No. 322.
Mr. Bassett to Mr. Fish.
Legation of
the United States,
Port au
Prince, July 22, 1875.
(Received September 2.)
No. 384.]
Sir: In the course of my Nos. 364 of the 8th and
365 of the 19th of May last, I had the honor to invite your attention to the
dispatches which had been exchanged between this legation and the Haytian
government up to the latter date respecting the persons who had taken refuge
under the legation flag. In the hope of reaching a final and friendly
termination of the matter, and of thus being able to forward to you the
whole case under one cover and one comment, I have delayed sending to you
the correspondence which I have since had with this government relative
thereto. Disappointed thus far in that hope, I do not now feel justified in
longer putting off’ the inviting of your attention to this correspondence.
It is herewith inclosed.
The latest inclosure (D) to my No. 365, dated May 17, was my response to a
demand from the Haytian minister for the delivering up of Boisrond Canal
after he had notified me of his government’s reference of the case to
Washington. In it I pleaded as my reason for declining to accede to the
demand the almost unquestioned exercise of the right of asylum by foreign
representatives of every grade in this country since its independence. On
the 22d of that mouth I received from the minister another note, (inclosure
A,) calling my attention very seriously to the statement that it had been
reported to the government that General Boisrond Canal, in coining to my
house, had entered there with arms and ammunitions. The statement is made in
the original with all that peculiar reserve and indirection for which the
French language affords scope in the oratio obliqua.
Three days later, Sunday intervening, I sent him an answer, (inclosure B,)
assuring him that the report was not well founded, and telling him also that
I would never tolerate such a proceeding as the one alluded to for one
moment. I called about this time upon three of the ministers, and gave them,
as I shortly afterward gave to the President in a friendly way, all the
particulars attending the entrance into my house of General Canal and his
two companions. I was, at the same time, unceasingly using every means
within my power for a settlement of the case upon terms which could but be
at once friendly and satisfactory to all concerned.
In that view I called not only myself upon some one of the ministers daily,
and often upon the President, but I caused others who had influence with
them to call for the same object. Indeed, I may truthfully say that no
friendly exertion was left unmade, and no friendly argument unused, to reach
an amicable adjustment of the difficulty. No similar series of friendly
visits and arguments from persons of position and influence have been
brought to bear upon the authorities of this government in any case since I
have resided here. In a visit to the palace on the 7th ultimo, I found the
President alone, and, as always, glad to see me. As I went over the whole
matter with him, he seemed much interested in my statements. When at last I
was saying to him that I did not then see how I could, under the unforeseen
and unexpected circumstances, have acted differently than I had acted as to
the refugees, and was reminding him of our proofs of friendship for him and
his government, he interrupted me to say, “Yes, yes, my good friend; I
understand your position in the case, (of Boisrond Canal,) and 1 respect
it.
But what can I do?”
* * * * * * *
[Page 713]
On the 14th ultimo the minister of foreign affairs called upon me, and in
handing me another dispatch, (inclosure C,) he made some apologetic remarks,
saying, among other things, that he hoped the written communication which he
had been instructed to pass to me would not interfere with any of the
friendly unofficial measures on foot for an amicable disposition of the
affair on hand. The dispatch, after speaking of the reference of the case to
Washington, states that “the government, according to information from its
representative at Washington, is led to reclaim from you (me) to-day, on
stronger ground than formerly, the delivery of General Boisrond Canal and
his associates, in order that they may be handed over to justice.” I told
the minister that it was in contemplation to cause a friendly unofficial
visit to be made to the palace the following day in regard to the question,
but that I feared the dispatch might interfere with this purpose. “O, no,”
he quickly responded; “don’t give up that; there’s still hope.”
After a very careful reflection on the subject, I judged it wisest not to
abandon, for the moment, the field of unofficial operation, especially as it
seemed quite possible that success might crown my long continued and patient
efforts in that regard. Accordingly, on the 15th ultimo, I sent the minister
an acknowledgment (inclosure D) of his dispatch, stating to him that “I and
my colleagues of the diplomatic corps have (had) an important unofficial
communication to make this (that) afternoon to His Excellency the President,
which may, (might,) as we all confidently and sincerely hope, (hoped,)
render unnecessary further official correspondence on the point in
question.”
