File No. 822.00/197.]
The Secretary of State to the American Minister.
Washington, January 30, 1912.
Sir: The Department refers to your telegram of the 13th instant reporting the probable outbreak at Guayaquil of a counter-revolution and in which you state that you had already advised the Consul General at that place and the commander of the Yorktown to receive no political refugees, and suggest that the Consul General and the Commander of the Yorktown, in view of the difficulties of communication between Quito and Guayaquil, be furnished by the Department with instructions in the above sense.
No attempt will be made to discuss the question of asylum in ships of war, which you will find fully treated in Moore’s Digest, volume 2, pages 845 et seq. It is understood that this subject is covered by the standing instructions furnished by the Navy Department to all American naval officers.
As to the question of an instruction to the Consul General at Guayaquil, the Department is of the opinion that the instructions that were issued to him at the time of the local riots against the Peruvian citizens at Guayaquil during the spring of 1910 covered the case fully and adequately, and made any further direction unnecessary.
You are correct in assuming that what is technically known as “the right of asylum” in a strict sense is not claimed by this Government. However, there is an evident distinction between this case and that where temporary refuge is given within the residence of a consular or diplomatic representative in order to preserve innocent human life. The general practice of the Department on the subject of temporary refuge is embodied in an instruction to the Consul General at Guayaquil which you will find in the files of the Legation.1
In the case of temporary refuge, the Department finds it expedient to give a certain latitude to the judgment of the official who is called upon to determine, within his discretion, the course recommended by broad considerations of humanity in each individual case. It is accordingly the general rule of the Department to place all emphasis upon the responsibility of the consular or diplomatic officer in the matter and to permit him, within these limitations, at his discretion to afford temporary refuge where such is necessary to preserve innocent human life.
I am [etc.]
- The instruction referred to is as follows: “Department of State, Washington, April 5, 1910. Consul General, Guayaquil, Ecuador: You may in your discretion afford temporary refuge where such is necessary in order to preserve innocent human life. Knox.”↩