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No. 226.]

No. 409.

Mr. Foster to Mr. Fish.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,

Mexico, December 23, 1874. (Received January 11, 1875.)

SIR: The Mexican Congress, which adjourned on the 15th instant, passed an act extending for one year, from January 1, 1875, the time fixed for the commencement of the work of the Tehuantepec Railroad Company, of which Mr. Simon Stevens, of New York, is president. In addition thereto, it has voted a subsidy of $7,500 per kilometer, ($12,500 per mile,) which will amount to about $2,000,000 for the entire work, for the payment of which 50 per cent. of the customs-duties at the port of Minatitlan and Salina Cruz is pledged; and, in addition, a special privilege is granted to the company of cutting the precious woods of the isthmus.

Congress also ratified a contract made by the executive with a firm, styled Camacho, Mendizabal & Co., representing a mixed Mexican and English interest, for the construction of a railroad, termed the "Central Railroad of Mexico," from the city of Mexico to the city of Leon, in the State of Guanajuato, a distance of about 280 miles, passing by the cities of Queretaro, Celaya, Salamanca, and Guanajuato. The subsidy granted is $9,500 per kilometer, ($15,288 per mile,) payable in 8 per cent. of the duties at the custom-houses of Vera Cruz, Tampico, Manzanillo, Mazatlan, and Guaymas. It also grants to the company the exclusive lotteryprivilege for the entire republic. Work is required to be commenced within ten months, 50 kilometers (31 miles) to be finished in eighteen months, and the entire road to be completed to Leon within five and a half years from the 8th of December, 1874. The gauge is fixed by law at 4 feet 8 inches, which is the same as that of the railroad now in operation between this city and Vera Cruz.

A contract has been celebrated between the Federal executive and Hon. Edward L. Plumb, as the representative of the International Railroad Company of Texas, for the construction of a railroad from the city of Leon to the northern frontier, at such point on the Rio Grande as to connect with the southwestern terminus of said International Railroad, thereby joining the projected railroad system of Mexico with that of the United States. The proposed road from Leon contemplates uniting, by means of the main line or branches, the cities of Lagos, Aguascalientes, Zacatecas, Durango, San Luis Potosi, Saltillo, and Monterey. The contract provides a subsidy of $9,500 per kilometer, ($15,288 per mile,) for the payment of which 25 per cent. of the customs duties at Matamoras and the other frontier custom-houses on the Rio Grande are pledged. The work upon the road is to be commenced within three months after the completion of the "Central Railroad of Mexico," referred to above, and to be completed to the Rio Grande within six years from the same date. The gauge is to be 4 feet 8 inches, the same as the International of Texas and the connecting system in Mexico. To secure the fulfillment of the contract, the company is required to give a bond of $200,000 within eight months after the passage of the law. This contract was submitted to Congress for its approval by the executive, through the minister of public works, on the 14th instant, the day before its adjournment, by which it was referred to the joint committees of industry, and will be acted upon at the next session of Congress, which convenes April 1, 1875. I inclose a copy and translation of the communication of the minister of public works in transmitting the contract

to Congress, as reflecting the views of the executive upon the subject of railroads in Mexico and their connection with the railroads of the United States.

A contract has also been celebrated by the executive with Mr. David Boyle Blair, as the representative of a joint American and English interest, for the construction of a railroad from the port of Guaymas, in the State of Sonora, to the northern frontier of the State, leading toward Tucson, in the Territory of Arizona. The contract grants as a subsidy alternate sections of 5.633 hectares per kilometer (equal to about 35 square miles per lineal mile of the road) of the public lands of the State of Sonora, not to exceed one-half of the same. The work is to be commenced within ten months after the contract becomes a law-50 kilometers to be completed in eight months thereafter, 200 kilometers to be completed within two years, and the main line to be finished within five and a half years. The gauge is fixed at 4 feet 8 inches. The contract grants the free introduction of all materials and supplies required for the construction and equipment of the road, and exempts it from taxation for fifteen years, and from stamp-duties for fifty years. Free transit through the territory is granted to all goods and passengers. A bond of $50,000 is required to be deposited with the government, within six months after the contract becomes a law, for the performance of its stipulations. This contract was also submitted by the executive to Congress for its approval on the day before the final adjournment, and will receive its consideration at the next session, in April, 1875.

