[Inclosure 1 in No. 23.]
Mr. Hyatt to
Mr. Bay.
Consulate of the United States,
Santiago de Cuba, August 6, 1897.
No. 385.]Sir: I have the honor very respectfully to
report to the honorable Department of State that on Monday last I
received a communication from his excellency, Francisco Oliveros,
military governor of this province, asking for a list of all
American property within this zone. I learned that the same request
had been made of my agent at Guantanamo, and whether at other
agencies or not I have not learned.
I also learned that similar requests had not been made to the consuls
of other nations.
Having no knowledge of why the request was made or for what purpose
it is to be used, after getting his excellency to define the
boundaries of the zone mentioned, I made the inclosed reply, since
which have heard nothing, and therefore take it for granted that the
answer is satisfactory to the officers of Her Spanish Majesty’s
(Government, or at least is a fair and proper answer to their
question.
I remain, sir, etc.,
Pulaski F. Hyatt,
United States Consul.
[Subinclosure 1 in No.
23.]
Mr. Hyatt to
Mr. Oliveros.
United States Consulate,
Santiago de Cuba, August 3, 1897.
Excellency: I have the honor to acknowledge
the receipt of your second communication of August 2, concerning
real estate owned by Americans within this zone.
I desire to give your excellency as good a reply as possible, but
find the question beset with difficulties that do not appear at
first sight, owing to the absence of any property register at the
consulate. A very few American citizens have voluntarily made a list
of their property, mostly personal, and left it at this consulate;
but, so far as I recall; outside of the zone mentioned.
[Page 528]
The inclosed list contains the names of all Americans registered at
this consulate whose houses have of late been or now are within the
zone given by your excellency.
An examination of the books of the assessor would show whether any
property, if so what, is placed in their names. Several of these
parties are now absent from Cuba, and I do not know who has their
property in charge. Some others own property here who long since
ceased to reside here, and their names do not appear on the
register. Still others own property in this city and perhaps
elsewhere on the island who, so far as I know, never set foot on
Cuban soil. To illustrate: The property occupied by this consulate,
now and for the last fifteen years, belongs to an American woman,
and neither I nor any other consul before me ever knew it until
within the last few weeks, when the death of the former agent made
it necessary that a new one should produce a new power of attorney,
which revealed the fact that the owner lived in Brooklyn, N. Y., and
was never here, and owns other property on the island.
Mr. Ramon Villalon is the agent of an old lady living in New York,
who owns several houses here, yet has not been here for many years.
These cases I learned by mere accident. How many others there may be
I have no means of knowing.
In the inclosed list I have placed the letter “P” after the names of
those that I think own property; others are marked “away” because
absent.
There are three or four corporations of American citizens who own
property within the zone mentioned. First, the Juragua Iron Mining
Company, Limited, that owns several thousand acres of land, on which
are located extensive and valuable iron mines, several hundred
dwellings and other buildings, a railroad extending from the mines
to a valuable iron pier in Santiago Bay, a large number of cars,
locomotives, repair shops, machinery, tools, waterworks, and all the
necessary paraphernalia for running and operating such an extensive
plant, including valuable houses, offices, and other property at the
terminal point known as La Cruz.
The Spanish American Iron Mining Company at Saiguiri owns a property
quite similar in scope and character to that of the Juragera
company.
The Salanilla and Maroto Railroad, although under a Spanish charter,
is nevertheless mostly owned by American capitalists. The main
offices and shops are located in the city, and some 10 miles of the
main track are within the zone mentioned. This company also owns a
valuable manganese mine at Ponupo, one of the terminal points of the
road, but outside of the limits of the zone.
Should the information in this communication prove insufficient, I
will most cheerfully in any particular case aid your excellency in
any way within my power in arriving at such facts as your excellency
may desire.
With highest consideration, I am, etc.,
Pulaski F. Hyatt,
-United States Consul.
[Inclosure 2 in No. 23.]
Mr. Cridler to
Mr. Lee.
Department of State,
Washington, August 24,
1897.
No. 452.]Sir: I inclose for your information a copy
of a dispatch from the consul at Santiago de Cuba in regard to the
request of the military governor of the province of Santiago for a
list of American property within the consular district.
Mr. Hyatt’s reply to the governor illustrates the difficulty in the
way of furnishing even a partial list of American owners of realty
in the Santiago district in response to the request which it would
seem has been addressed to the United States consul alone and not to
the consul of any other nation. In the absence of any provision of
United States law or treaty requiring the consular registration of
American property in Spanish jurisdiction, the furnishing of lists
based upon information voluntarily supplied by our citizens to our
consuls in Cuba can not be suffered to prejudice in any way the
rights of any other American property holders whose names may not so
appear. Their rights under treaty and under public law are inherent
in their national character and can not be impaired by any arbitrary
formality of registration prescribed by local authority. The
principle is much the same as in regard to the attempt last year to
debar unregistered American citizens from their lawful rights. (See
Foreign Relations, 1896, pp.
680–682.)
This Government is disposed to facilitate any reasonable resort to
registration as a convenient means of announcing and making patent
the rights of our citizens in case of need, but it can not admit
that omission of a formality not required by our treaty or our laws
can impair the mutual relation of allegiance and protection between
the Government of the United States and its citizens in a foreign
land.
Respectfully, yours,
