File No. 419.11 D 29/23.
The Acting Secretary of State to the American Minister .
Washington , September 24, 1912 .
You will address the Foreign Office substantially as follows:
The Department of State has carefully examined a great mass of evidence relating to the occurrences at Cocoa Grove on July 4, 1912, wherein two American citizens were killed and many others wounded by Panaman police. This examination has inevitably led to the conclusion that the deplorable results of those occurrences are chargeable to the brutal and criminal conduct of the policemen; that no effort was made by the superior police officers to prevent such conduct by their subordinates; that there is, rather, much reason to believe that the latter were encouraged to their conduct by their superiors; that, further, there is considerable evidence tending to show this attack upon unarmed American citizens to have been premeditated and more or less openly discussed in Panama as probable for some days before it happened.
You will then say that it furthermore appears that after the attack the policemen involved were transferred to other points, their police numbers changed and the officer in Chargé of the police station at Cocoa Grove was allowed to leave the country—all in order to make it difficult to identify the guilty persons.
In view of such evidence, facts and circumstances, and the unfortunate frequent recurrence of such incidents, the Government of the United States must insist (first) that immediate and adequate punishment be inflicted upon those criminally liable therein; (second) that an indemnity be paid for the killing and wounding of the American citizens involved, the amount of the indemnity to be fixed after the Panaman authorities shall have had opportunity to punish the guilty; (third) that the Government of Panama formally express its regret for this deplorable affair, unless the character of the affair be materially changed by facts hereafter discovered.
You will acid, in a way to leave no possible room for misunderstanding, that an immediate response accepting these bases of adjustment is expected by this Government.