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SIR: This Department has received an official note, of the 14th instant,* from Mr. Bartholdi, the minister of France here, stating that he had been instructed by his government to ask for the good offices of this Government toward obtaining from the government of Mexico a postponement of the departure of French Sisters of Charity from that country. It seems that they have been ordered to embark on the 31st instant. A delay until the departure of the European steamer of February is desired. You will make application accordingly. It is hoped that that government will see no serious objection to granting this favor.

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SIR: Your dispatch No. 224, of the 20th ultimo, has been received. The information which it contains may be regarded as satisfactory in re

* Ante.

spect to Messrs. Watkins and Morgan. The Department, however, is not satisfied as to the necessity for the continued delay in executing the convicted murderers of the Rev. Mr. Stephens, especially as the case is understood to have been within the control of the federal government, at least since the appeal of the convicts which is referred to. It should be borne in mind that an unreasonable delay is virtually a denial of justice.

I am, &c.,

HAMILTON FISH.

No. 231.]

No. 412.

Mr. Foster to Mr. Fish.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,

Mexico, January 16, 1875. (Received February 2.) SIR: In commemoration of the establishment of a direct and regular line of steamers between the cities of Vera Cruz, Mexico, and New Orleans, United States, on the 24th of December last a delegation of the chamber of commerce of New Orleans arrived in Vera Cruz, and soon thereafter proceeded to this city. The delegation made their visit upon the invitation of the Lonja Mercantil of this city, and had for its object the cultivation of more intimate commercial intercourse between New Orleans and Mexico. The delegation received the most marked attention and hospitality from the mercantile organizations, prominent private citizens, and public officials, and their presence has awakened a greatly increased interest in the commercial affairs of the two republics. Among the most notable of the entertainments given them was a dinner at the national palace by President Lerdo, at which time he took occasion to express the deep interest he felt in the development and enlargement of the commercial relations between Mexico and the United States.

The delegation took their leave of this capital on the 10th instant, and, after visiting other cities, will sail from Vera Cruz for New Orleans on the 21st instant. They inform me that their observation and inquiries have deeply impressed them with the great importance of a reciprocity treaty, which they regard as desirable for the commercial interests of the two countries, and without which it will be very difficult to compete with European merchants, who now transact almost the entire business of this republic.

I am, &c.,

No. 413.

JOHN W. FOSTER.

No. 237.]

Mr. Foster to Mr. Fish.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,

Mexico, January 30, 1875. (Received February 15.) SIR: On the 27th instant, at noon, I received a telegram from J. A. Sutter, esq., the consul of the United States at the port of Acapulco, in

the State of Guerrero, informing me that on the night previous the Protestant church at that place was attacked, that five persons were killed, among them an American, and eleven wounded, and that Rev. M. N. Hutchinson (an American citizen, resident in this capital) escaped and was in safety.

It is proper to state that about two months ago a delegation of Mexican Protestants arrived in this city, after a journey of ten days, and waited upon Rev. M. N. Hutchinson, the superintendent of the Presbyterian missions in this republic, and represented that they came to him in behalf of, and by appointment, of a body of Mexican citizens, who had embraced the Protestant faith, resident at Acapulco, with the request that they be received under his charge, and, if possible, that he visit that place and regularly organize them into a Protestant church. Being satisfied of the correctness of their representations, Mr. Hutchinson returned with the delegation to Acapulco about six weeks ago, and his friends in this city had received letters from him announcing his safe arrival; that he had been warmly received by the people represented by the delegation; that he had formed a very promising church, and had secured the use of a church building, and it was expected that at about the date of the telegram he would be ready to return to the city. Immediately upon the receipt of the consul's telegram, I repaired to the Mexican foreign office, and obtained a prompt interview with Minister Lafragua, to whom I showed the telegram, and explained the circumstances under which Mr. Hutchinson was called to Acapulco. I stated to him that I was impressed with the gravity of the event, and must be permitted to say that it called for the most vigorous measures on the part of the Mexican government. I took occasion to say that the manner in which the assassination of Rev. Mr. Stephens, at Ahualulco, had been treated by the authorities was not satisfactory to my Government, and that if no more prompt and successful measures for punishment followed the assault and murder at Acapulco, it might occasion grave international difficulties, and it certainly would place in greater peril the lives of a number of American citizens in other parts of the republic.

