Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 1, 1890
Mr. Blaine to Mr. Mizner.
Washington, October 6, 1890.
Sir: I transmit for your information a copy of a statement sent me from Dakota by Mr. Myers, our consul at San Salvador, relating to events of the civil commotion there in July and August last, and especially to the subject of instruction No. 177 of September 18 last addressed to your legation.
Mr. Myers’s statement appears to substantiate the allegation that his correspondence was impeded, and that his movements were under duress.
The question of satisfactory indemnity for official losses and personal injury is reserved, awaiting the consul’s additional statement on the subject.
I am, etc.,
Mr. Myers to Mr. Wharton.
Huron, S. Dak., September 27, 1890. (Received September 30.)
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of yours of September 23, 1890, which is just received, in which you request me to submit to the Department of State any evidence I might have to corroborate “that I was not permitted to communicate with you or Minister Mizner, nor to leave the country without a pass, and which, if requested, would be granted and my exequatur would be withdrawn.”
In compliance, I herewith inclose a dispatch which I desired to send to Secretary Blaine, August 2 (inclosure 1), which they refused to send, and instead thereof wished me to send inclosure 2, translated from the Spanish, together with a sworn statement made by Prof. William P. Fletcher, an Englishman who acted as interpreter of what transpired between Ezeta’s secretary-general and myself.
I have nothing in writing which will show that I was not permitted to communicate with Minister Mizner; but the fact will not be disputed, as Mr. Samuel C. Dawson, director of the post-office at San Salvador, will make affidavit to that effect at anytime. He first received an order that nothing should be sent to Guatemala without inspection and the first part of July another order permitting nothing to be sent, nor delivered, if any matter was received from there; and my request for permission to communicate with Minister Mizner was refused.
A communication from Minister Mizner, dated and postmarked Guatemala July 11, was not delivered to me until August 10 at 12 noon. After they had hoisted the flag and I had been restored to my consular rights, it was handed to me by Lieut. G. W. Denfeld, of the man-of-war Thetis, who had received it from Ezeta’s Government.
I have been unable, through illness, to make any report before this, but hope to be able to submit it about October 1.
I am, etc.,
United States Consul, San Salvador.
Secretary Blaine,
Washington:
General Ezeta’s troops commenced assault on San Salvador, without notice, on 30th; on 31st broke open consulate, pulled down and carried away flag. I escaped through boles made in back wall, running for life through heavy firing 2 miles. Consulate and residence totally destroyed. Consider my life unsafe here; leave for Washington on 5th.
Consul.
Benjamin Molino Guirola, secretary-general, then dictated the following:
Secretary Blaine,
Washington:
With regard to the hordes of Indians commanded by the revolutionary General Rivas that had taken the military quarters here, and by an assault which lasted 2 days, troops of the Government retook them. In so doing they took possession of the consulate, and during the fight everything in the office and private residence was lost, including flag which was then hoisted. Order has been reëstablished; the constituted authorities offer me security and regards, but I fear that farther on I may not be entirely satisfied, and I have resolved to leave.
San Salvador, August 2, 1890.
Ezeta’s Government offered to pay for this, which the consul declined to accept.
Statement of William P. Fletcher.
I, William P. Fletcher, British subject and professor of languages, accompanied Henry Ray Myers, consul of the United States of America at San Salvador, to the telegraph office on August 2, when he requested the director to transmit the foregoing dispatch to Washington (inclosure 1), which the director declined doing, saying it would injure the good reputation of this Republic, and added that to have it sent the consul would have to get an order from the secretary-general, Gen. Benj. Molino Guirola. The consul requested him to write this at the foot of the dispatch, but the director refused to do so, saying this would give the consul ground on which to set up a claim.
Then I accompanied said consul to the secretary-general, and there, after presenting him his personal respects and exchanging mutual and friendly compliments, the consul requested permission to send said dispatch to Washington. In reply, the secretary-general said that everything stated therein was true at that time, but added this dispatch would be read all over the world and disgrace this country, and wanted the consul to make some changes in it. To this the consul told the secretary to indicate the changes he desired to be made, and he then dictated dispatch in Spanish (inclosure 2), and said dispatch was by me translated into English for the consul, the consul saying he did not consider that he could send this dispatch instead of the other, but that he would think the matter over. Then the secretary requested another private interview, as he was very busy, and both parties appointed by agreement 10 a.m. next day for the interview.
On August 3, at the appointed time, I was also present during the interview, acting, as the day before, as an interpreter for both parties, when, complying with the consult request, I translated to the secretary the following article of the treaty between the United States and Salvador:
“The consular offices and dwellings shall be at all times inviolable. The local authorities shall not, under any pretext, invade them. In no case shall they examine or seize the archives or papers there deposited.
“Consuls, in all that exclusively concerns the exercise of their functions, shall be independent of the state in whose territory they reside.”
To which the secretary replied that that was all right in time of peace, but that this was war time, and that the urgency of the case had made it necessary to do what they did. The consul said that he thought they ought to have at least given him notice, so as to have been able to put himself in safety; and the secretary replied that there had been no time to do so, and assured the consul that the breaking of the doors and the occupation of the consular office, the taking down of the flag by his troops, and the damage to property was not done with any intention of disrespect or insult to the United States, and that the Government had not the slightest intention to cause any injury to the consul, if they knew it, as personally he (Gen. Molino Guirola) and the Government had the greatest respect for the consul’s uniform courtesy and gentlemanly manners, and that they were ready to pay him for all personal losses of property, submitting the question of the amount to be paid to a commission which would be appointed by the Government. The consul thereto replied that the breaking open of the consulate, the occupation of the same by his troops, the hauling down of the flag, and compelling the officer of the United States to hide in the back part of the building, surrounded only by a few stones, to escape the bullets for 31 hours, without anything to eat, and then being no longer able to remain, having to take flight from the building through holes dug in the back [Page 117] wall, and through heavy firing on both sides, running for 2 miles, and then having to remain where the bursting of the grenades and the flying of the bullets was causing destruction all around him until about 3 a.m. on August 1, was a very important matter, which he thought it his duty to freely, and without fear of personal injury, lay before his Government, and that he was unauthorized to accept any compensation for personal losses or injury until his Government had all the facts before them and authorized him to make any arrangement whatever for compensation for personal losses or injury, and that it was his intention to now proceed to Washington and lay all the facts before the Government, and would therefore request the secretary-general to give him a pass which would enable him to go through his troops and embark on board an American ship at such a time as he might be able to depart, and, in the meantime, to give him another pass which would enable him to travel anywhere within the Republic. The secretary-general then said that he would cheerfully give a pass to enable him to travel anywhere within the Republic, but that if he wanted to leave the country, be (the consul) would have to apply in writing for another pass for that purpose, and that when the consul did so, he (the secretary) would grant the pass, but at the same time withdraw the consul’s exequatur. The interview then closed by the secretary-general giving the consul a pass enabling him to travel within the limits of the Republic of Salvador.
Subscribed and sworn before me this 5th day of August, 1890.
Acting Consul.