File No. 322.112St8/6.
My first information of the occurrence was derived from a telegram from
Consul General Goding, dated April 22, which reached me on the morning
of April 23. This telegram advised me
I immediately called on the British Chargé d’Affaires, and after
consultation with him prepared and presented to the Foreign Office my
memorandum dated April 23, 1915, duplicate copies of which memorandum
being herewith enclosed.12
As to the succeeding steps taken in the matter, I respectfully inform the
Department that all the vital history of the case up to the time of my
telegram of May 22, announcing the orders for the release of Mr. Strong,
will be found in my note No. 136 (with enclosures), presented May 22 to
the Foreign Office, duplicate copies of which being herewith
enclosed.
However, I ought to say that I am purposely omitting to report the
contents of two notes received from the Foreign Office, because they
contained nothing responsive to my request for information and were
entirely useless to me.
I probably ought also to inform the Department that I had several
personal interviews with the Minister for Foreign Affairs in relation to
the case, to which no reference is made in said note No. 136, as there
appeared no reason therefor. And I ought further to say that I believe
the Minister for Foreign Affairs acted in good faith and endeavored to
comply with my request for proper information; but the Governor of
Manabí, encouraged by the Minister of the Interior, [Page 377] who is a bitter foe of the United States,
had immediate control of the situation and prevented the information
from being furnished.
Before closing this despatch it is both just and proper that I express my
sincere appreciation of the prompt and efficient work of our Consul
General and Mr. Geo. D. Hedian, our Consular Agent at Esmeraldas,
without which no adequate presentation of the case could have been
made.
I regard the report of Mr. Hedian as having been largely instrumental in
convincing the Ecuadorian Government of the justice of Mr. Strong’s
cause.
[Inclosure.]
[Untitled]
No. 136.]
Quito, Ecuador
,
May 21, 1915
.
Mr. Minister: Respectfully inviting the
attention of your excellency again to my note No. 131, of May 12,
1915, to your excellency’s note No. 91, of same date, in reply
thereto, and to my memorandum of April 23, 1915, all relating to the
arrest and imprisonment at Manta of Mr. Strong, an American citizen,
I now have the honor to submit to your excellency the following
facts and observations:
On April 23, 1915, I presented to your excellency a memorandum,
wherein, after reciting a telegram from Mr. Goding, American Consul
General at Guayaquil, and repeating certain information received by
me from Hon. Lucien J. Jerome, British Chargé d’Affaires at Quito, I
respectfully asked your excellency’s Government for “immediate
information,* * * including the nature of the proof which the
Governor or other authority has against them (him) giving a complete
detail narrative thereof.”
In conformity with your excellency’s usual courteous and just
conduct, your excellency assured me that the authorities in Manabí
would be ordered to furnish the desired information promptly, which
would, when received, be promptly transmitted to this Legation; and
I have no doubt that such orders were given in accordance with your
excellency’s prompt and courteous assurance. But the authorities in
Manabí, responsible for the arrest and imprisonment of Mr. Strong,
have totally ignored the orders of your excellency’s Government and,
up to this date, have failed or refused to furnish the information
requested of them. I make the foregoing statement with great
confidence, for I place so much reliance in the promise of your
excellency that I am certain that if the complete detailed narrative
of the case, including “the nature of the proof which the Governor
or other authority has against him” had been furnished to your
excellency’s Government in obedience to its orders a copy thereof
would promptly have been delivered to me in compliance with your
excellency’s assurance above mentioned.
After waiting patiently for nine days for the information requested
without having received it, I reported the matter to my Government
at Washington and asked and obtained permission to have an
investigation made immediately through the American Consular
Service. And accordingly, on May 2, 1915, Mr. George D. Hedian,
American Consular Agent at Esmeraldas, was ordered to undertake the
work of investigation.
In compliance with that order, Mr. Hedian left Esmeraldas on May 4
for Manta. He completed his investigations and his report, bearing
date May 12, 1915, has been delivered to this Legation. For the
information of your excellency, I am enclosing with this note a copy
of that portion of Mr. Hedian’s report which records the history and
result of his investigation.
Accompanying his report, Mr. Hedian has transmitted to the Legation a
copy, consisting of 84 pages written in Spanish, of proceedings and
testimony taken in the case, which I am herewith submitting to your
excellency for inspection and use in connection with this note, at
this time, with the request that the same may be returned to this
Legation after its examination by your excellency, and should your
excellency so desire, a copy thereof will be hereafter [Page 378] supplied for the files of
the Foreign Office. I also have the honor to enclose for your
excellency’s information the following:
- 1.
