Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 3, 1900
Mr. Hunter to Mr. Hay.
Guatemala and Honduras,
Guatemala, July 27, 1900.
Sir: Referring to No. 398 of June 30, 1900, relative to the Pears case, I now have the honor to inform you that I have received a note from the minister of foreign affairs of Honduras dated the 2d instant, in which was inclosed a certified copy of the promised report of the commission of jurists appointed by the Government of that Republic to investigate and report its views on the merits of said case, copies of which are hereto attached.
It will be seen by the above that the Government of Honduras adheres to its former position in refusing to punish the sentry, Cruz Rosales, and pay the indemnity demanded of $10,000 gold.
In this attitude the Government seems to be supported by the report of the above-mentioned commission, strengthened by a letter of the claimants, dated October 24, 1899, addressed to yourself, a copy of which is attached, which the Government claims is a bar to further proceedings.
I have acknowledged the receipt of the minister’s note with incisures in a dispatch dated July 24, 1900, a copy of which is hereto attached.
Awaiting the Department’s further instructions, I have, etc.,
Mr. Bonilla to Mr. Hunter.
Tegucigalpa, July 2, 1900.
Mr. Minister: I have the honor to refer myself to the communication of your excellency, dated 9th of April last, in which you insist in the name of your Government on the payment of an indemnity amounting to $10,000 gold for the violent death of the American citizen, Frank S. Pears, which occurred in San Pedro Sula on the 31st of January, 1899, and on the punishment of the sentry, Cruz Rosales; upon which motives your excellency addressed his note of the 25th of April of last year.
It pleased your excellency to accompany this communication with an authorized copy of the instructions which, bearing the number 236 and the date 20th of March, 1900, he received from the Secretary of State of the Government of the United States of America.
As I indicated to your excellency in my last note of June 5, ultimo, the Government of Honduras desired to treat that question with the greatest caution and prudence; in view of which it had appointed a commission of jurisconsults, that they might study scrupulously the antecedents of the claim and come to a decision which, in their judgment, would be in accordance with equity and propriety; taking into account the desire of the Government of Honduras which has had, and has, to maintain with that of the United States the truest relations of friendship. That decision was rendered on the 29th of May last, and I am pleased to send to your excellency an authorized copy of the same.
My Government obeying said decision, I have the honor to answer the abovementioned communication of your excellency of the 9th of April, ultimo, and to [Page 693] confirm the arguments offered in my note of July 5, 1900; and therefore I have to demonstrate:
- First. That Cruz Rosales, the sentry, having been absolved by the tribunals of the Republic, it would be contrary to the political constitution of the country, and to the secondary laws now in force, to reopen the corresponding proceedings in order that he might be punished; and I have here the opportunity to state the significant fact that in the new instructions given to your excellency on March 20 last no insistence is made for the punishment of the sentry Rosales, snowing thereby that the American Government, which is noted for its respect to the Constitution of the Republic, could not but recognize the moral and legal impossibility of a republican country like Honduras invalidating, on no motive, the final decree of the tribunals of justice that possess a sphere of action of their own and are completely independent of the executive department.
- Second. Also the pecuniary indemnity claimed for the Pears family is viewed as inadmissible, for the reasons presented in my last note, which I confirm, and those which appear in the decision of the legal commission heretofore cited, and which I accept and reproduce as my own.
The family of Mr. Pears, which is conducting an important business in the country, and which has been endowed with valuable concessions; moreover which was the party to benefit from the aforesaid indemnity, renounce their rights and have so notified the Department of State of the American Government, as may be seen in the instrument which I inclose. Hence the ground on which the claim is based is void.
I ought finally to suggest to your excellency that if, notwithstanding the above statements and after having reexamined the merits of the case, the American Government should insist on the payment of the indemnity, though I do not entertain such belief, from its wisdom, as this Government earnestly desires the maintenance of the harmony happily existing between the two countries, it is ready to take part in a friendly settlement, which would remove the difficulty, and that through whatever means which might impair neither the honor nor the dignity of the State, and which could not establish any precedent in cases that may unfortunately occur in the future, and afford an opportunity to claims not resting on lawful rights.
I apprehend that your excellency, with justice to the conciliatory purposes of my Government, will efficiently cooperate in the direction indicated, so that this unpleasant affair may come to a satisfactory conclusion; and, at the same time, will opportunely favor me with the communication of the new instructions that might be issued by your Government.
Reiterating, etc.,
Report of the Honduranean commission.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Tegucigalpa.
Mr. President: The commission, to whose study you confided the claim of the Government of the United States against that of Honduras, on account of the death of the American citizen, Frank S. Pears, which happened in San Pedro Sula on the 2d day of February of last year, as the result of the firing of the rifle by the soldier Cruz Rosales, on the night of the 31st of January of the same year, has minutely considered the pretensions of the American Government, transmitted to its minister resident in Guatemala, the answer of the minister of foreign affairs under date June 5, 1899, the report made to the Government by the minister of justice in discharge of the commission conferred upon him for the investigation of that deed, and the proceedings followed by the courts of the country for the attainment of all the ends of the law. In view of such documents and through the considerations suggested by them, the commission has tried to form an impartial opinion as regards both points of said claim, viz: First, Soldier Cruz Rosales’s punishment for his having caused the death of the citizen Frank S. Pears by the rifle shot above mentioned, which took place on the night of the 31st of January of last year; second, the payment of $10,000 gold as damages for said Mr. Pears’s heirs. The commission has taken into account, first of all, the circumstances that the Government of the Republic, [Page 694] on receiving the news of the death of said gentleman, which happened in the manner above said, in San Pedro Sula, decided that the minister of justice should go to that city and obtain the investigation of the deed by all the legal proceedings, a duty which was fulfilled by that high functionary, as is seen by the lengthy report which he made to the Government, describing all the events which took place during the discharge of his commission.
