Minister Gummeré to the Secretary of State.
Tangier, May 22, 1906.
Sir: With reference to my No. 87, of the 21st instant, I have the honor to report further regarding the boat Manolita, as follows: Shortly after the said boat was duly registered by Leon Osiel, a naturalized American citizen, it was reported to me that Isaac Pinto, a Spanish subject from whom Osiel had bought the boat., was a notorious smuggler. I accordingly sent for Mr. Osiel and warned him what I had heard concerning Pinto, and that I also understood that the said Pinto was to have charge of the management of the boat. Osiel assured me that he had never heard of Pinto’s reported reputation, and that the boat was used in genuine coast trade. I thereupon dismissed him with a warning.
On the 14th of April, 1906, I received a letter from Sid Mohamed Ben Arby Torres, the Sultan’s representative at Tangier, complaining that one Isaac Pinto, of Tetuan, a Spanish protégé, was smuggling cartridges on the Riff coast, and while doing so was frying the American flag, etc. A translation of the said letter is inclosed.
I at once replied to his excellency that I had reason to believe that the boat in question belonged to an American citizen, and, being duly registered, had the right to fly the American flag; that this, however, gave no license for illegitimate business, and if proof was furnished of such business no hindrance to the enforcement of the penalties of the law would be interposed by this legation. A copy of my said letter is herewith inclosed. To-day I am informed by the Spanish minister that the said Isaac Pinto sails another small vessel under the Spanish flag, and that he had lately received from Sid Torres a complaint similar to the one addressed to me, to which he had virtually given the same reply as mine.
When I received the complaint from Torres, I sent for Leon Osiel, the reputed owner of the boat, and not only told him of the said complaint, but warned him that if they were found to be true the consequences to himself would be very serious.
Although exaggerated reports as to an outrage on an American boat are rife here at Tangier, I have received no visit or complaint regarding the same from Mr. Osiel as yet; with other circumstances makes me suspect that the Manolita, at the time of the reported outrage, was engaged in some smuggling transaction. The very fact of the boat being on the Riff coast, where there is no legitimate trade, and where the bulk of contraband in arms, etc., is carried on, would seem to give foundation for such suspicion.
It is a question in my mind, in view of the various reports and complaints regarding the said Pinto, whether the authorization to fly the American flag on the Manolita should not be canceled, and I should be glad of your instructions regarding the same.
I am, sir., etc.,