- Extract from letter written by Mr. M. D. Strong (the
imprisoned American) to this Legation, written from Manta
under date of May 2, 1915.
- 2.
- Extract from letter from British Vice Consul at Manta to
Mr. Cornwall, dated April 19, 1915.
- 3.
- Extracts from a letter written by Mr. C. H. Aylesbury to
Mr. Jarvis, dated April 21, 1915.
- 4.
- Spanish text of a telegram prepared and signed by Mr. M.
D. Strong, and directed to this Legation, which was refused
transmission by the telegraph agent in Manta, and which
reached this Legation May 8, by mail.
- 5.
- Telegram from British Consul Wilson to Honorable L. J.
Jerome, British Chargé d’Affaires, dated April 22,
1915.
A careful examination of the report of Mr. Hedian, and of the copy of
proceedings and testimony taken in the case, and herewith presented
for examination, and of the other papers and extracts enclosed, when
taken in connection with the deliberate failure of the prosecuting
officers in Manabí to obey the orders of your excellency’s
Government and furnish the desired information as requested,
inevitably leads to the following conclusions:
- 1.
- That the arrest and imprisonment of Mr. Strong was
inspired solely and only by the malice and prejudice held
against him by the Governor of Manabí.
- 2.
- That the officials in Manabí, to whom orders were given by
your excellency’s Government to furnish promptly the
information above mentioned, have ignored and disregarded
said orders in contempt of the dignity and authority of your
excellency’s Government, and in derogation and denial of the
rights of a friendly government and country.
- 3.
- That there is no testimony in the record presented which
even remotely connects Mr. Strong with the commission of or
participation in the crime charged, or any other
offense.
- 4.
- That more than thirty days have elapsed since his arrest,
and, so far as this Legation has any information, no formal
charge has been filed against him, and no final decision
rendered by the 3rd Judge of Letters of Manabí, who is
conducting the investigation.
- 5.
- That the refusal to admit Mr. Strong to bail is an
additional proof that the malice of the Governor against him
is the sole and only motive for his arrest and
imprisonment.
- 6.
- That, by reason of such animosity and malice on the part
of the Governor toward Mr. Strong, and of the great
influence of said Governor over and upon the courts and
juries of the country, it is impossible for Mr. Strong to
obtain justice in said courts.
Even the Judge of the Court, conducting the inquiry, has failed to
decree that he finds grave presumption of the
guilt of Mr. Strong, which the law of Ecuador requires before the
accused can lawfully be imprisoned.
So far as the record herewith presented shows, there is not a word of
testimony connecting Mr. Strong with the crime, or any crime,
directly or indirectly, and no court in the world, where actual
justice is administered, would hesitate a moment to discharge him on
the showing made. In short, his detention, in the absence of any
testimony against him, is a travesty on justice and a reflection on
the good name and fame of the Government of Ecuador, brought about
by the local officers in Manabí.
While it is true that telegraphic communication with Manta has been
interrupted, yet, had the prosecuting authorities been so disposed,
the report requested could have easily been furnished by them, and
sent by mail by this time; because Mr. Hedian left Esmeraldas on May
4, proceeded to Manta, completed his report on May 12, and mailed it
to this Legation. So there is no justification for the delay on the
part of the authorities in Manabí.
In view of the foregoing conclusions and arguments, which appear to
me to be incontrovertible from the history of the case as presented,
and which will, I have no doubt, appeal to your excellency’s high
sense of justice, it becomes my duty to respectfully express the
earnest hope of my Government that your excellency’s Government will
find it compatible with its high conception of justice and public
duty to promptly issue orders to the proper authorities in Manabí
for the immediate release and final discharge of Mr. Strong. I need
not assure your excellency of what you are already well aware, that
if I believed Mr. Strong guilty of any crime or complicity in crime
against your excellency’s Government, I would decline to intercede
in his behalf; for I regard [Page 379] it to be the duty of every foreign resident of Ecuador to obey
the laws and respect the dignity and authority of your excellency’s
Government.
It is my further duty and pleasure to assure your excellency that the
granting of this request, so manifestly just and proper, will be
appreciated by my Government as additional proof of the friendliness
of your excellency’s Government toward the Government and people of
the United States.
I avail myself [etc.]