Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Annual Message of the President, Transmitted to Congress, December 4, 1893
Mr. Ryan to Mr. Gresham.
Mexico, March 18, 1893. (Received March 29.)
Sir: The correspondence herewith transmitted in copy will advise you that, in the month of December last, Mr. Edward Lycan, an American citizen, was arrested at Guaymas, and imprisoned three different times, a few hours on each occasion, and during the intervals was under guard. It is stated that Lycan was apprehended in the port of Guaymas by the authorities of that place upon a telegram by order of the political director of Ahome, a small inland village in northern Sinaloa.
Lycan declares that his application for amparo was granted for the reason that there was no charge whatever preferred against him, but this action of the court goes by operation of law before the supreme court for review, and the decision of the inferior tribunal remains in abeyance until affirmed by the superior.
It will be observed that Mr. Mariscal’s reply to my request for information is indefinite, nor has he furnished the legation the further information which he states, in his note of January 27 last, he has requested the governor to obtain from the administrative and judicial authorities.
Equally unsatisfactory is Mr. Mariscal’s reply to my note praying his good offices to expedite action by the supreme court upon the amparo proceedings. He trusts that the case will be hastened, and should it become necessary, as he thinks it will not, its prompt dispatch will be recommended.
I am, etc.,
Mr. Forbes to Mr. Ryan.
Guaymas, Mexico, December 16, 1892.
Sir: I address these lines to you in order to inform you of what is transpiring here at this moment. The most flagrant abuse of authority is being practiced for the past sixteen days upon the person of an American gentleman named Edward Lycan, who has important business transactions in the northern part of the State of Sinaloa. It seems that the trouble originated at Topolobampo, where an American ship was wrecked and Lycan bought the wreck, which was taken away from him by an armed force from the custom-house. He then embarked on board the Mexican steamer Romero Rubio and came to this port, where, before landing, he was arrested and prevented from communicating with the American consul, notwithstanding which prohibition I had an interview with him. The captain of the port arrested him on a simple telegram, and after he was placed in a filthy jail I liberated and commenced habeas corpus proceedings, or what is termed in Mexican law “amparo,” but with all I have done he still is put in jail whenever they feel so disposed. After he had been in jail and after the proceedings had been instituted in the district court, he was again arrested by order of the prefect on the same telegram from a justice of first instance of Ahome, and was kept imprisoned for half a day. I succeeded, in getting him out, but now he is constantly watched day and night and at this moment, when he is with me, my consulate is guarded by several policemen who are looking through my windows while I am writing this to you and he is making his written appeal to me for protection. No formal charges have been preferred against him, and although their constitution guarantees protection to all persons, articles 16 and 19 of the said fundamental law is scandalously violated.
I now address this to you to know what is best to be done in the present state of affairs, and shall wait with anxiety your superior determination.
I am, etc.,
U. S. Consul.
Mr. Ryan to Señor Mariscal.
Mexico, January 2, 1893.
My Dear Mr. Mariscal: I am advised by Mr. J. A. Forbes, the United. States-consul at Guaymas, Sonora, that an American named Edward Lycan, who is said to have important business transactions in the northern part of the State of Sonora, purchased at Topolobampo the wreck of a steamer, which was subsequeutly taken from him by an armed force. It is represented that Lycan then took passage on board the Mexican steamer Romero Rubio, for Guaymas, but before landing was arrested in that harbor by order of the captain of the port, in obedience to a telegram from a justice of first instance of Ahome, and thrown into prison. It would seem that pending amparo proceedings the prisoner was released, but was rearrested by order of the prefect of Guaymas in virtue of the same telegram, but was again set at liberty after several hours’ imprisonment.
“But,” says the consul, “now he is constantly watched day and night, and at this moment, when he is with me, my consulate is guarded by several policemen who are looking through my windows while I am writing this to you, etc. No formal charges have been preferred against him.”
I allow myself the liberty of soliciting your kindly offices to secure an investigation of the case and to request such action as may be deemed appropriate in the premises.
With highest regards, etc.,
Senor Mariscal to Mr. Ryan.
Mexico, January 4, 1893.
My Esteemed Mr. Ryan: I to-day transmit to the department of war and marine your esteemed note, dated the 2d instant, and touching the arrest, at Guaymas, Sonora, of Mr. Edward Lycan and the espionage upon him by the police of said city after being placed at liberty.
As soon as I receive the report I have requested from that department I will hasten, in pursuance to your wishes, to communicate the same.
I remain, etc.,
Mr. Lycan to Mr. Ryan.
Respected Sir: On December 1, 1892, when I arrived here on my way north from Topolobampo, Sinaloa, I was arrested, and notwithstanding the urgent request of Mr. Forbes and other Americans here I was put into jail, where I was kept for half a day, and then let out under guard. On the 3d of December I was again put in jail, and also on the 10th of the month; each time I was locked up for half a day and when out was accompanied by a guard day and night. They would not allow me to give bail, as they did not know of what I was to be charged with, and although I employed three lawyers and applied for amparo on the 2d of December the right was not granted until the 20th and then the judge decided that as there was no charge against me I was entitled to my liberty, but told me at the same time that he had to send his decision to the supreme court at Mexico City for confirmation before I could be set at liberty, and he says that it will take anywhere from three to eight months for the court to reach my case, and in the mean time I am a prisoner. I was arrested by the captain of the port here on the strength of the following telegram, from the captain of Agabampo, a small port in the south part of this State: “Lycan on steamer Rubio; on arrival detain him, by order of political director, Ahome.”
