the refugees themselves should offer to surrender to the authorities on the same condition, and it should be accepted, I shall dismiss them. I thank you very sincerely for your statement to Mr. Preston in response to his official request for the setting at large of the refugees under the flag of this legation, to the effect that it was not deemed expedient to comply with his request. I thank you also for the considerate manner in which you have been pleased to dispose of the case, and I hardly need say that I shall of course be guided by your instructions relative thereto. There is a wide spread popular feeling existing here on the subject of these refugees, and particularly in regard to the case of General Boisrond Canal. The refugee under the flag of my British colleague is, I learn, to be tried par contumace, with some sort of verbal understanding that he will very likely be condemned to capital punishment, and then will have his sentence commuted to perpetual banishment. But the case of this person and that of Canal jeune, at my house, are not the ones that make the question so difficult of solution. The only difficulty is that which centers in the case of Boisrond Canal. The persons with me would not be willing to surrender to the authorities under any assurances from this government, as they have no confidence in its good faith. The government has not yet shown a disposition which would warrant me in surrendering the refugees upon the terms of the other feature of your instruction. The result is that this person is still at my house, and that my premises are still surrounded by hundreds of armed men, whose presence subjects me and my household to every inconvenience and anxiety, and I think to some danger also. I shall not infringe upon or deviate from the terms or spirit of your instructions. I have, since the date of my last dispatch to you, some further communication and conference relative to the question; but hav. ing still hope that I may at last succeed by my personal good offices in securing the safe embarkation of the refugees according to the terms of your dispatch, in a satisfactory manner, I venture to delay, until the next opportunity of communicating with New York, the sending forward of a full record of my proceeding in this regard. I regret that my health will not allow me to prepare for this mail the statement of the political situation which is promised in my No. 372, of the 8th instant. I am, &c., EBENEZER D. BASSETT. No. 378.] No. 318. Mr. Bassett to Mr. Fish. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Port au Prince, June 26, 1875. (Received July 6.) SIR Since I wrote my dispatch No. 374 of day before yesterday's date, I have caused to be well sounded the Haytien authorities as to their disposition in the case of General Boisrond Canal in the light of your instructions, and the result is that I have become almost satisfied that the men who control the President and the policy of this government * are in no way disposed to yield anything of their determination to lay violent hands upon that person, and that my efforts of good-will in the matter seem to me to be almost, if not quite, now brought to an end by their unfortunate disposition and conduct. The armed men around my premises place me and my household, according to the best judgment of discreet men here, in personal danger, and render my house here one of constant insecurity, annoyance, and anxiety. This state of affairs seems at times alike almost incredible and, as you may readily conceive, unendurable. It is new even in this country. It has been stated to me that special orders are given to the soldiers around my house to keep up a noisy cry every night, from early evening until the next morning, for the express purpose of annoying me and my household, with the idea of worrying me out, and thus obtaining, by such means, the end had in view as to Boisrond Canal. I am aware how much better it would have been not to have felt authorized or obliged, under whatever circumstances, to incur, in the first instance, any responsibility in the case, and no one can regret more than I do that peculiar circumstances at the moment appeared to leave me no choice as to that first step in this unfortunate affair. But we now find ourselves in the full face of a stern actuality, which, it seems to me, ought to be met, in some way alike honorable and consistent with the dignity of our flag. In this view I respectfully renew to you the recommendation made in my No. 366, of the 21st ultimo, for the friendly presence of a national vessel in these waters. SIR: I transmit a copy of a note of the 25th ultimo, addressed to this Department by Mr. Preston, the minister of Hayti accredited to this Government. It relates to the asylum which you thought proper to grant to political refugees in that country, and represents that you had not complied with a request which had been made of you by the government to furnish it with a list of them. It also says that some of them were received at your legation with arms and ammunition. As your dispatches have been silent upon these points, an explanation in regard to them will be desirable. It is presumed that the decisive course which you have thought proper to adopt in regard to the refugees adverted to has been taken in full view of your accountability, not only to your own Government, but to that to which you are accredited. Whatever may be our disposition to receive reasons to palliate or justify your proceedings, it is still in the power of the Haytian government to refuse to be satisfied with them. This is a consideration which should always be borne in mind by a diplomatic agent. While he should not allow it to affect his sense of duty, he should be well aware of the consequence which may attend its conscientious discharge. I am, &c., HAMILTON FISH. No. 381.] No. 320. Mr. Bassett to Mr. Fish. