Mr. Merry to Mr.
Hay.
Legation of the United States of America,
San José Costa Rica, November 23, 1899.
No. 347.]
Sir: I have the honor to forward herewith
(inclosure No. 1) excerpt from a dispatch just received from Consular
Agent Clancy at Bluefields, relating to the trust fund now in possession
of the British consul at San Juan del Norte, Nicaragua. I had instructed
Mr. Clancy that under no circumstances must he appear at court or
furnish any evidence in connection with the case. But he has gone beyond
instructions and has advised our citizens interested therein to refuse
doing so. Respectfully referring to my No. 343, dated November 11, it
will be noted that Mr. Sanson, late secretary of foreign affairs of
Nicaragua, writes me confidentially that Judge Roman intends to acquit
the Bluefields merchants of complicity in the Reyes revolt, thus
securing prompt repayment to them of the trust fund. The assertion of
Judge Roman to Mr. Weil clearly indicates the same idea, and it appears
to me that Mr. Weil should, under the circumstances, have accepted the
summons of the court. Even if the promise of Judge Roman made to him
were violated (which appears improbable) it would not detrimentally
affect the interests of the merchants, as they could decline to accept
[Page 813]
the adverse verdict of the
court, and the matter would still, under the agreement, be finally
referred to the two Governments for decision. I do not see that we can
justly complain if Nicaragua deems it proper to investigate the matter
through Judge Roman’s court, and in so doing cites our citizens to give
evidence in their own behalf, especially with their acquittal already
privately promised by the judge in charge of the inquiry. I am uncertain
as to the result of the refusal from Mr. Weil, but regret that an easy
way out of the difficulty may have been thwarted by the action of the
consular agent, who appears not to have recognized the difference
between his official attendance and evidence in court and that of a
private citizen in his own behalf.
With assurances, etc.,
William Lawrence Merry,
United States Minister.
[Inclosure.]
Mr. Clancy to
Mr. Merry.
United States Consular Agency,
Bluefields Nicaragua,
November 15,
1899.
Sir: On Thursday (November 9) afternoon
last the secretary and official interpreter of district, Judge
Roman, called on Mr. Samuel Weil, the resident manager and partner
of the firm of Samuel Weil & Co., and read to him the contents
of a suit brought by T. Infante, treasurer of the department of
Zelaya, against S. Weil & Co., The New Orleans and Central
American Trading Company, J. A. Peterson, Allen & Caldwell (now
Allen & Barberot), Sam. D. Spellman, and Orr & Laubenheimer,
jointly, for the recovery of the duties paid by the said parties
from February 3 to 26, inclusive, of this year, to General Reyes’s
revolutionary government, and asking that Mr. Weil accept service
for the other parties as well as to act as their attorney in the
case, at the same time informing him that unless immediate attention
was given the case he and the other defendants would be liable to
all the penalties mentioned in S. 1112, Pv. N. E., and they would
have nine days’ time to answer jointly, otherwise they must suffer
the consequences.
Mr. Weil asked time for consideration before giving a definite
answer, and at once notified me of the condition of affairs. I
advised him to pay no attention to the summons; not to appear either
in person or by attorney, and if Judge Roman insisted on his
defending the present suit to deny the jurisdiction of the court in
this case, as the question of settlement was in the hands of the
Government of the United States for adjudication.
Nothing further, to my knowledge, has been done by Judge Roman up to
the time of this writing, 3 p.m.
In private conversation on the subject between Judge Roman and Mr.
Weil, the former said that the voluntary appearance of Mr. Weil
would be certain to result in the merchants’ favor, and that by the
article of agreement between Minister Sanson and yourself the
Nicaraguan Government was not precluded from having the question
determined judicially, and he reminded Mr. Weil that more than four
months have elapsed since the agreement was entered into without any
definite action on the part of the United States Government.
I am, etc.,
M. J. Clancy, Consular Agent.