Minister Pearson to the Secretary of State .
Teheran , February 23, 1906 .
Sir: The extension of time for the punishment of the accomplices in the Labaree murder marks a stage in the case at which it seems proper to make a résumé of the things thus far accomplished in the way of satisfaction for the crime.
[Page 1214]- 1.
- The chief murderer, Mir Ghafar, a seyyed, a lineal descendant of Mahomet, has been imprisoned for life.
- 2.
- The sum of $30,000 gold has been paid to the widow and children of the murdered man. This is by far the largest sum ever paid by the Persian Government as a money indemnity in such cases.
- 3.
- No part of this sum has been collected from the people of the district in which the murder was committed.
- This negative fact is a distinct departure from the immemorial custom of the Medes and Persians.
- 4.
- The governor of the province of Urumia, the place of the crime, has been dismissed and disgraced.
- 5.
- The mujtahed, the chief Moslem ecclesiastic, denounced by the missionaries as the instigator of the crime and the author of all their woes, has been removed.
- 6.
- The ringleaders among the accomplices were captured a year ago by stratagem, were brought to Teheran and confined there for eight months, were remanded to Urumia ostensibly for trial, and on the way back, either by carelessness or connivance, were permitted to escape.
I repeat the confident belief, already twice expressed to the department, that these savage Kurds will never be recaptured except by force.
The missionaries have refused to take any part in the trial, either by naming a representative to attend the same or to furnish evidence or to give the names of the witnesses for the prosecution. Under these circumstances, I decided not to use any part of the $200 authorized by the department to be expended for procuring State’s evidence.
Such, in brief, is the state of the case. I make sure that the department will concur with me in the belief that Evelyn Grant Duff, esq., His Britannic Majesty’s chargé d’affaires at Teheran, and A. C. Wrat-islaw, esq., His Britannic Majesty’s consul-general at Tabriz, are entitled to the thanks of our Government for the ungrudging, constant, and efficient services rendered by them to American citizens in northwest Persia.
They have spent hundreds of dollars in telegraph tolls, which they would not allow me to repay, not even for my own messages sent by courtesy though the British cipher. I have thanked both these officials, but I submit that their exceptionally efficient and intelligent services should be brought to the attention of the foreign office through our embassy in London.
I am, etc.,