Mr. Olney to Mr. Williams.
Have urged upon Spanish Government, through Dupuy and our minister at Madrid, that recent Havana court-martial sentences upon American citizens should not be executed until this Government is satisfied that it ought not to interpose, for which purpose it needs and asks record of proceedings of court, charges, evidence, and should be officially informed what opportunities of defense defendants had through counsel of their own choice, examination and summoning of witnesses, and otherwise. Make same representations and request to governor-general, urging that request of United States, which would be proper [Page 719] in any case, is specially so in view of the extremely questionable jurisdiction of the court-martial, which can be justified only by a new, strained, technical construction of treaty stipulations and which is contrary to their spirit, to their fair interpretation, and to the intent of the parties at the time they were entered into, as clearly shown by their correspondence.