Consul Proffit to the Second Assistant Secretary of State.
Pretoria, Transvaal , May 16, 1904 .
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your dispatch No. 47, of the 16th of March last, in which you direct me to forward a copy of the decision by which payment of the claim of Dr. William H. McGreevy, of Scranton, Pa., was denied by the central judicial commission.
Replying thereto, I regret to inform you that I can not secure a copy of the decision, as the same was verbally delivered by the chairman of the said commission. The only written evidence of the commission’s refusal to entertain said claim which I have been able to obtain is embodied in the chairman’s letter, copy of which was transmitted with my No. 68, of January 28 last, but which is here repeated for the sake of convenience:
Apart altogether from the fact that the time for filing claims expired some ten months ago, Doctor McGreevy would not appear to have any right to compensation. He is not a resident of the Transvaal or Orange River Colony, he had no property destroyed in either of these two colonies, and suffered no loss in either of these two colonies.
Compensation will be paid only to those who suffered war losses in South Africa. If a man such as Doctor McGreevy, who is not a resident of South Africa, chooses to acquire certain paper notes, he does so at his own risk.
I have, etc.,