That day was a fête day, the first anniversary of President Domingues’
inauguration. The diplomatic and consular corps attended the ceremonies at
the cathedral and at the palace in the forenoon, I acting as the dean of
that body, and every one seeming at the end to be in good and generous
spirits. In the afternoon, at four o’clock, the ministers of the United
States and Great Britain, the chargé d’affaires of France, the consul
and-chargé d’affaires of Spain, and the experienced and honorable
vice-consul of Great Britain ail went to the palace together, to have a
friendly and entirely unofficial talk with the President about the refugees
under my flag, and jointly under the English and the Spanish flags.
By previous understanding, and at my request, Major Stuart, the British
minister, was to state the object of our visit, and not a word was to be
said by any of us outside of a strict and tender regard for every possible
sensitiveness of this government in regard to the subject to be talked over.
We found the President alone. He received us with his accustomed cordiality
and dignity. When our mission was explained to him, he seemed to wish to
argue the question with us. But we all kept strictly to our previous
understanding. In the most friendly and delicate manner we urged upon him
the desirability of adhering to the traditions of the country in allowing
these three refugees to embark for foreign territory. We suggested that it
might be done as an act of generosity conceded, if he wished it so to
appear, at our friendly request, and befitting that happy day of the
anniversary of his inauguration. His excellency thanked us for the friendly
interest we were showing for him and his government, and finally promised to
take our suggestion into serious consideration.
“I shall grant your request,” said he, “if I can find the means of doing
so.”
The interview, at which I think no amicable argument in our favor was left
unused, was a pleasant and happy one, and we all thought we
[Page 714]
were on the way out of the sore and trying
difficulty about the refugees. But on the 21st ultimo I received another
dispatch, (inclosure E,) dated the 19th, from the minister, intimating to me
in a rather occult manner, that, in consequence of possible contingencies,
it might be better for me to remove my residence from the country to the
city. I was so surprised at his dispatch that I sought a personal interview
with the minister, and talked the subject over with him. He urged me to put
no stress upon it, and said it was written in obedience to rumors floating
about by persons whom he considered indiscreet, but who had influence in
high official circles. But I told him that for me it was an official
communication, and must receive in due time official attention. I assured
him also that under existing circumstances, his government need not,
meantime, expect that I should entertain the idea of quitting my residence
to remove to the city.
I still plodded on in the hope that I might secure a friendly settlement of
the difficulty about my refugees. But it seemed at last that the use of my
good offices were being taken in some quarters as evidences of weakness on
my part. I then spoke to several of the ministers of the official
instructions which you had given me in the case of the persons in refuge
under our flag. These of course they all must have known from Mr. Preston,
as, you were kind enough to inform me, you stated them to him. But F used
them in an inoffensive, persuasive sense, still hoping for a favorable
response from the President to the friendly representations made by so many
of his friends, and especially by the diplomatic corps. But at last, when,
on the 25th ultimo, Minister Rameau, the head and front of the government,
said, referring to the instruction of your No. 227, that no government could
accept such terms, because it would thereby place itself in the position of
confessing itself unable to carry out its own laws, it seemed to me that I
had no choice but to take the official field and stand squarely on that
ground. Accordingly, on the 26th ultimo, I addressed to the minister of
foreign affairs three dispatches, the first (inclosure F) acknowledging, in
what seemed to be fitting terms, his of the 19th ultimo; the second
(inclosure G) alluding to the use of good offices which had been so long
continued for the release of the refugees, and stating to him that I was
authorized by my Government to enter into negotiations with him with the
view to the friendly embarkation of the refugees under my flag, and that I
placed myself at his disposition for that purpose; the third (inclosure H)
making a representation relative to the surrounding of my premises in a
neeolessly offensive manner by armed men. To this last inclosure I invite
your special attention. It falls short even of a full statement of the
annoyance to which I and ray family have been for so many weeks subjected by
the presence of these armed men. I know, of course, that this surrounding of
my premises is only a feature in the case of the refugees which is not yet
disposed of. But what, it seems to me, affords ground for complaint, is the
needlessly and, I am induced to think, designedly offensive manner in which
it is done. On the 10th instaut I received from the minister an
acknowledgment, (inclosure I,) dated the 8th instant, of my three dispatches
of the 26th ultimo. In this acknowledgment he goes over the oft-repeated
