File No. 1558/1.
The Persian Minister to the Secretary of State.
Washington, October 17, 1906.
Mr. Minister: I have the honor to inform your excellency that I have just received a detailed letter from His Highness Prince Mirza Mohamed Ali Khan, minister of foreign affairs, concerning the case of the murder of Mr. Lebri (Labaree), an American missionary.
Your excellency already knows that the murderer of Mr. Lebri has been sentenced and imprisoned and that an indemnity has also been paid and that only a secondary question, that of the supposed guilt of several alleged accessories, remained pending.
The readiness evinced by the Imperial Government, the energy displayed by the authorities for the capture of the said persons who are related to the chiefs of border tribes have since then brought contrary results; for, when armed force was used against them, they fomented disturbances along the whole of the Perso-Turkish boundary line, and succeeded by intrigue in creating a controversy between Persia and Turkey, so that in this unfortunate and regrettable affair the Imperial Government has had to meet not only internal disturbances, but also difficulties raised by Turkey.
The governor of Ourmiah (Oroomia) recently sent a telegram to his highness the prince, imperial viceroy of the province, which, translated, reads as follows: “As long as participation in the murder of Mr. Lebri shall hover about the alleged accomplices who are on Turkish or disputed territory, the prevailing disturbances that have already been the cause of great loss of life and property can not possibly come to an end, unless the Imperial Government should approach the Government of the United States with a view of commuting their punishment into a fine commensurate with their means.
The minister of foreign affairs, while communicating the text of the foregoing telegram to His Excellency Mr. Pierson (Pearson), minister of the United States at Teheran, who is well acquainted with all the difficulties arising out of this matter, has also just instructed me to bring the above-stated facts to your excellency’s knowledge and to beg that you will be so good as to accede to the peaceful solution of a fine which is, in truth, a much more severe punishment for those who are truly or fictitiously accused in the case.
Hoping for a favorable answer, I embrace this opportunity, etc.