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Port au Prince, July 16, 1875. (Received July 26.) SIR: An English schooner, called the "Laura Pride," of Turk's Island, Capt. J. W. Stevens, of the burden of one hundred and five tons or thereabouts, left New York on the 1st of June, ultimo, chartered by a Mr. Hollander, laden with sixty-five tons of coal, with arms and ammunition shipped by a Mr. Burnette, a small supply of provisions, and a few agricultural implements; the arms and ammunition being consigned to the Haytian minister of war and marine, the coals to order, and the rest of the cargo to a Mr. Fernandez, a Cuban employed as a professor in the national college here, and generally understood to be an agent of the Cuban insurgents. When she cast anchor in this harbor on the 27th ultimo, she was immediately thereafter boarded by Mr. Fernandez, who is said to have represented himself as authorized to direct, and, in fact, to have actually directed, Captain Stevens to land his cargo, including the arms and ammunition, at a place called the Platform, on the northern coast, beyond the Môle St. Nicholas. At this time a Spanish war-vessel, the Churruca, appeared in the outer harbor. Inquieted alike by Mr. Fernandez's speech and manner, and by the approach of the Spanish war-vessel, Captain Stevens promptly declined to act upon Mr. Fernandez's statements, and came to the British vice-consulate, giving to my colleague his ship's papers and an account of Mr. Fernandez's visit aboard, at the same time expressing his suspicions and protesting his ignorance of a design on the part of the Cuban agents in New York to press him and his vessel into their service. The result of the conversation was that my colleague, Mr. Byron, informally notified the Spanish consul and the authorities of this government of the facts in the case. Thereupon our Spanish colleague and his naval commander, who had obtained full and precise information of the schooner's departure from New York, and of the very details of her cargo, went to the government to denounce the "Laura Pride," to demand that her cargo be seized, confiscated, and handed over to them, that Mr. Fernandez be dismissed from the public employ, and that Mr. Preston, Haytian minister at Washington, who had, according to Captain Stevens's statement, in some way sanctioned the shipment of the arms and ammunition to the government, be also dismissed from his office as minister. The government promptly disowned all knowledge of or participation. in the shipment of the war material, agreed to dismiss Mr. Fernandez from the public service, pretending to be astonished and offended at his conduct relative to the schooner, and pretending also to know nothing of his alleged connection with Cuban insurgents. It also agreed to cause all the schooner's cargo to be discharged and placed in depot here, (see inclosure A,) and to inquire into Mr. Preston's alleged conduct in consenting to the vessel's departure from New York for this port with the war material on board. But it would seem that the difficulty is not yet fully arranged. The Spanish representative now distinctly demands that the arms and ammunition be handed over to him, and that Mr. Fernandez receive some further mark of the disapprobation of this government, such as that he be expelled from Haytiau territory or delivered over to the Spanish authori ties. This my colleague of Spain himself tells me. On the other hand, my British colleague, Mr. Byron, denies the right of any one to touch, except by a regular commercial transaction, that part of the schooner's cargo, the coal, which was consigued to order, and has, I believe, entered a protest in that sense. Two Spanish war-steamers, the "Churruca” and the "Bazan," are in the harbor. But I anticipate an amicable settlement of the whole affair at an early day. I am, &c., EBENEZER D. BASSETT. [Inclosure in No. 381.-Translation.] Mr. Excellent to Mr. Bassett. BUREAU OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Mr. MINISTER: I have the honor to inform you that the English schooner "Laura Pride" arrived at Port au Prince, from New York, the 27th ultimo. As the cargo of this vessel is composed, among other objects, of a certain quantity of arms and ammunition, which have been addressed (consigned) to the Haytian minister of war, when the government has given no command (order) of this nature, I bring to your knowledge that, in virtue of the decision of the cabinet, these arms and ammunitions, as well as the rest of the cargo of the vessel, will be discharged and held in depot until some new disposition on the part of the government. Be pleased, Mr. Minister, to accept the new assurances of my high consideration. Mr. E. D. Bassett, Minister Resident of the United States, Port au Prince. EXCELLENT. No. 383.] No. 321. Mr. Bassett to Mr. Fish. