Mr. Adee to Mr. Storer.
Washington , August 3, 1899 .
Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatch No. 33, of the 19th ultimo, in which you call the attention of the Department to discrepancies between the lists of Cuban prisoners confined in Spain, which was furnished by Mr. Gonzalo de Quesada and the names which have been brought to your attention directly by persons said to be Cubans imprisoned for political offenses.
Upon examination it is found that nine of the names mentioned in Mr. Quesada’s lists agree with names of the persons whose cases you report. They are as follows:
Cartagena: José R. Nicolas is without much doubt the José Nicolas Guerrero, No. 16, of Mr. Quesada’s list. José de la Rosa is the same as No. 15 of the Quesada list—José la Rosa Aquino. Enrique Dole is No. 14—Enrique Dolé Morales. José Fonticoba is doubtless an error for No. 17—José Fonticola.
At Ceuta: Carlos Garcia Sierra is No. 1 of the Quesada list; Cecilio Garcia Carmenate is probably the same as Cecilio Matias Carmenate, No. 10 of the Quesada list.
At Burgos: The names given by you are the same as Nos. 18, 19, and 20 in the Quesada list.
I have telegraphed you to-day to present these nine names to the attention of the Spanish Government, to the end that the engagements of article 6 of the treaty of peace may be duly carried out in their regard, reserving the presentation of the other cases until after further inquiry and identification.
Your remarks as to the difficulty of conducting this negotiation upon the mere authority of lists, which are discrepant and deficient in detail of the facts, are appreciated by the Department. Your [Page 699] efforts should be directed rather toward ascertainment of the facts in the individual cases, where it may be possible, and in this it is trusted that you will be assisted by the Spanish authorities. Your purpose to procure, if possible, through the minister of state, an official list of those looked upon as Cuban prisoners, even if the Spanish Government do not admit the charges on which they are held, is approved.
There remains another class of inquiries to which you advert. The applications made to you from different parts of the United States with respect to the supposed confinement of Mr. José Redondo and Mr. Nemesio Allendall, at Valencia, are the result of the operations of the notorious gang of Spanish swindlers who have for years been endeavoring to extort money from the supposed relatives of the fictitious prisoners. Frequent inquiries of a like character are made of this Department, the case of Nemesio Allendall having been recently the subject of considerable correspondence. You may safely disregard cases of this class.
The Department has been advised by the consul at Gibraltar that a number of prisoners have been released at Ceuta and have found their way to Gibraltar. Most of them claim to have been Cubans and to have been imprisoned for political offenses, and apply to the consul for relief on these grounds. The Department will endeavor to obtain from Mr. Sprague the names of all such persons who have come under his observation, and if it should prove that their cases come within the stipulation of article 6 of the treaty of peace a further instruction on the subject will be sent to you.
I am, etc.,