Minister Collier to the Secretary of State.
San Sebastian , July 28, 1905 .
Sir: The typewriting of dispatch No. 25 was just finished when I received two more letters from victims of the fraud, one living in New Hampshire, another in Minnesota. The New Hampshire letter was from a pastor of a church who wrote that one of his parishioners had sent to the swindlers over $500 and with difficulty was dissuaded from sending $1,500 more. * * *
Will the Department kindly instruct me as to the extent to which it desires me to urge Spanish officials to prosecute the swindlers, the extent to which it advises that I participate in the prosecution, or aid Americans (who may have been lured here) to act as informants or complainants, and particularly whether the Department of State or the Department of Justice can make any allowance to cover expenses incident to this work. A few hundred dollars might greatly aid in obtaining evidence, which could be laid before the Spanish authorities, which they might use, but which they will not seek to obtain. * * *
I have, etc.,