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Port au Prince, July 16, 1875. (Received July 26.) SIR: I have the honor to represent that, since the writing of my No. 378, of the 27th ultimo, there has been no essential change in the situation relative to the refugees under our flag here. The refugees are still at my house. My premises are still surrounded and closely watched by armed men in a most needlessly offensive and insolent manner, and this government, still persisting in its original demand for the refugees, manifests no disposition to come to an arrangement of the unfortunate difficulty. The situation in this regard has awakened a widespread and lively interest everywhere in this country. Through my colleagues and others it has also been made a subject of communication to foreign lands. No occurrence in this country for the past thirty years and more, not even its so-called civil wars, has excited so deep an interest or caused so much feeling. People every where here are deeply concerned about it, nay, amazed at it; and it has a perceptible effect upon some of the ordinary commercial transactions. The conduct of this government in the case is wholly unprecedented in its history; first of all, in refusing - the traditional permission to embark the refugees for foreign territory, and then in refusing to accept, or rather ignoring, your decision upon an appeal which the government itself made to you. No similar con-, duct has ever been observed by any previous government in Hayti And the experiment is now made with us, as experiment was made with us in the Jastram case, and in the case of Mr. Consular Agent Teel, in 1872. As I have already had the honor to say to you in my dispatches numbered 364 and 365, (the statements and views of which I cannot but still respect fully maintain, so far as they relate to the case in hand,) the whole idea at the bottom of this conduct of the government is now, and never has been any other than, to get rid of Boisrond Canal, for fear of his power and influence in the future. The character and reputation of Boisrond Canal were and are such as to mark him out for special attention at their hands. The first step taken against him was to order his arrest on the 1st of May last. Failing to lay hands upon him, he was outlawed by execu tive proclamation the following day. The third step was to demand that I should deliver him over to the government as a criminal. The demand not being acceded to, the next step was to make an appeal to you. Because your considerate decision on the appeal did not concede absolutely the point aimed at, this government taxed its energies and cunning to obtain its end by other means, such as annoying me by the continued shouting of hundreds of armed men around my house the whole of every night, and such as causing reports to circulate that it had positive information that I was deserted by my Government in this matter; that my residence had no claim to immunity; that the soldiers were so excited beyond its control that it could not answer for the safety of myself and family. Finding the traditional difficulty of frightening or worrying out Americans, it has recently hit upon another expedient, that of going through with the form of a socalled trial par contumace of the refugees with me and with my colleagues, without, however, giving us any notice as to either the time or the place of the so-called trial. The proceedings were of course summary, before a military tribunal, composed of men who do not pretend to know anything of law, and not one of whom would have dared to even intimate an idea against the fixed purpose of the Executive to have the men on trial all condemned. By this means the authorities hope now to succeed with you. But I affirm, upon my official responsi bility, that the so called trial and its surroundings were a farce, and that the almost sole aim and end in view were to open anew the question with you. They hope now to communicate to you, in phrase and expression redolent of devotion to law, the result of this so called trial. Before you they will appear as persons fully in accord with that spirit of civilization which bows its head before the mandate of the law, when in reality there is no law here in such cases except the will of the Executive, and when these men have nothing but rage in their hearts against Boisrond Canal, and his death in their eyes. Of course, it ought not to be expected that our Government can deviate from any well-settled policy to suit cases like the one which now besets us; but I venture sincerely to hope and to ask, in view of all the peculiar circumstances surrounding this case, that you will concede to this government nothing whatever further than what is already conceded in your No. 227. * I am, &c., &c., EBENEZER D. BASSETT. |