story about Boisrond Canal, adding, however, the new feature of military
insubordination to the catalogue of the alleged offenses of that general. No
notice whatever is taken of my proposition as to a negotiation looking to
the friendly embarkation of the refugees, though the minister afterward
pretended that this omission was purely an oversight. What is said in
response to my dispatch touching the surrounding of my premises, is regarded
as pure
[Page 715]
tropical diplomacy,
intended, no doubt, to have weight at Washington. I say this, because he
certainly could not have hoped to deceive us here on this point, and because
it was observed by all my large household here, and by our friends in the
vicinity, that as soon as it had been officially announced to the government
that we were all really annoyed by the conduct of the armed men around my
premises, the annoyances complained of were at least doubled, and have gone
on increasing ever since. The two events have certainly stood to each other
as antecedent and subsequent. I think it possible that they were antecedent
and consequent. I sent to the minister a respouse (inclosure J) to his
dispatch on the 12th instant, in it I express regret that he had passed over
unnoticed my proposition for a negotiation as to the refugees, and fell him
that I do not think the decision taken by my Government will be changed. I
substantially re-affirm what is said in my note of the 26th ultimo, relative
to the armed men about my residence, and speak, I hope not too emphatically,
about the allegation constantly recurring in dispatches, in conversation,
and finally in the official journals, that my residence in the country is
only my maison de plaisance, the idea being that in
my said residence I am not entitled to legation immunities. I also state to
the minister that I consider my rights and immunities, which belong to my
Government, and not to me personally, infringed upon, and that 1 shall now
refer the subjects p my Government. July 17th instant, Minister Excellent
made response (inclosure K) to my note of the 12th. In it he declines, in
the name of his government, to enter into negotiations upon the affairs of
the refugees in the sense suggested by me before the decision ot the
“Federal Government should come to it from its minister at Washington,”
quoting, as if it were the only information received from Washington, your
reply to Mr. Preston, on the occasion of his first visit to you on the
subject, that you had not then received the necessary information, and for
the first time complains that I had “kept secret during a month, indeed,”
the presence of the refugees at my house, a circumstance which he tells me
with an air of positiveness as you may observe, though I know not by what
authority, my Government “cannot approve.” He gives again his assurances
about the respect due to my official character, although the annoyances of
which I complained were then and are still on the increase. The same day
also he sent me a copy of “the judgment pronounced by the special military
tribunal of this arrondissement against Boisrond Canal and his associates,”
by which General Canal, his brother, Calice Carrie, who is safely in refuge
in the British consulate, and Fleuriot, who is in Kingston, Jamaica, are all
condemned to death. Inasmuch as it was now clear to me that the
correspondence would not tend to relieving us of the difficulty, this
government having decided to await the result of its appeals to Washington,
and as far as it can, ignore me in the matter, I sent the minister to-day a
short note, (inclosure L,) simply acknowledging his two dispatches, and
thanking him for them.
I am, &c.,
[A.—Inclosure 1 in No.
384.—Translation.]
Mr. Excellent to
Mr. Bassett.
Bureau
of Foreign Affairs,
Port au
Prince, May 20,
1875.
Mr. Minister: I have had the honor to receive
the dispatch which you addressed to me on the 17th instant, in response
to mine of the 14th instant. That which you
[Page 716]
have therein announced to me has had the perfect
attention of the government; Permit me, Mr. Minister, before the
American Government pronounces itself upon the affair of Boisrond Canal,
to inform you that it has been reported to the government of Hayti that
this general, in betaking himself to your residence, entered there (y srait entrê) indeed with arms and ammunitions.
The government does not know to what point these assertions may be
founded. Nevertheless, reposing itself upon the assurances which you
have given to it, it thinks that whatever there may be in them, you
could never assuredly tolerate, in the circumstances, any act of a
nature to lead to unfortunate and compromising results for the security
of the country. The government calls very seriously your attention upon
this point in, view of eventualities which it is impossible for it to
foresee. The government takes good note, Mr. Minister, of the friendly
dispositions which you transmitted to us by your aforesaid note. It
partakes of them very sincerely, and it is in view of maintaining them
always that I have felt it my duty to address to you my present
dispatch, in order to bring to your knowledge the point which is the
object of it, persuaded that you will give it attention, (y aviseriez.) Be pleased to accept, Mr. Minister,
the new assurances of my very high consideration.
Mr. E. D. Bassett,
Minister Resident of the United States, Port au
Prince.
[B.—Inclosure 2 in No. 384.]
Mr. Bassett to Mr.
Excellent.
Legation of the United States,
Port au Prince, May 25,
1875.
