I have no doubt that your excellency with due appreciation of the full
import of the facts related by our vice-consul in Pensacola, as well as
of the justice of Captain Bustinza’s protest, will see fit to draw the
attention of the Federal Government thereto in order that they may be
ascertained and such remedy afforded as provided by the law of this
Republic if the outrage and search are verified.
[Inclosure.—Translation.]
Señor Perignat
to Senor Ojeda.
On the 10th instant I received from the honorary vice-consul of Spain
in Pensacola a dispatch dated the 7th of this month and reading as
follows:
“I am in receipt this day of a note from Don V. Bustinza, captain of
the Spanish steamship Leonora, anchored in
this port, who tells me that on this day and while he was in his
consignee’s house looking after his cargo two police officers went
on board his vessel without first obtaining the permit or authority
of the consulate and took away two men of his crew, Jose Carnios and
Leonardo Rio, without stating for what reason. Under date of this
day I am writing to the honorable mayor of this city and protesting
on account of such proceeding against whom it may concern for such
purposes as may be expedient. All of which I make known to your
excellency for your information and such instructions as you may be
pleased to give me.”
With reference to the same matter I have just received another
dispatch from the said agent, dated in Pensacola the 14th instant,
in which he says:
“I confirm my dispatch No. 16, and regret to have to report further
outrages by the municipal police of this city on the captain and an
officer of the same steamship Leonora, and
deem it my duty to report to your excellency for your information.
In the above-mentioned dispatch I told your excellency that the
police officers on [Page 962] that
day went on board the steamship Leonora
without a consular permit or previous notice, and took from the ship
two men of the crew whose names I gave. On the following day, the
8th instant, a police officer informed me that, in company with one
of his colleagues, and by order of the chief, he had gone on board
the Leonora to arrest the third officer, Don
Manuel Arana, and that, as the captain would not let them take the
officer with them, they also offered to arrest the captain, Don V.
Bustinza. To which I replied that they should not go on board any
Spanish vessel without first securing a permit from the consul. They
answered that they did not need such a permit, but that they
announced to me that they were going on board to arrest the said
officer and the captain too. On being asked what was the reason for
the arrest, they replied that the officer and other men of the crew
had been selling liquor on the preceding Sunday, without a license
and in violation of the municipal law. I replied that I did not
believe the officer had done any such thing, and as to the captain,
he was within his right in not recognizing any authority on board
his vessel other than that of the consulate. I gave assurances that
both the captain and officer would appear in court without having to
be arrested, and to that end I gave the said police officer a note
for Don V. Bustinza, captain of the said steamer Leonora, in which I asked him to appear with his third
officer in the municipal court the same day at half past 8 in the
morning; my next step was to go in quest of a lawyer for the defense
of the presumed guilty, but I first begged the policeman not to take
any of the officers prisoner, assuring him that it would be
sufficient to hand my note to the captain. As I was about to repair
to the municipal court I received a note from Señor Bustinza,
captain of the Leonora, advising me that he
and the third officer had been lodged in jail and locked in an iron
cell. Without loss of time, I sought the services of another lawyer
for the defense of the captain, and appeared with him in court,
where I talked to the said captain, his third officer, and the
above-named two men of his crew. Other cases were tried, and when
their turn came I asked that the captain’s case be first taken up,
which was granted, and the said captain was then released, it being
found that he was arrested without cause, for he had offered no
resistance whatever, merely objecting to anyone being taken away
from his ship without authority from the consulate. When the case of
the liquor venders came up, it was said that there were not enough
witnesses and it was proposed to postpone the case until the next
day; the mayor assented to this and put the case off until 12
o’clock of the said day, committing the two seamen and allowing the
third officer to go on his promise that he would return at the
appointed time. Then the captain told me that he and his officer
were on their way to the court, when they came across the policeman
who handed them my note; that they all came together to the court,
where he was handed a document for his signature; this he refused to
do, because he was not conversant with the English language and did
not know what he was asked to subscribe. They then took from them
their watches and the contents of their purses and locked them up,
his officer and himself, in the iron cell. It was then that he sent
me word, and they were thereupon brought into the court room, where
I spoke with them when I came with the other lawyer. At 12 o’clock
of the same day we returned to the court-house with a lawyer, and
while awaiting the arrival of the judge there came two policemen
with two other men of the crew, again without a permit from or
notice to the consulate. On trial of the case, the last two men who
had been brought before the court were found guilty of liquor
selling, the first two who had been arrested and the third officer
being there and then released. The judge fined the said last two men
in the sum of $100 each, and, as they had not earned it and the
captain did not see fit to advance so excessive a fine, he left them
in jail and the vessel sailed the next day, the ninth, for its
destination, the two guilty men remaining here in prison. The
captain protests against the outrage committed on his vessel and on
his person, for he has suffered unwarranted injury, and is justified
in protesting against the proceeding and in claiming damages,
injuries, and costs from whomsoever liable and responsible. All of
which I report to you for such action as may be expedient.”
Perignat.
Consulate of Spain in New York
,
October 20, 1902
.
