Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1894, With the Annual Message of the President, Transmitted to Congress, December 3, 1894

Mr. Smythe to Mr. Gresham.

Legation of the United States,
Port au Prince, Haiti, January 10, 1894.
(Received January 24.)

No. 23.]

Sir: In the same interview with the Secretary of State alluded to in my preceding dispatch¹ my attention was called to the fact that an American schooner (the Water Witch, of Boston, owned by Messrs. Green Kenable & Co.) had on board 2 cannon and 60 pounds of powder, and these not on the vessel’s manifest.

Of course in a country where revolutions are of somewhat frequent occurrence the Government looks anxiously into the importation of munitions of war, and I promised the Secretary to immediately ask my Government for instructions in this behalf. Are sailing vessels allowed to carry an armament, either limited or unlimited? Are they permitted to carry them as ship’s stores? This vessel evidently had no use for the guns, and if for sale they were not scheduled. Be kind enough to give me an early reply to this and my preceding dispatch, and I trust that I may be able to render to the Government a satisfactory reply.

Accept, etc.,

Henry M. Smythe.

1. Not printed.