The judge of the civil court of San Pedro, in fulfillment of his duty, started the trial against Soldier Rosales on the same night of the events and established it by all the legal proceedings, ending with the verdict by which the prisoner was acquitted of the charge for which he had been tried. These preliminaries established, and in obedience to several of the provisions of our political constitution, the commission appreciate as true and incontestable the conclusions which it herein sets forth. Whichever the proofs may be presented in the trial against the accused; whichever may be the legal value ascribed to them, decided, as it is, by the courts of the Republic, that the soldier Cruz Rosales never incurred any criminal responsibility on account of the firing of the rifle shot that caused the death of Mr. Pears, it behooves the Government to appreciate such a decision as conclusive and decisive in respect of the irresponsibility thereby declared of Soldier Rosales. And this being so, it is evident that the demand of the United States Government for the punishment of said soldier, already acquitted by the courts, is utterly inadmissible. As to the second point of the claim—that is, the monetary indemnity—the undersigned are likewise of opinion that such a pretension is unacceptable. Forsooth, the nations become responsible to one another by the governments that represent them, by their functionaries or agents, and even by private persons on certain occasions. Such are the principles which rule in the matter. But the case which originates the indemnity asked for by the American Government evidently is not comprised in any of those which we have just mentioned. The Government of Honduras, as has been already said, initiated at the proper time the investigation of the deed which has caused the dispute. The courts of the Republic undertook the trial of the suspected criminal, having based themselves upon the verdict of the jury of inquiry, which, according to our law, means a legal truth. They declared him innocent of the charge made to him. Then the legal foundation is lacking to support the indemnity asked or the deed to establish the responsibility of this country. In support of its assertions the commission can not but invoke the answer of the minister of foreign affairs in relation to the same point, in which document the question has been extensively debated, developing arguments which justify in every way the irresponsibility of Honduras for the fact of the death of Mr. Frank S. Pears.
However, as the Government of the United States seems to formally insist in the demand of indemnity, from which it may be inferred that the data contained in the trial have not been appreciated by it in the same light as our courts have done, the commission think that for the sake of the friendship which must exist between both countries it is proper to reach an arrangement capable of removing the difficulty, even devising some means which by rigor of law would not be admissible. The commission, on the other hand, can not but admit, as the Government has also done, the good will of the United States toward Honduras, of which this Republic has received marked proofs on several occasions, and this is one more reason for endeavoring to reach an amicable settlement with the American Government which may put an end to the controversy. In the opinion of the commission it may be solicited from said Government that the sum claimed be reduced, and on accepting this idea the President might fix the sum which could be paid, and the commission itself hope that such a petition would be crowned with the success wished for; so much more so, when in the hands of the President is a letter addressed by four of the relations of Mr. Pears, brothers of his, to the Secretary of State of the American Government in which they decline to accept the share which they might get in the sum claimed. This renouncement of so personal a right must undoubtedly produce its legal effect in the straightforward and learned judgment of the United States Government. The above-mentioned letter was placed in the hands of the President for it to reach its destination. And this is the opportunity to point out, from the data which the commission has had before it, that when the deed happened which originated the claim the alarm and intranquillity produced in the country from several causes had not completely disappeared, it not being strange that on such occasions such unfortunate contingencies should happen as the death of Mr. Pears, engendered by the abnormal conditions prevailing rather than by a deliberate intention of outraging. We will not refrain before closing this document from pointing out the following: The brothers of Mr. Frank S. Pears were in San Pedro when the said event happened. It was their duty for themselves or through an attorney to act as plaintiffs against [Page 695] Sentry Cruz Rosales. By supporting in this form their charge they might have produced all the proofs within their reach for the investigation of the facts. If, in spite of their acting in this way, the courts had disregarded their action or denied the recourses accorded by our laws, then, indeed, for denial of justice they would be entitled to apply for redress by diplomatic intervention. In conclusion, this commission beg to express to you, Mr. President, its hope that the affair it has taken into consideration may attain a satisfactory issue.
- C. Gomez.
- Rafael Alvarado.
- Jeronimo Zelaya.
Tegucigalpa, May 29, 1900.
True copy:
[l. s.] Ricardo Pineda,
Subsecretary.
Ben. B. Pears et al. to Mr. Hay.
Dear Sir: In the matter of the demand made by you, in connection with the death of our brother Frank, upon the Government of Honduras, we would respectfully request that you suspend action. We make this request especially in view of the friendly disposition manifested by President Sierra to us personally and to our business interests here. Should M. A. Bonilla cease to be connected officially with the Department of Cortes, and so long as such is the case, we beg that the matter be allowed to rest.
We have large and constantly expanding business interests here and we desire to live on terms of friendliness with the Government. The present chief executive shows a disposition to deal with us fairly and justly, and in appreciation of this fact we urgently make this request.
If this petition be faulty for any cause, we ask that you so indicate and we will make necessary amendment.
We remain, etc.,
By
By
Mr. Hunter to Mr. Bonilla.
Guatemala and Honduras,
Guatemala, July 24, 1900.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your excellency’s dispatch of the 2d instant, in answer to mine of April 9, in which your excellency adheres to the original attitude of the Government of Honduras in the case of the murder of Frank S. Pears, and which attitude seems to be now supported by the report of the commission of jurists named by the Government of your excellency to investigate the matter. The said report, together with a letter addressed to the Hon. John Hay by the Pears family, being found duly inclosed in your excellency’s dispatch.
I observe in your excellency’s note that you propose a friendly settlement, and I should be pleased to be informed what methods your excellency would have to suggest as a means to effect the same.
I seize this opportunity, etc.,