Mr. Minister: I have the honor to state that on
the afternoon of Saturday, the 22d instant, I received your dispatch of
the 20th instant, in which you ask my attention to an allegation that a
certain person or persons may have entered my official residence with
arms and ammunition. I am glad to notice that you yourself do not place
confidence in this allegation, and I take pleasure in confirming you in
your statement that, for myself, I “would never tolerate in the
circumstances any act of a nature to lead to unfortunate and unhappy
results for the security of the country.” As you well indicate, it is
absurd to suppose that the official residence of the minister of a
friendly foreign power is to be made an arsenal for the storing of arms
and ammunition. I hardly need say to you, Mr. Minister, that no one
would discountenance and deprecate such an act more than myself. And
certainly you may be assured that I could never for one moment permit
it.
Fully reciprocating all the friendly sentiments which you express to me
in your note, I am, Mr. Minister, your obedient servant,
Monsieur Excellent,
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
[C—Inclosure 3 in No.
384.—Translation.]
Mr. Excellent to
Mr. Bassett.
Bureau
of Foreign Affairs,
Port au
Prince, June 14,
1875.
Mr. Minister: As I have had the honor to
announce to you by my preceding dispatches, General Boisrond Canal, a
refugee, at your country residence, (maison de
campagne,) in consequence of the events of the first of May,
is, as well as his adherents, amenable to the laws of the country,
against which he has rendered himself culpable. The manner in which you
have regarded the demand that the government has addressed to you in
regard to the delivering up of this general, and from which has resulted
a lack of understanding (entente) between us,
having induced, as I have written you, the presentation of the question
to the direct appreciation of the American cabinet, the government,
according to information from its representative at Washington, is led
to reclaim from you to-day, on stronger ground (plus
de raison) than formerly, the delivery of General Boisrond
Canal, and his associates, in order that they may be
[Page 717]
handed over to justice. The government is
pleased to think that the agents of friendly powers, residing in the
country, being protected by the laws which govern it, ought to give
their concurrence that they may be executed for the maintenance of the
public peace and in the interest of the good harmony so desirable in the
relations of Hayti and these powers.
Be pleased to accept, Mr. Minister, the new assurances of my very high
consideration.
Mr. E. D. Bassett,
Minister Resident of the United States, Port au
Prince.
[D.—Inclosure 4 in No. 384.]
Mr. Bassett to Mr.
Excellent.
Legation of the United States,
Port au Prince, June 15,
1875.
Mr. Minister: I have the honor to acknowledge
the receipt of your dispatch of yesterday’s date, and to say, in reply,
that, in relation to the subject of that dispatch, I, and all my
colleagues of the diplomatic corps, have an important unofficial
communication to make this afternoon to his excellency the President,
which may, as we all confidently and sincerely hope, render unnecessary
further official correspondence on the point in question.
I am, Mr. Minister, your obedient servant,
Monsieur Excellent,
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
[E.—Inclosure 5 in No.
384.—Translation.]
Mr. Excellent to
Mr. Bassett.
Bureau
of Foreign Affairs,
Port au
Prince, June 19,
1875.
Mr. Minister: I have had the honor, in
different dispatches which I have addressed to yon, to express to you
the desire of this government to obtain from you the delivery of General
Boisrond Canal, and his associates, in order that they may be handed
over to justice. From information which has come to the government,
according to which this general might have entered (serait entré) your country residence (maison
de campagne) with arms and ammunitions, I did not fail, by my
dispatch of the 22d of May last, to express to you the confidence of the
government in your fidelity, and the firm hope which it conserves that,
if these reports were founded, you would doubtlessly not tolerate any
act of a nature to compromise the public security. You gave in this
regard to the government formal assurances. Nevertheless, Mr. Minister,
the government is to-day impressed (imbu) that
these gentlemen conserve the criminal intention of making an attempt
against the public peace by some means. It would not be able to answer
for the consequences which would result from such conduct, which in its
thought would be less likely to occur, if you should judge it necessary
to find yourself rather in town, at the hotel of the American legation,
than at your country-seat, where, in spite of all the desire of the
government, it would not perhaps be possible to surround you with all
necessary guarantee in case of eventualities, the arrondissement of Port
au Prince being moreover in a state of siege.
The government would be happy, Mr. Minister, if you should be able to
find the means of anticipating these grave difficulties, to ward them
off from the country, in the interests of its relations with that which
you represent, which are the objects of all the solicitude of the
government.
Be pleased to accept, Mr. Minister, the new assurances of my very high
consideration.