Ahome is a small inland village in northern Sinaloa. The captain while making my arrest acted in as rude and public a manner as he well could; at first he refused [Page 415] to let me see our consul here, Mr. Forbes, but insisted that I must go with him to jail, and while he was taking me there against the urgent request of several friends we met Mr. Forbes, for whom I had sent, and he went with me to jail. My wife was with me and very sick at the time of our arrival here, and continued so for a month, and the frequent calls of the captain or some guard at my rooms day and night was the cause of very much suffering on her part.
I have been doing my best to build up a good business in this part of Mexico, and through my exertions during the three years last past I have caused to be invested in agricultural lands and machinery for sugar making over $300,000, and at the time of my arrest was on my way north in the interest of improvements here, and this arrest and detention has done me incalculable injury, as no one cares to invest with a man who can not keep from being arrested; besides, the neglect of my business has nearly ruined everything for me.
Mr. Forbes, the U. S. consul here, has done as much as he well could, I suppose, but the Mexicans pay no attention to his requests, as they say Mr. Willard never asked such a thing.
Mr. Forbes wrote to consul-general, and his reply was: “Tell Lycan that he must first exhaust the courts of Mexico, when, if he fails, to let me know,” etc. Now, to one acquainted with Mexican ways, this seems very absurd to me, as no Mexican lawyer will take a case against the Government, and with me this is all that can be done, as I have been arrested and have been held a prisoner and have been treated shamefully for nearly two months, and all the time I have not been accused of anything and no charge of any kind whatever has been brought against me, nor do I know who caused my arrest. However, if you will have the kindness to call at the rooms of the supreme court at the City of Mexico you will, without doubt, be allowed to see a complete history of my case as it is there. The judge here says that it may be six or eight months before they decide the matter, and in the meantime my business must stop and I must suffer the mental agony of the stigma of being a prisoner, with many asking me “Why are you arrested?” And I suppose that hardly anyone believes that a man who has violated no law, and an American at that, could be arrested and so detained against his utmost efforts. I have some good and influential friends in different States, among them several Congressmen and Senators, and shall try to bring influence to bear so that other United States citizens will not be treated as I have been. What shall I do now to get relief? Pardon the great length and believe me,
Your humble servant,
Señor Mariscal to Mr. Ryan.
Mexico, January 27, 1893.
My Esteemed Mr. Ryan: The telegraphic advices transmitted to me by the department of the army and the navy, relative to the arrest at Guaymas, Sonora, of Edward Lycan, reference to whom is had in your unofficial note dated the 2d instant, are not sufficient to convey an exact account of the matter; and therefore I have to-day addressed the governor of that State, in request of information as ample as he can obtain, alike from the administrative and the judicial authorities.
For the present, I can inform you that Lycan is charged with having been the abettor or the head of a party of men who raided the steamer Dora Bluhum.”
I remain, etc.,
Mr. Ryan to Señor Mariscal.
Mexico, February 2, 1893.
My Dear Mr. Mariscal: Since receiving your unofficial note of the 27th ultimo, relating to the case of Mr. Edward Lycan, United States citizen, who was arrested at Guaymas, Sonora, there has come to hand a further communication from Mr. Lycan, in which I am advised that the federal supreme court, sitting in this capital, has received the papers in this case, and will have to pass upon the decision of the State court in the amparo proceedings, under which latter decision the liberty [Page 416] of Mr. Lycan was decreed. The case, I am informed, will not probably be disposed of by the supreme court before three months. In view of this information I make bold to address myself to you upon several particular grounds. In the first place, I request to be informed of the precise nature of the accusation against Mr. Lycan, who declares to me, despite his frequent arrests, that he is entirely ignorant of the offense with which he is charged. In the second place, I have to acquaint you with Mr. Lycan’s declaration to the effect that the business which he had built up during the last three years in this Republic has been made to suffer seriously during the periods when he was restrained of his liberty, and his reputation in the community has been gravely affected by the official prosecution instituted against him. Wherefore, in the third place, I urgently solicit the exercise of your powerful good offices with the judicial department of the Federal Government to have Mr. Lycan’s case taken up and disposed of at the earliest practicable moment by the supreme court of the Republic.
Your generous intervention in this respect will add further to the obligations of which this legation retains so many signal and grateful memories.
With profound respect, etc.,
Señor Mariscal to Mr. Ryan.
Mexico, February 6, 1893.
My Esteemed Mr. Ryan: I am advised by your esteemed unofficial note of 2d instant that Mr. Lycan, who was arrested at Guaymas, Sonora, and placed at liberty consequent upon habeas corpus proceedings interposed by him, has informed yon that the papers in his case have been forwarded to this capital for revision by the supreme court of justice.
I trust that this case will be hastened; however, should it be necessary, which I think not, its prompt dispatch will be recommended.
I renew, etc.,