The Secretary of State to the Minister in Panama ( Price)
Sir: Referring to your despatch No. 1990 of June 19, 1918, and to other previous correspondence regarding the Panama City riot of February 14, 1915, in which a number of American soldiers and civilians were wounded, you are instructed to present a claim against the Panaman Government for the lump sum of ten thousand dollars which this Government is willing to accept in full satisfaction of claims which have been filed with the Department as a result of that riot.
It seems unnecessary, in view of the correspondence which has passed between your Legation and the Panaman Foreign Office with reference to this matter, to furnish to that office at this time more than the following brief narrative of what appear to be the principal facts of the case:
[Page 857]The origin and the details of the disturbance are variously stated by numerous witnesses, so that it seems impossible to determine with accuracy exactly how the trouble arose. However, it appears that on the evening of February 13 a large number of American soldiers, who were at the time unarmed, had congregated in the Cocoa Grove or “red-light district” of the City of Panama, and that at a late hour of that evening or early the next morning a trifling argument or dispute between several of the soldiers and Panaman civilians was made the occasion for interference by the police. Panaman civilians and policemen then started an attack on the soldiers, during which the police became unduly excited and opened fire on the soldiers who, in order to protect themselves, took possession of a nearby shooting gallery, seized three Flobert rifles and returned the fire, which seems to have constituted all the firing done by the soldiers. Directly thereafter, Lieutenant Edgerly, who happened to be near the scene, took the rifles from the soldiers. He then attempted to assist in quieting the disturbance by means of a patrol which he formed into a cordon across the street in order to hold the soldiers in check. A similar cordon was formed by the police in front of the gathering mob of Panamans, but this line was soon dissolved, whereupon the mob advanced throwing sticks and firing revolvers and rifles at the soldiers.
It is stated by many witnesses that the police played no small part in this attack. The soldiers, on the other hand, were reduced to order and retreated, finally reaching Canal Zone territory, all the time being pursued and fired upon by the mob. Some of the witnesses at the proceeding of the court-martial gave their opinion that between two and three hundred shots were fired during a period of three-quarters of an hour. The police were armed with high-powered and bayoneted rifles, and the character of the injuries received by the soldiers apparently leaves little doubt but that these rifles were put to frequent use.
Following the retreat of the main body of troops to the Canal Zone, the police broke down the doors of the Panama Athletic Club where several American soldiers and civilians were located. Persons within were then mistreated by the police and driven out of the club into the hands of the mob.
Private Stettler, who had been injured in the first encounter and had taken refuge in the Panama Athletic, was there, while in a very serious condition, abused by the police and put in jail without being allowed medical attention. He was not released till late the next morning because of his refusal to absolve the police from all blame. Among the people who were driven from the Panama Club were several American civilians who were engaged in work either in the Canal Zone or on the Panama Railway.
The riot seems to have spread from its place of origin to various parts of the city, and wherever soldiers or even American civilians were found they were mistreated by the police and the mob. In fact, soldiers who were entirely unconcerned with the first quarrel and were at some distance from the scene were dragged from carriages, in which they were riding, and beaten by Panaman policemen and civilians. Many soldiers who were arrested were maltreated by the police even after they had been placed in jail.
[Page 858]The result of the whole disturbance appears to have been that about thirty or more American soldiers and several American civilians, besides about thirteen Panaman policemen and civilians, were injured, and a Nicaraguan was killed. While it is not denied that the soldiers were not entirely blameless with respect to the origin of the disturbance, yet it seems that the first shooting was done by the police, and that the only shots that were fired by American soldiers were at the shooting gallery, when they were forced to protect themselves. Moreover, it is admitted by all parties that few shots were fired at that time. The evidence tends to show that there was no intent on the part of the soldiers to start any trouble when they entered the Cocoa Grove district, a conclusion which is corroborated by the fact that the American soldiers were unarmed. The Panaman police, on the other hand, seem to have become greatly excited and, far from carrying out their duty of protecting the soldiers, directly assisted the mob in every possible way. Instead of trying to restore order, they seem to have been most actively concerned in promoting disorder.
Briefly, it is maintained by the Government of the United States that resort to firearms by the Panaman police and the fact that these policemen, instead of performing their duty to protect American citizens from the mob, actively joined that mob in its vicious assault upon such American citizens, affords good ground for claiming indemnity from the Government of Panama.
Moreover, there is another phase of the case which this Government feels called upon to emphasize. Notwithstanding the urgent request that those responsible for these outrages against American soldiers and civilians be speedily brought to justice, only one person, Rodolfo Acuna, was brought to trial on a definite charge, being accused of wounding a Panaman woman who died a month later of lockjaw. After the trial had dragged along for many months, Acuna died of tuberculosis and all legal proceedings concerning the riot seem to have been abandoned.
The attitude of the Panaman authorities unfortunately seems to have been one which would tend to encourage further outrages of this kind. The courts apparently seized the slightest excuse to throw the entire blame on the American soldiers, and even went so far as to say that the Panaman police shot in the air with the idea of frightening the soldiers, when it seems clear from the evidence that many American soldiers sustained injuries caused by guns with which the Panaman police were armed. Nor was any concerted action taken toward discovering the offenders, and proceedings seem to have been conducted without a real desire to establish the facts of the case and place responsibility where it belonged. It is not unlikely that if a rigorous investigation had been instituted, the persons responsible could have been ascertained, and apprehension and conviction of the guilty parties would have been possible.
Therefore, this Government is reluctantly compelled to believe that there was on the part of the responsible officials of Panama great lack of appreciation of the respect and good will of a sincerely friendly foreign state and of the rights of its citizens. Moreover, this Government calls attention to the fact that this is not the only time that such lack of appreciation has been manifested, and refers in this connection particularly to the disturbances at Colon on April 5, 1915, [Page 859] when, without fault on their part, one American soldier was killed, and several others wounded, and yet no punishment was meted out by the Panaman authorities to the guilty persons.
In view of the foregoing, this Government must state that, of course, it cannot consent to its citizens being maltreated and injured in a foreign country under circumstances such as have been narrated without demanding that the Government, some of whose agents have participated in the offense, while others have permitted the guilty persons to escape punishment, grant due reparation to the injured American citizens.
The claim is herewith presented as a single case because of the number and character of the persons involved and is made in behalf of all persons who were injured while under American protection, and who have made claims on account of such injuries. The Government will, of course, make such disposition of the funds as is equitable in view of all the circumstances.
The list of the claimants includes Morris Berkowitz, Nathan H. Kelly, Erich Jeschke, Joseph Steinbrenner, Walter Organ, Morris Stettler, Lowndes O. Webb, Oliver G. Reber, Charles Jagatich, Henry Foster, Joseph A. Donnelly, Everett E. Bowden, George Simon, Frank Mosouskie, Augustine A. Kane, Webster T. Brandon, Joseph Balun, and Henry G. Baldwin, and the evidence submitted in support of the claims leads to the conclusion that all of these persons received injuries of considerable severity.
You will bring this matter to the attention of the Foreign Office in the sense of the foregoing and say that, in the view of this Government, the indemnity specified is very modest, and, that, due to the fact that it is the desire of this Government to be as lenient with the Panaman Government as a proper regard for national dignity and the rights of its citizens will permit, the amount has been calculated at a much lower rate than would be justified by the claims which have been filed in the matter and which this Government has no reason to believe to be excessive. You will explain to the Panaman Government, however, that in making this concession this Government confidently expects that the Panaman Government will avail itself of an early opportunity to make a settlement and will take all possible steps in avoiding another altercation of a similar nature.
I am [etc.]