Mr. E. D. Bassett,
Minister Resident of the United States, Port au
Prince.
[Page 718]
[F.—Inclosure 6 in No. 384.]
Mr. Bassett to Mr.
Excellent.
Legation of the United States,
Port au Prince, June 26,
1875.
Mr. Minister: I have had the honor to receive
your dispatch of the 19th instant, and I must express my surprise at its
general tenor. I need not enter into a recapitulation of its details of
statement and somewhat occult intimation; but I have the honor to offer
you a few observations on them as a whole.
And, first, permit me to say that in my opinion your government has
already been sufficiently assured in my official dispatches that no
menace, no unfriendly act of any kind, can possibly be made against it
by any persons who may have taken refuge at the official residence of
the American minister, as long as the said persons remain in refuge
there. No intention of any such proceeding is entertained by any person
within my knowledge. If I knew that it were entertained by any person
whatsoever, it would receive nothing from me but my discountenance and
disapproval. In saying this, I do but reiterate to you the position
always adhered to by this legation in reference to refugees under its
protection. Again, you intimate to me the necessity or desirability of
removing my residence to the city, and remind me that the arrondissement
of Port au Prince is under martial law. My present residence is not more
without the limits of this arrondissement than the city itself. Both are
equally within the same arrondissement. I know of no foreign war, no
domestic strife, and no public disorder, now existing or likely soon to
exist, against your government. Moreover, your government’s own
assurances and the assurances given from week to week, by government
sanction in the columns of Le Moniteur, the official journal, are all to
the effect that profound peace and tranquillity prevail everywhere
within the limits of the republic, and that the government is strong
everywhere within these limits. You will pardon me, therefore, for
reminding you that an American minister cannot, in any country, be
expected under such circumstances, or, indeed, under any circumstances,
and especially in the light of statements such as are made in this
dispatch, to place himself at the disposition of rumors, surmises, or
vague intimations, for which he is in no way responsible; and, further,
that if he be wrongfully disturbed in his rights and immunities, or
unjustly dealt with in any way, such a proceeding must constitute an
offense against his Government, for which the offending party must and
will be held responsible.
I am, Mr. Minister, your obedient servant,
Monsieur Excellent,
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
[G.—Inclosure 7 in No. 384.]
Mr. Bassett to Mr.
Excellent.
Legation of the United States,
Port au Prince, June 26,
1875.
Mr. Minister: To your dispatch of the 14th
instant, reiterating your government’s demand for the delivery of
Boisrond Canal and other refugees under my flag, I replied by my note of
the 15th instant that an unofficial visit was to be made that day to His
Excellency the President by the diplomatic corps resident near this
government, and that we all confidently hoped that this visit would
render further official correspondence on the subject unnecessary, the
purpose of the visit being to ask of His Excellency, informally, and as
an act of generosity becoming that happy day of the first anniversary of
his inauguration, permission to embark the persons in refuge under my
flag and jointly under the English and the Spanish flags. His Excellency
was pleased to assure us that he would take our request into
consideration. I have not yet, however, learned from His Excellency the
President the conclusion which he has arrived at in the matter. But
statements which have come to me from reliable sources have led me to
believe that the all-important step taken by the diplomatic corps in an
entirely informal, friendly manner, and purely of its own free will and
accord, has failed to obtain the principal object in view—the release of
Boisrond Canal. This is to be much regretted; and it is to be regretted,
also, that your government has not seen its way clear to accept some one
of the many other friendly measures suggested to it with the view of
affording to it an honorable and friendly way of relieving itself and
its friends from an embarassment whose continuance cannot possibly
produce good to any party. The acceptance of any one of these measures
would bring only credit and good-will to itself. I regret, also, that
the attitude which seems now to have been assumed by your government
appears to have closed the avenue to further informal friendly
suggestion
[Page 719]
in the case, and
that I must inform you in this official manner that I am authorized by
my Government to enter into negotiations with you with a view to the
friendly embarkation of the refugees under my flag, and that I place
myself at your disposition for that purpose.
I am, Mr. Minister, your obedient servant,
Monsieur Excellent,
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
[H.—Inclosure 8 in No. 384.]
Mr. Bassett to Mr.
Excellent.
Legation of the United States,
Port au Prince, June 26,
1875.
