Mr. Gresham to Mr. Smythe.

No. 36.]

Sir: Your No. 47, diplomatic series, of the 3d instant, has been received. You therein report the expulsion from Haiti, by executive decree, of six Frenchmen, on the ground that their presence is judged to be dangerous to public safety; and you ask instructions in the event of similar decree affecting citizens of the United States.

This Department does not usually give contingent instructions to meet hypothetical cases, and in the present instance the high tribute you pay to the law-abiding character of the American residents in Haiti makes it unlikely that explicit instructions will be needed.

I am, etc.,

W. Q. Gresham.