Signor Carignani to Mr. Hill.
Washington, D. C., July 30, 1901.
Mr. Acting Secretary of State: I have the honor to acknowledge the reception of and to express my thanks for the copy of the investigation made by the governor of Mississippi concerning the lynching at Erwin and courteously communicated to me with note No. 691 of the 25th instant.
As I had occasion to tell you yesterday and now permit myself again to observe, the statements made in the investigation do not afford evidence that the Mississippi authorities have brought into play all the means at their disposal for detecting the perpetrators of that cruel crime.
It grieves me to note that thus far, many days after the crime, it does not appear that there has been made, nor even instituted, a judicial inquiry, the first step to be taken immediately upon the commission of an offense of any character. Nothing in that direction has been been done by the State’s attorney or any other authority, with the exception of the first jury convened by the local sheriff and the result of which was so much unlooked for that I deemed it my duty to send you a copy of the document in my note of the 22d instant.
On the other hand, the embassy has been able to conduct an investigation of its own, and in compliance with the wish you expressed yesterday, [Page 294] I have the honor to transmit its result as an addition to that furnished with my note of the 24th.
- 1.
- The deposition of the Italians Vincenzo Giglio and Giuseppe Butera to the effect that they were denied, three times at least, the use of the telephone on the day preceding the lynching, when they wanted to tell Vincenzo Serio (one of the victims) about the organized conspiracy and the peril he was in, according to the advice they had from one Liberto, a brother of the wounded man, who had it himself from one Dr. Hanna or Hollow, is fully corroborated. The latter is said to have warned young Liberto not to go to Erwin that night, because the Italians were to be killed.
- 2.
- The name of the person with whom Vincenzo Serio had the quarrel about the horse (see my note of the 24th instant) appears to be Mr. G. B. Allen, residing at Glen Allen, manager of a large “plantation.” This man, according to many who have been interrogated on the spot, must, beyond a doubt, have been the organizer and instigator of the crime. Save that horse incident, there is no other known cause for which the lynching could have been brought about.
- 3.
- On the evening before the crime, it is asserted there was noticed an unusual stir in Erwin and some Italians who inquired what was the reason, were told that a church meeting was to be held.
These advices afford a sufficient basis for an earnest and efficient investigation. Since it was possible for the embassy and the consular officers of New Orleans and Vicksburg to secure them with the limited means at their disposal, it will have to be admitted that the Mississippi authorities have not thus far done to detect the guilty that which is demanded by the principles of humanity and justice which the Governments of Italy and of the United States have equally at heart.
The honest agitation created in the country by the fell deed, and which is confirmed even by the governor’s investigation, ought to stimulate the authorities to energetic action, if only as satisfaction to public opinion.
Besides examining the persons hereinbefore named and the employee at the railroad station of Erwin, which is quite close to the scene of the crime, it seems that there might be at hand sufficient presumption of Mr. G. B. Allen’s guilt, for whose arrest it is to be regretted that a warrant should not have been already issued. The point of capital interest is also that the witnesses be put in a position to give their testimony freely and that provisions be made for their safety. It is to be inferred from the difficulties met by our agents in their investigation that strong intimidation is brought to bear on the spot; the wounded man himself has declared that he knew little or nothing.
Be pleased, etc.,