439.41 St 3/9

The British Ambassador (Geddes) to the Secretary of State

No. 939

Sir: I have the honour, on instructions from my Government, to draw your attention to the damages sustained by two British subjects, Messrs. Steel and McPhail, at the hands of Dominican bandits, and I transmit herewith copies of their signed statements concerning the incident, together with a copy of a certificate respecting the injuries suffered by Mr. McPhail.68

It appears that on September 27th, 1921, a party of armed men visited Mr. Steel’s house and abducted him after severely handling Mr. McPhail who had come to his assistance. The reason given for the abduction was that Mr. Steel had failed to comply with the written request of “General Ramon Nateras” to give him $5,000 by September 26th.

You will observe that Mr. Steel was obliged to make certain promises in consequence of which it is quite impossible for him to remain in the Republic without endangering his life. This enforced exile is a very severe hardship to Mr. Steel who has spent most of his life in Santo Domingo and other countries in South America, and more particularly as he had expected to remain in his position as Administrator of the Angelina Estate for another eight or ten years.

I should be grateful if you would bring the cases of Messrs. Steel and McPhail to the attention of the competent authorities of the United States Government, and if you would be good enough to inform me whether there is any court or other governmental machinery [Page 96] before which the injured parties could bring their claims for compensation.

I have [etc.]

A. C. Geddes
  1. Not printed.