Mr. Smythe to Mr. Gresham.
Port au Prince, Haiti, March 8, 1894.
(Received March 19.)
Sir: As supplemental to my No. 47, I have to report that I. have from absolutely good authority the information that the French Government protested against the expulsion of the parties named, and that as soon as the protest was communicated to the Government the President ordered the chief of police to at once embark the parties on board the Dutch steamer then in the harbor. This order was promptly carried out, and since then the French Government has cabled an ultimatum, requiring the Haitian authorities, to furnish the evidence upon which this action was based within eight days, “the French Government to determine its sufficiency.” There can be no doubt that my information is correct, and if it is it raises an interesting question in international law, as President Hyppolite contends that there can be no law which discriminates between a powerful government and a weak one, and that France is not asked by other nations (of the first rank) the reasons that impel that power to exercise a similar right. You will please consider this dispatch in connection with my 47, and if you deem any special instructions necessary, transmit them at the earliest possible day.
I have, etc.,