Mr. Minister: In response to my note of the 3d
ultimo, relative to the surrounding of my official residence by numerous
armed men in the service of your government, you wrote me on the 6th
ultimo, expressing regret that any lack of the respect due to my
official character had been shown to me, or to members of my household,
by persons in your government’s employ, and assuring me that all the
regard to which I and those connected with me are entitled would be
strictly observed. But I have now to represent to you that my official
residence is still, and for the past seven weeks and more has been,
constantly surrounded by hundreds of armed men; that, in consequence,
the free ingress and egress of persons with whom I have a right to
maintain freedom of communication are impeded; that I have been, in
other words, cut off from my rights of free and customary communication
with my friends, citizens, my fellow-countrymen, other foreigners, and
even my colleagues in this community; that members of my household are
shut out from their rightful freedom; kept under constant apprehension,
inquietude, and terror, from the presence, not to say the menaces, of
armed men in the service of your government; that I and my household
are, and for weeks have been, regularly prevented from repose and quiet
at night by the continued shouting of these armed men under government
orders; that my own personal freedom within my own official domicile is
exercised only under constant apprehension of personal insecurity; and
that, in short, Mr. Minister my official privileges and immunities,
which I must insist upon and maintain, are infringed upon and
jeopardized in many ways by the unfriendly presence of hundreds of armed
men, posted under the orders of your government in an unfriendly
attitude on the very limit of the official residence of a foreign
minister.
I have not disputed, and do not here dispute, the right of your
government to exercise its own rightful measures of police within its
own jurisdiction; only I venture to say that they ought to be exercised
in such a way as not to become a marked trespass upon the rights and
immunities of foreign ministers.
When you receive a foreign minister, especially under the treaty
guarantees given to the Government of the United States, you give to
that minister and to his government a full assurance of all the rights,
immunities, privileges, and courtesies accorded by the law of nations to
diplomatic representatives everywhere. Your surrounding of my official
residence in the manner described has come to be a violation of this
assurance, a menace, an infringement upon my rights, immunities, and
privileges, since in consequence of it, as already stated, no one with
whom I have a right to maintain personal or other relations, is safe
from annoyance and danger in coming to or departing from my said
residence, and since, also, I and those connected with me are steadily
inquieted in our security, and exposed at least to serious accident at
any moment therefrom and the American minister is, in fact, almost a
prisoner in his official domicile. This state of affairs, the first of
like character that has ever been ventured upon in the history of this
country, certainly cannot be allowed to continue forever, as you will
readily admit.
I will not further enlarge upon the unpleasant subject. I have already
sufficiently spoken of it to yourself and your colleagues in
conversation with you and them. But I have now the honor to inform you
that the matter, unless it be at once alleviated or abated, must be made
the subject of unfavorable representation to the Government of the
United States, and that your government will in any event be held
responsible for any accident or other injurious circumstance which may
grow or may already have grown out of the menace now kept up in so
disagreeable a manner and for so long a time over the official residence
of the American minister. If I have not made to you before this date the
foregoing representation, it is not because I have not been aware of the
trespass upon my immunities, but because I have steadily hoped that
patience on my part and the use of ray friendly good offices, which
unfortunately seem to have been quite misunderstood, might save me from
the necessity of it.
I am, Mr. Minister, your obedient servant,
Monsieur Excellent,
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
[Page 720]
[Inclosure 9 in No.
384.—Translation.]
Mr. Excellent to
Mr. Bassett.
Bureau
of Foreign Affairs,
Port au
Prince, July 8,
1875.
Mr. Minister: I have had the honor to receive
your three notes of the 26th of June last, calling to my attention the
tenor of your preceding notes of the 3d of May and the 15th of June, and
responding to my dispatch of the 19th ultimo. Permit me, as you have
said, not to enter more into-the recapitulation of the facts and
circumstances which have been the object (qui out
motivé) of all this correspondence. The government, in
insisting to obtain from you the delivery of General Boisrond Canal,
refers in all respects to the precise explanations and to the arguments
which it has transmitted to you through me relative to the criminal acts
of voluntary homicide (meurtres volontaires) and
other acts of which General Boisrond Canal has rendered himself
culpable. The government confirms them to you again at this moment. In
fact, it is impossible for it to admit with you that General Boisrond
Canal should be considered as a political refugee—a general officer
legally summoned to deliver himself up to the call of superior
authority. He failed in all the duties that honor and military
subordination commended to him, in order to give himself over
voluntarily and without cause (sans raison) to
criminal acts which all laws reprobate. In making to him this call,
which issued only from patriotic motives, the government had had in view
only the maintenance of order and principle in preventing every
explosion of acts which are always regrettable and disastrous for
society.
