No. 332.
Mr. Nelson to Mr. Fish.
Legation of
the United States,
Mexico, July 26, 1872.
(Received August 14.)
No. 601.]
Sir: In reply to your dispatch No. 262, of the
27th ultimo, in so far as relates to the case of the boat of the
American war-steamer Ossipee, I have the honor to inclose a copy and
translation of a note from Mr. Lafragua, of the 20th instant, (A and B,)
accompanied by a copy and translation (0 and D) of his note of the same
date, to the ministry of justice, directing the delivery of the said
boat, in its present condition, to the American consul at La Paz.
I will add that the satisfactory decision of this long-pending question
was among the last acts of the late President Juarez, it having been
performed on the day of his death.
I am, &c,
[Inclosure B.—Translation.]
Mr. Lafragua to
Mr. Nelson.
Department of Foreign Affairs,
Mexico, July 20, 1872.
Sir: Referring to your excellency’s notes,
dated respectively the 27th of March and the 20th of September of
last year, both relating to the loss of a boat from the warsteamer
[Page 443]
Ossipee, belonging to
the United States of America, in the Gulf of California, and to its
retention and sale by the persons who found it, I have the honor to
transmit to your excellency, as the result of the statements made in
the two notes referred to, a copy of a communication which I have
to-day addressed to the ministry of justice, announcing the final
decision upon this subject.
Your excellency would long since have been informed of the decision
of the government in this matter, if the great distance between this
city and Lower California were not notoriously an impediment to the
rapid settlement of such questions, and if the difficulty had not
been increased in the present instance by the obstacles presented by
the American consul at La Paz, who refused, contrary to law, to give
testimony before the district judge appointed for the investigation
of this subject.
I have the honor to renew to your excellency the assurance of the
high consideration with which I am, &c.,
[Inclosure D.—Translation.]
Mr. Lefragua to
the minister of justice.
Department of Foreign Affairs, Section of
America,
Mexico, July 20,
1872.
Citizen Minister of Justice: In reply to
your note dated the 24th of May last, in which you transmit a
communication from the district judge of Sinoloa, concerning the
investigations made in consequence of the finding on the coast of
Lower California of a boat which was claimed as belonging to the
American war-steamer Ossipee, the President of the republic
instructed me to communicate to you, for the information of the said
district judge, his decision that the said boat be delivered to the
American consul at La Paz, with the customary formalities, and in
its present condition; since Messrs. Hidalgo & Co.,
notwithstanding the early claim made by the American consul,
proceeded to repair the boat and to use it for some time, knowing
that their title was disputed, the American consul offering to pay
the finders their proper salvage; and since, although the consul did
not legally prove the ownership of the said boat, inasmuch as no
suit at law was carried into effect, it is nevertheless easily
deducible from the statements made to the minister of the United
States in Mexico that it really belongs to the steamer Ossipee, of
the American Navy.
Independence and Liberty!
