Mr. Lee to Mr. Rockhill.
Habana, October 9, 1896. (Received October 13.)
Sir: Referring to my dispatch. No. 164, October 7, in the case of Julio Sanguily, I respectfully request to know if the subject of his confinement could not be brought to the attention of the Government at Madrid, with the request that the authorities here be instructed to have his confinement made more endurable. It seems to me that this should be done, first, on the ground of his ill health; second, that as a political prisoner he has been already imprisoned over nineteen months, and that the supreme court at Madrid has remitted his case for retrial, I am informed, on the ground that there was a lack of proof to warrant his conviction.
If it is proposed, therefore, to punish him still further because, as the supreme court said, the court of original jurisdiction did not have the proof to convict, it seems that it would be an act of justice to ameliorate his condition, at least to some extent, while waiting for a new trial.
I am, etc.,