The duty of the government is well traced. In presence of threatening
inquietudes (sourdes inquietudes) produced by
these recent events, it could not give up the right to take all the
measures of general police which the situation demands and which the
legal judgment of Boisrond Canal and his associates imposes upon it. The
active and continued surveillance which is exercised upon the highway
leading to your country residence (habitation de
plaisance) is, as you have well recognized it, the necessary
consequence of these measures of, precaution and general security which
are until now incumbent upon the goverment; nevertheless, as it has not
ceased to give you the perfect assurance the government intends (entend) that the severe orders which it has given
shall be punctually observed concerning the regard which is due and the
facilities to be accorded to you and attached to your household in their
free and perfect circulation. The government would regret infinitely if
any disagreeableness should have resulted to you personally from this
circumstance; and in this thought it has just caused to be reiterated
the most formal orders in this regard to the chiefs of the military
line. The responsibility for the grave circumstances which were unfolded
the 1st of May must necessarily fall back upon those who provoked them.
Also, the government intends (entend) that those
who profited by them to give themselves over to criminal acts against
persons and property shall be handed over to justice alone competent to
pronounce upon their fate. This is why it still insists upon you for the
delivery of those who find themselves under your protection, while
praying you to have confidence in the good faith from which it has never
departed, and which induces it to have recourse in this occurrence to
the judicial way and forms. You will shortly learn, Mr. Minister, at ail
events, the result of the legal process commenced against Boisrond Canal
and his accomplices, and then you will appreciate, without doubt, how
well founded are the reclamations of the government.
Be pleased to accept, Mr. Minister, the new assurance of my very high
consideration.
Mr. E. D. Bassett,
Minister Resident of the United States, &c.,
&c.
[J.—Inclosure 10 in No.
384.]
Mr. Bassett to Mr.
Excellent.
Legation of the United States,
Port au Prince, July 12,
1875.
Mr. Minister: I have had the honor to receive
your dispatch of the 8th instant, which I have read with attention, and
in which you favor me with a response to my , three notes of the 26th
ultimo collectively. I might have preferred a specific answer to each
one separately. Nevertheless I thank you for your attention to them. You
reiterate your demand for the delivery of the refugees under my flag
when T have already had the honor to inform you that my Government has
authorized me to enter into, negotiations upon the subject only and
solely with the view to the embarkation of those persons.
[Page 721]
I had also the honor to state to yon in one of my notes that I placed
myself at your disposition and convenience for that purpose, and I
regret that you have not chosen to respond to this point or to take any
notice of it whatever. My Government took its friendly decision in the
sense in which I have already spoken and written to you of it, after
having received all the representations submitted to it relative to the
case by your government through your minister at Washington. Is it
probable that a great Government like the one which I represent here
will change a decision once taken in such a case and under such
circumstances? My view is that it will not change that decision. And yet
am I to infer that you are now unwilling to abide by the friendly
decision of my Government after you yourselves appealed to that
Government and invoked its decision?
I thank you for your assurance that your government intends that the
severe orders which you say to me it has given concerning the respect
which is due to me and the facilities to be accorded and attached to my
household in their free and entire circulation, shall be punctually
observed. But I regret to inform you that all the grievances stated in
one of my notes of the 26th ultimo still continue unabated, unchanged. I
most respectfully beg leave, therefore, to represent to you that I am
compelled to reiterate and maintain all that I affirm in my said note of
the 26th ultimo relative to the surrounding of my official residence by
armed men and the infringements made upon my rights and immunities
thereby. And I repeat that I hold your government responsible not only
for all these trespasses upon my official rights and immunities, never
before questioned in any way whatsoever, and especially for all the
unnecessary and needless annoyances to which I and my family are
continually subjected by express orders of your government, but also for
any and all other injurious circumstances which may yet grow or may have
already grown out of the menace kept up in so persistent and offensive a
manner over the official residence of the American minister. No other
government within my recollection has ever before ventured upon or
attempted such a proceeding. You speak as if with an object in your last
dispatch, as you have spoken in previous ones, of my country-seat or
summer residence, (habitation de plaisance,) when
it ought to be perfectly well known to your government, as well as to
everybody else in Port au Prince who chooses to think of it, that I have
but one residence in this country, and never have had but one. That is
therefore my bona fide official residence, and
not a mere habitation de plaisance. I speak to
you plainly upon this point, because it is not unknown to me that
persons in authority under your government have, for purposes which I
need not here mention, boldly and persistently sought to create and
spread abroad another idea which has even found expression in the
official journal, Le Moniteur, of last week. I repeat that I have but
one residence, and never have had but one, in this country. That
residence was occupied by my predecessor, and has been continuously
occupied by me and my family for more than six years. The rights and
immunities which appertain to me in my bona-fide
domicile ought to and must be observed. I am sorry to say that they are
not now properly observed; that I am there subjected to unnecessary
annoyances by day, and especially by night, under government orders. The
rights which I possess and the immunities to which I am entitled here do
not belong to me personally; they belong to my Government. And, as I had
the honor to intimate to you in one of my notes of the 26th ultimo, I
shall not now fail to refer the matter, including all the facts stated
in this correspondence, to that Government.
