Up to the present time the real culprit has not been arrested, and the
farcical arrest of suspects has only been done by the governor with a
view of supporting the theory which he advanced, that the shooting was
merely the innocent celebration act on the part of some drunken wedding
guests.
While nothing in the nature of a revolt or insurrection exists in the
Beirut district, there is no doubt about the general condition of the
city being bad and the police surveillance very lax. Murders, assaults,
and robberies are practically a nightly occurrence, and for a long time
past it has not been considered safe to walk about at night.
The governor bears a bad reputation, and several efforts have been made
during the past year to have him removed, but without success, as he is
capable although unscrupulous, and has influential friends at the Palace
who have so far been able to prevent the demand of several of the
ambassadors from being favorably acted upon.
[Inclosure 1.]
Mr. Ravndal,
consul at Beirut, to Mr. Smith-Lyte, acting consul-general at
Constantinople.
Consulate of the United States,
Beirut, August 28, 1903.
Sir: I have the honor to report that
Vice-Consul Magelssen last Sunday evening was attacked by an unknown
person standing under a street gas light near the consulate, who
fired at the carriage in which Mr. Magelssen was riding, at such
close range that it seemed to Mr. Magelssen as if the whole carriage
were ablaze. Nobody was injured, however. Frightened, the horses
dashed forward, and before they could be controlled and the carriage
stopped the assailant had disappeared. Mr. Magelssen reported the
incident at once to the nearest police station, and the next day a
complaint was filed with the local authorities.
I beg to inclose copy of the vali’s reply, also copy of our reply
thereto.
Our telegram (in cipher) to the legation read as follows:
“Our vice-consul in carriage shot at Sunday evening near consulate by
unseen person, obviously in earnest. Reply of governor
unsatisfactory. No regrets offered. Situation in city very bad.
Murder and robbery common thing. Governor seems indifferent.”
Yesterday at 5 p.m. the following cipher reply was received from his
excellency the minister:
“Your telegram reporting the assassination of Vice-Consul Magelssen
Sunday night only this day received. Insist in the most vigorous
manner upon the governor taking proper measures to arrest murderer
and wire me full details. In meantime accept no apology that will
commit our Government in any way.
“Leishman.”
Another telegram was received at 1 a.m. to-day, reading as
follows:
“The imperial minister for foreign affairs states most emphatically
that the reported assassination of American vice-consul at Beirut
entirely false and that the security of the district is perfect.
Telegraph me immediately. Explain the exact situation.
“Leishman.”
At 5 a.m. we received the following cipher telegram from the
legation:
“Accept no excuse or apology from local authority, as the
assassination of a consular agent is too serious a matter to be
settled otherwise than through the legation. I have made proper
representation to the Porte, but in order to act intelligently it is
necessary that I be fully informed in regard to the matter.
Telegraph all details in your possession.
“Leishman.”
I was not in the office when the first telegram above referred to
arrived, being with my family at Alieh, a Lebanon mountain village,
one and one-half hours distant. Mr. Magelssen telegraphed me to come
down if possible that night. The telegram reached me at 8.30 p.m. In
the meantime the vali’s representative (the political director of
the vilayet) had appeared in my tent to offer regrets, etc., and I
was thus detained until late. Before 6 a.m. the following morning I
was on my way to Beirut, and by 9 I was able to send off my reply
(in cipher) to the minister’s telegrams as follows:
“Vice-consul not shot, but shot at. Evident attempt on his life;
bullet missed; close call. Governor last evening offered profuse
regrets, due to your action. Governor will now act earnestly and
endeavor to find and punish would-be murderer. Several consulates
have reported to their Governments unsafe condition of city. Present
outrage may bring reform.
“Ravndal.”
At 4.30 p.m. to-day I received from the legation the following
message:
“I sent you urgent telegram about 11 o’clock Thursday morning and two
others later in the day. It is now 9 o’clock, Friday morning, and I
am without any reply. Wire me the exact hour you received these
messages, so that I can take necessary steps to correct the
trouble.
“Leishman.”
To which I replied as follows:
“Your three telegrams concerning attempt on Magelssen’s life were
received here at 5 p.m. yesterday, at 1 a.m. and at 5 a.m. to-day,
respectively. Our reply, marked urgent, was sent at 9 this
morning.
“Ravndal.”
[Page 774]
In rny five and one-half years’ experience in Beirut, though there
have been times when murders and robberies and the like seemed to be
the order of the day, the city never before approached the present
standard, because foreigners are now affected as well as natives. My
Italian colleague the other night was robbed in his own bedroom. No
foreigners have been murdered so far this season, but an unusual
number of murders have recently occurred among the natives. Beirut
is unsafe, and the local government, being implicated with law
breakers (smugglers, brigands, etc.), as most people believe,
Moslems as well as Christians being compelled to obtain money
somehow to satisfy demands from above, is powerless to correct
abuses, if not indifferent. If I am correctly informed the German,
Austrian, Italian, and British consuls-general here, and most likely
other consuls, have reported on these conditions to their embassies
very recently. The attack on Mr. Magelssen has stirred the city from
center to circumference. It is considered more or less as the
climax.
Last year as Mr. Magelssen returned from his lunch to the office,
between two cactus hedges behind the consulate, he was set upon by
two natives, who evidently thought they could hold him up. Instead
of submitting to this kind of treatment, Mr. Magelssen hit one of
the aggressors in the eye and kicked the other one. We complained to
the vilayet and a dozen natives, more or less, were arrested. It is
said that one of them was imprisoned, perhaps wrongfully, for the
assault and that he was only recently released. Some people think
that he was the assailant of last Sunday evening. I improved the
opportunity last year and got a police station established near our
consulate.
We, however, do not know where to put the blame except on the local
government, which is so utterly lax as to allow almost any miscreant
to pose as the cock of the walk.
To-morrow the political director of the vilayet is expected here at
our office to look for evidence. He told me last night, after
presenting the vali’s regrets, that they had heard from the grand
vizier, and that although there was a misunderstanding regarding the
attack on Mr. Magelssen they were prepared to go to the bottom of
things. They were bound to be on friendly terms with the American
consulate, etc. The minister’s intervention has had a wholesome
effect, which is recognized by people generally in Beirut to-day. I
do not expect any results from the investigation as far as the
Magelssen case is concerned, but I believe the general effect of the
minister’s vigorous action will prove most gratifying. It may not
result in the vali’s recall, which is earnestly desired by a large
majority of the people of Beirut, but it will probably at least
frighten him into a policy of cautious circumspection.
Incidentally the political director of the vilayet practically
admitted by inference that the arrest of a miserable poor Christian
boy of 15, who never owned a pistol in his life, as the one who
fired on Mr. Magelssen’s carriage was purely perfunctory.
I am, etc.,
G. Bie Ravndal,
United States Consul.
