Mavroyeni Bey to Mr. Olney.
Washington, October 8, 1896.
Mr. Secretary of State: I have received instructions from the Sublime Porte to lay before the Department of State the reasons why the Imperial Government has been unable to accept the demands for indemnity which have been presented to it by Mr. Terrell in consequence of the disturbances which have taken place in some of the Asiatic provinces of the Empire.
Your excellency is aware that these disturbances were the result of a plan of insurrection conceived by certain misguided Ottoman subjects, the most recent manifestation of which was the criminal attempt against the Imperial Ottoman Bank of Constantinople; together with the explosion of bombs thrown among the troops and the population of the capital. The fact of the insurrection can not, therefore, be denied. Nor can the following two facts be denied, viz, that in any insurrection damage is necessarily done by those who provoke it and by those who are obliged to defend themselves; and furthermore, that such damage may affect not only subjects of the country in which the disturbances take place, but foreigners as well. This is a situation which unfortunately results from the very nature of things, and I need not here remark that this situation has been observed both on the Continent of Europe and in all other parts of the world, including America.
Such being the facts, and such being the nature of things, it is admitted in international law that a sovereign government which has done all in its power to defend foreigners residing in its territory is not responsible to them or to their government for any injury or loss that may be occasioned by an insurrection. Now, it is certain that, at the time of the aforesaid disturbances, both the local authorities and the Imperial troops made every effort to protect the lives and property of Americans. If, notwithstanding these efforts and this display of energy, some loss and some destruction of property occurred, the Imperial Government can not be held responsible therefor, since cases of destruction and loss are the very ones to which the aforesaid principle of international law is applicable. Otherwise it would not exist. Moreover, the Sublime Porte has in its archives the thanks of a sufficient number of Americans, which thanks at least prove the correctness of a point which the Imperial Government has always asserted, and which consists in repeating that it did all in its power at the time of the disturbances in question for the protection of the lives and property of Americans living in Turkey.
I therefore trust that your excellency, with your just appreciation of facts and principles, will recognize the impossibility of the acceptance by the Sublime Porte of the demands for indemnity which have been presented by Mr. Terrell.
Be pleased to accept, etc.,