Mr. Hay to Baron von Riedenau.
Washington , June 11, 1899 .
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of April 28 last, in relation to the claim for indemnity preferred by the Austro-Hungarian Government in behalf of its subjects who were involved in the unfortunate strike at Lattimer and Hazleton.
I have not failed to give to the arguments adduced and to the proposition of arbitration made in said note the most careful consideration, due to the importance of the subject, and especially due to the feeling of traditional friendship which has ever existed between the two Governments and which it is the earnest desire of the President further to maintain and strengthen. If upon consideration of the arguments contained in said note I could find any sufficient grounds for modification or reversal of the decision heretofore reached by the United States Government, I should not hesitate to do so, but without pausing to review said arguments in detail and to point out what I believe to be grounds of error, in statements of fact or in the application thereto of principles of law, I may be permitted to say that I have found nothing to alter the conviction of the Government of the United States that the case is not one for diplomatic intervention.
The parties have a resort to the courts for the recovery of damages if any have been unlawfully occasioned, and this remedy has no tever been invoked.
This Government is convinced that said strikers were engaged in acts of lawlessness and that any injuries inflicted were sustained by them in resisting the lawful efforts of the local authorities to keep the peace.
While the Government of the United States has been a conspicuous advocate of the principle of arbitration, where properly applicable, it is not believed that it applies in a case which, on the facts and on principles of public law, seems to this Government to be without foundation in justice. The maintenance of internal law and order is of sovereign concern to the Government of the United States; and while, [Page 40] out of consideration for the Government of His Imperial and Royal Majesty, this Government would be pleased to defer much to His Majesty’s wishes and feelings, I regret that it is unable to do so in this case by consenting to the arbitration of a claim which, in any form, is believed to be inadmissible.
Accept, etc.,