Mr. Sherman to Mr. Taylor.
Washington, August 25, 1897.
Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your No. 726, of the 15th ultimo, in which, referring to Department’s No. 714of June 25 last, inclosing further evidence relative to the claim of Sartorius & Co. to be allowed to ship certain tobacco from Havana, you state that in view of the Duke of Tetuan’s note inclosed in your No. 716 of June 25 last, declaring that no further tobacco claims would be received, you had decided not to present the claim without further instructions from the Department.
[Page 498]The expression used in the Duke of Tetuan’s note is that no new claims would be received (nuevos casos de reclamacion). The case of Sartorius & Go. was not a new case; it had been forwarded to your legation in Department’s No. 686 of April 23 last, and it was one of the subjects of the very note under consideration, it being declared therein that the evidence submitted up to that time was insufficient to prove the case. Department’s No. 714 inclosed this additional evidence, which, according to the statement made by Messrs. Hoadley, Lauter-bach & Johnson in their letter of June 8 to Hon. L. E. Quigg (copy inclosed in No. 714), had been filed with General Weyler at Havana on June 2 last, and, it was promised, would be forwarded to Madrid on June 20. This evidence of course could not have been before the Spanish Government on June 23, when the Duke of Tetuan’s note was dated.
In view of these facts I therefore telegraphed you on the 21st instant (telegram confirmed on overleaf) to ask for information and a favorable decision in the light of the additional evidence presumed to have been forwarded from Havana on June 20 last.
You should at once submit the evidence inclosed in Department’s No. 714, and ask for a favorable decisioh.
Respectfully, yours,