Mr. Lafragua replied that he had received no other information of the occurrence at Acapulco than that contained in my telegram, but that he would send a copy of the same immediately to the minister of war, with the request that he adopt prompt measures in view of the facts stated. He said that in the Ahualulco affair he federal government had done all that it was possible or legal for it to do; that the trials and convictions had taken place, but that the criminals, being entitled to a resort to the "amparo," had appealed to the supreme court, where the cases were still pending, although he had three times asked the court for a speedy decision.

I remarked that the result of this delay in administering justice had emboldened the populace and made it almost impossible to sustain Protestant worship in the State of Jalisco; that the Rev. Mr. Morgan had been sent to Guadalajara to take the place of Rev. Mr. Stephens, who had been assassinated, and that I had been recently informed that he considered his life in such constant peril that he had felt compelled to abandon his post and leave the republic.

Mr. Lafragua then read to me the letter of Messrs. Morgan and Watkins to the governor of Jalisco, (which is contained in the inclosure to my No. 224,) in which they state, in answer to inquiries, that they enjoy the necessary guarantees for their personal security and the practice of

their worship, and all the protection which the laws concede to foreign

ers.

I stated that I did not charge the governor with any failure in duty in regard to their personal safety, as he appeared to have afforded them protection as far as military guards were concerned; but that it did not meet the emergency merely to station soldiers over the houses of the missionaries, and to follow them with an armed guard in their movements on the streets and about the country; that this was more an aggravation to the people than a remedy of the evll; that the neglect to correct the leading instigators in the assassination at Ahualulco, and the long delay in the punishment of a single participant in the affair, has encouraged the intolerant classes, who felt immunity from the authorities, and a reign of terror prevailed against Protestantism. The trouble was with the people, not with the governor; and so it will be elsewhere unless swift and severe punishment follow such outbreaks as these at Ahualulco and Acapulco.

Mr. Lafragua acknowledged the force of my remarks, but if the federal government had done all it legally could do, what more could I expect? I replied that it was no reparation for the lives of American citizens sacrificed to say that the law placed the punishment in the hands of the local authorities and courts, when the criminals went unpunished and the slaughter of my countrymen by fanatical mobs continued. The Government of the United States looked to the federal administration of Mexico to protect its citizens, and not to the local authorities and courts. It was not for me to dictate or suggest how the federal government should exert its influence with these authorities, but in the name of my Government I must most imperatively demand that in some way it find an efficacious remedy. I added that if there was a failure to inflict prompt punishment upon not only the active participants but also the influential instigators of the outbreak at Acapulco, it would have an evil influence upon the communities in other parts of the republic, where American citizens were associated with Protestant missions, and that if a conspicuous and severe example was not now made by the govern ment, the lives of American missionaries in Mexico would become so unsafe that I feared they would all be compelled to leave the republic. Mr. Lafragua reminded me of the turbulent and ignorant character of the Indian population of the south of Mexico, where these disturbances had occurred, of which I told him I was aware, but that was the greater reason why such energetic measures should be taken as would strike them with terror, and teach them in a forcible manner the necessity of toleration, and of obedience to law and order.

He assured me of the disposition of the federal government to do all that was possible to protect the lives of American citizens and secure complete freedom of religious worship; and, in this instance, it would adopt immediate measures to secure the punishment of the offenders. But, he said, the government found itself greatly embarrassed and engaged in a constant struggle with the reactionary or clerical elements, and that it was very difficult to overcome the fanatical and intolerant prejudices of the people; that, just now, there was much passion manifested on account of the action of the government in disbanding the societies of the "Sisters of Charity," which was a necessary consequence of the adoption of the laws of reform as constitutional amendments.

I then said that I had not alluded to the political aspects of the case, contenting myself with an earnest effort to influence the government to diligence in the punishment of the murderers of American citizens, and in protecting those of them who are exposed to like dangers. But, as

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