I am, Mr. Minister, your obedient servant,
Mr. Excellent,
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
[K.—Inclosure 11 in No.
384.—Translation.]
Mr. Excellent to
Mr. Bassett.
Bureau
of Foreign Affairs,
Port au
Prince, July 17,
1875.
Mr. Minister: I have had the honor to receive
the note which you addressed to me the 12th instant, in response to my
dispatch of the 8th of the said month. I hastened to submit this note to
the attention of my government, and I am authorized to make to you the
following response:
You say, Mr. Minister, relative to the government’s legitimate demand for
the delivery of Messieurs Boisrond Canal and his associates, that your
Government, as you had already announced it to me, has authorized you to
enter into negotiations upon this affair only and solely with the view
of embarking these persons. To this effect you expose to me some
considerations, and express reflections, which have had the
[Page 722]
serious attention of the
government. Permit me at first, Mr. Minister, to cause to he observed to
you that the several notes of the 28th ultimo, all treating of the same
subject, having been remitted to me at the same time, I did not think it
necessary to respond to them separately.
The government does not believe itself authorized to permit the
embarkation of persons who have rendered themselves guilty of voluntary
homicide (coupables de meurtres volontairement)
and who are amenable to the laws of the country (lois
intérievres.) In this is a question of morality which it
believes itself obliged to defend, and in which ought to participate all
the nations interested in the defense of social order.
The affair having been brought before the cabinet at Washington, it has
not come to the knowledge of the government of Hayti, through our
minister in the United States, that any decision has been taken by the
Federal Government, which, on the contrary, announced that it had not
the necessary information for pronouncing itself upon the affair. Before
the government of Hayti can enter upon negotiations upon this affair, in
the sense which you ask of it, it is necessary that the decision of the
Federal Government should come to it from its minister at Washington.
The circumstances infinitely regrettable which have moreover occurred
have occasioned the measures which the government has taken to prevent
the escape of several refugees whose presence at your house was kept
secret (a été tué) during a mouth indeed after
that one had demanded of you to declare if they were with you.
Nevertheless the Haytian government comprehends too well its duties
toward the agents of friendly powers not to give to them every guarantee
relative to the immunities and the respect to which they have the right.
As to your official residence in the country, I refer you to all that
which I have already had the honor to say to you, especially to the
formal assurances contained in my dispatch of the 8th instant. The
Government of the United States, which observes before all peoples the
prescriptions of international law, holding to that which must be
observed in its own regard, cannot approve, as the Haytian government
has the profound conviction that au American diplomatic agent should
guard, during thirty days and more, refugees, armed it is said and
guilty of homicide (coupables demeurtres,)
without giving notice of it to the government near which he is
accredited. I will not end, Mr. Minister, without expressing to you
again how much in the question i which occupies us, the government
believes founded the observations which it has addressed to you. Permit
that I add a new assurance of the sincere desire which it . nourishes to
seethe relations of Hayti with the United States continued with the same
sympathy and the same cordiality which have always existed between
them.
Be pleased to accept, Mr. Minister, the new assurance of my very high
consideration.
Monsieur E. D. Bassett,
Minister Resident of the United States, Port au
Prince.
[L.—Inclosure 12 in No.
384.]
Mr. Bassett to Mr.
Excellent.
Legation of the United States,
Port au Prince, July 22,
1875.
Mr. Minister: I have the honor to acknowledge
the receipt of your two dispatches j of Saturday the 17th instant, and
to express to you my regret that I have not before been able to make
this acknowledgment of them, and thank you for the information which
they contain.
I am, Mr. Minister, your obedient servant,
Monsieur Excellent,
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs,
