Mr. Ryan to Mr.
Blaine.
Legation of
the United States,
Mexico, May 2, 1890.
(Received May 12.)
No. 290.]Sir: Referring to your instruction No. 202 of
February 18, 1890, relative to the case of Mr. R. C. Work, confined in
Victoria, Tamaulipas, charged with the murder of Francisco Cruz, in
February, 1888, allow me to submit, for the information of the Department,
copies of the latest correspondence upon the subject had by this
legation.
On the basis of a certificate from two physicians of Victoria, to wit,
Gregorio Porchini and Pegedis R. Balboa, to the effect that the prisoner
[Page 634]
is suffering from bleeding piles,
etc., I addressed a note to Mr. Mariscal, copy of which please find inclosed
with the said correspondence, praying that Mr. Work “may be removed from the
jail to some place where proper medical treatment may be secured for
him.”
Trusting that my action may meet your approval,
I am, etc.,
[Inclosure 1 in No. 290.]
Mr. Work to Mr.
Ryan.
Sir: You will pardon a sick man for
complaining. As Dr. King is indisposed, I address you direct. The
proceedings in my case hang. For 2 years and 3 months I have been
demanding a conclusion of the case. Mrs. Work received a letter from you
a month ago telling her that I should have a speedy and just trial.
The case stands now just as it did at that date. My information is that
the case has been returned to you from Washington, and that the
Department had refused to take further notice of the case. It is
insinuated that my Southern birth was held as a reason. This can not be
possible. My record as a Unionist and a Republican can not be doubted. I
was under Gen. R. K. Byrd, of East Tennessee, for 3 years, until
discharged for sickness. Byrd’s brigade belonged to General Fanis’s
division of the Federal Army. I claim no favors from this. My case
demands an investigation by a commission duly appointed to send for
papers, to take testimony, and to send for parties. My signature has
been forged to interrogators contradictories; in
reality not my signature, nor is it my scroll. I have not been permitted
an interpreter, as demanded by me, and when I presented an interpreter
he was rejected. I am now confined in a filthy prison, prevented medical
aid, and contrary to article 63, Penal Code, Los
Presos enfermos se curarán precisamente en el establecimiento en que
se hallen, sea de la clase que fuere ó en el hospital destinado á
ese objeto y no en su casa. Pero se podrá permitir á los que lo
solieiten que los asista un médico de su election. I here
inclose you medical certificate signed by two physicians, at the same
time tendering a good, valid bondsman. Ten days have passed, and now the
judge has taken leave of absence for 20 days and left the city. The
prison here has at this time 30 sick with measles and fever. It appears
that some prejudice is the reason for not allowing me medical attention.
I beg your immediate attention to this. It is impossible for me to stand
the rigors of this prison life long.
Your most obedient servant,
[Inclosure 2 in No. 290.]
Mr. Ryan to Mr.
Mariscal.
Legation of the United States,
Mexico, April 30,
1890.
Sir: I have the honor to inclose copy (with
translation) of a medical certificate signed by Gregorio Porchini and
Pegedis R. Balboa, physicians of Victoria, Tamaulipas, attesting that
Mr. R. C. Work, now in jail at that place, charged with the murder of
Francisco Cruz, is “suffering from bleeding piles, a disease which has
afflicted him for a long time; that very frequently high inflammation
sets in, and the flow of blood is excessive; that thereby he is caused
great pain and suffering, and that, in such cases, and in his present
surroundings, he runs a risk, as the disease is serious and needs prompt
attention in its treatment.”
This legation was informed from Victoria last January that “Mr. Work’s
case had been closed by the judge on the 13th (of that month), and that
sentence would be given in a few days.” This sentence, as Your
Excellency is aware, is the sentence of the appellate court to which Mr.
Work had carried his case.
On the 14th of January last Mr. Work was removed from his house to the
jail, and has been there since awaiting sentence.
[Page 635]
In view of his physical sufferings, as set forth in the medical
certificate I have alluded to, which has necessarily been augmented by
the mental strain consequent upon his state of arrest for the past 2
years and 2 months, I feel little hesitancy in appealing in his behalf
to the high sense of justice and humanity which ever actuates Your
Excellency; praying that your kind offices may be exerted to the end
that Mr. Work may be removed from the jail to some place where proper
medical treatment may be secured, especially in view of the closing
sentences of the physicians’ certificate: “In the place of his [Work’s]
confinement, such treatment is impossible, and therefore we [the
physicians] are of opinion that he should be removed, from the jail, so
that he can be treated with some hope of securing his recovery.”
I am honored in renewing herewith, etc.,
[Inclosure.—Translation.]
The medical certificate.
We, the undersigned medical surgeons, do hereby certify that, having
examined Mr. Robert C. Work, confined in the jail of this city, we find
him suffering from bleeding piles, a disease which has afflicted him for
a long time; that very frequently high inflammation sets in, and the
flow of blood is excessive; that thereby he is caused great pain and
suffering; and that in such cases, and in his present surroundings, he
runs a risk, as the disease is serious and needs prompt attention in its
treatment; that in the place of his confinement such treatment is
impossible; and therefore we are of opinion that he should be removed
from the jail, so that he can be treated with some hope of securing his
recovery.
At the request of the party in interest, and
for the ends he may design, we extend this present in
Victoria, Tamaulipas, on the 10th day of March,
1890.
- Gregorio Porchini.
- Pegedis R. Balboa.
