of Tamaulipas, charged with homicide.
The facts in the case as I have ascertained them from unquestionable sources, are these: Mr. Work is a person of high character, not excitable nor quarrelsome, but of a calm, deliberate habit, avoiding rather than seeking controversy or collision. This is the uniform testimony borne in his behalf by the respectable Mexican population where he has resided in the State of Tamaulipas a number of years. He is engaged in mining, being part owner of the San José mines in the State of Tamaulipas, and of the working of which he had charge.
On the 29th day of February last, while en route from Linares upon the highway leading to the mines, whither he was going, bearing with him money to pay off the monthly pay-roll of the working force at the mines, he was attacked by three persons with the purpose of robbing him. In repelling the attack he shot one of the would-be robbers, when the other two fled.
Mr. Work gave himself immediately into the custody of the authorities, and claimed their protection. But the same night while he was absent therefrom, in charge of the officers, between the hours of 7 and 8 o’clock in the evening, his house, occupied by his wife and daughter, was fired by some ruffians (presumably the parties who had fled upon the death of their comrade) and burned over their heads with all its contents, while they escaped and made good their safety by secreting themselves in the mountains.
The only evidence against Mr. Work tending to charge him with any act not wholly justifiable, is the statement of the two ruffians who were parties in the attempt to rob, and who unquestionably committed subsequently the arson both of whom, as well as the deceased, are men of notoriously bad character, whose statements would not bear a feather’s weight against the statements of Mr. Work in the mind of any respectable citizen where the parties are fully known.
Mr. Work has been in confinement since March 1, ultimo, twenty-five days at San Carlos, and the remainder of the time at Ciudad Victoria, where he now is. All that he has ever asked is a speedy and an impartial trial; that is all that his Government has ever asked for him.
[Page 1225]The last note of your excellency touching this case, under date of May 3, 1888, contained the gratifying assurance from the governor of the State of Tamaulipas as follows:
“The court is endeavoring to expedite the trial, in order that proof may be established touching the degree of culpability of Work, or concerning the weight to be given to the points of defense raised by him. Meanwhile he is in the enjoyment of all the guaranties which the law accords to his person, and he has even been permitted, in as far as is compatible with his character of accused, to attend to his private business.”
It is a source of deep regret to me that now, after his confinement six months in a loathsome prison, I find myself compelled to state to your excellency that the assurance contained in the information given by the governor of Tamaulipas has not been in any manner fulfilled, but Mr. Work has been held, and is still held, without trial, and the judge having charge of his case has refused to hear evidence in his behalf.
In fine, your excellency, I am fully convinced that the reasons for this judicial action are not such as you would approve, nor such as would be creditable to the occupants of the bench, could they be made public; and, in addition, I fully believe that there will be no attempt at the fulfillment of the words of promise given you by the governor without mandatory action by the Federal Government of Mexico, which in the name of my Government I have the honor to request, through your excellency’s gracious mediation.
I avail myself, etc.,