Mr. Everett to Mr. Hay. [Telegram.-Paraphrase] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Guatemala, November 6, 1900. (Mr. Everett reports the receipt of a telegram from the minister for foreign affairs of Honduras to the effect that his Government has ordered the payment of the indemnity demanded in the Pears case, and that immediate remittance will be made to Mr. Everett.) Mr. Everett to Mr. Hay. No. 459.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have the honor to inform you that on the 6th instant I received a telegram, a copy of which I inclose herewith, from the minister of foreign affairs of Honduras informing me that his Government had decided to pay the indemnity demanded in the Pears case, and that drafts for the amount would be sent me in due course. A copy of my note of October 11, to which he refers, was inclosed in my dispatch to the Department, No. 446, of October 12. I at once acknowledged the receipt of above telegram in a telegram dated the 6th instant, a copy of which I inclose herewith, and communicated the facts to the Department the same day in a cablegram. I am now awaiting the arrival of the promised drafts, which will be forwarded to the Department as soon as received. I have, etc., SIDNEY B. EVERETT, Chargé d'Affaires ad interim. [Inclosure 1.] Mr. Bonilla to Mr. Everett. [Telegram-Translation.] TEGUCIGALPA, November 5, 1900. I have the honor to inform your excellency that on receipt of your courteous dispatch of October 11 last this Government has ordered the immediate payment of the indemnity claimed in the Pears case. Drafts in conformity therewith will arrive in due course. [Inclosure 2.] Mr. Everett to Mr. Bonilla. [Telegram.] CÉSAR BONILLA. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Your excellency's telegram received informing me that Government of Honduras had decided to pay the indemnity demanded in the Pears case and that drafts for required amount would be sent me immediately. I shall acknowledge their receipt as soon as received. EVERETT, Chargé d'Affaires. No. 293.] Mr. Hay to Mr. Everett. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 12, 1900. SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatch, No. 446, of the 12th ultimo on the subject of the Pears claim, and to inform you that the Department approves your note of the 11th ultimo to the Honduranean Government demanding the immediate payment of an indemnity of $10,000 United States gold, payable through the legation. In this connection I have to inform you that I have received, with gratification, your telegram of the 6th instant. I am, etc., JOHN HAY. Mr. Hay to Mr. Everett. No. 294.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 14, 1900. SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatch, No. 454, of the 25th ultimo, quoting your telegram to the minister for foreign affairs of Honduras insisting upon the prompt payment of $10,000, gold, as indemnity in the Pears case, and also quoting the minister's reply. Your action in the matter is approved by the President. SIR: In reply to Department's dispatch No. 293, of the 12th instant, on the subject of the Pears claim, I have the honor to inclose herewith first exchange, No. 604, dated Tegucigalpa, November 8, 1900, of a draft for $10,000 gold on Rodolfo G. Barthold, of New York, and indorsed payable to the order of "John Hay, Secretary of State." I inclose also a copy and translation marked (2) and (3), respectively, of the note from the minister of foreign affairs, transmitting the said draft, and a copy and translation marked (4) and (5), respectively, of the decree and preambles of the President of Honduras ordering the payment of the above-mentioned sum, and receipt for same marked (6). I have the honor to be, sir, etc., W. GODFREY HUNTER. [I closure 1.] Mr. Bonilla to Mr. Everett. [Translation.] REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS, MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Tegucigalpa, November 3, 1900. SIR: A short time ago I received the dispatch of your excellency under date of October 11 last, in which you stated that the Government of the United States of America recedes from its claim for the punishment of the sentry, Cruz Rosales, but insists on the immediate payment of an indemnity of $10,000 gold for the heirs of Mr. Frank S. Pears, which sum must be paid to the order of that legation. In accordance with instructions from the President of the Republic, I have the honor to state to your excellency that the Government of Honduras, notwithstanding that it persists in its opinion already stated as regards the irresponsibility of the state in the violent death of Mr. Pears, the discussion having reached an end, and to prevent the affair interrupting the good relations with the Government of the United States, it has resolved to decree the payment of the indemnity claimed. I inclose herewith an authorized copy of the decree, which puts an end to the regrettable affair. In the same way I inclose a draft to the order of your legation to the value of the sum which is ordered to be paid. Expecting that your excellency will acknowledge their proper receipt, I sign myself your obedient servant, [Inclosure 2.] CESAR BONILLA. Decree of President of Honduras ordering payment of indemnity of $10,000. [Translation.] REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS, MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Tegucigalpa, November 2, 1900. In view of the communication, under date of October 11 last, from the chargé d'affaires ad interim of the Government of the United States of America, in which he states that the honorable Secretary of State of the United States, after having thoroughly considered the offer made by the Government of Honduras to put an end to the incident which arose on account of the sudden death of Mr. Frank S. Pears, by the payment of an indemnity of five thousand pesos ($5,000), which was declared unacceptable, giving him instructions to claim the immediate payment of an indemnity of ten thousand dollars gold ($10,000), which must be paid through the legation resident at Guatemala. Whereas, In his dispatch of April 25, 1899, the honorable minister of the United States, Mr. W. Godfrey Hunter, acting under instructions from his Government, presented the claim arising from the death of Mr. Frank S. Pears, which occurred on the night of January 31 of said year as the result of the wound with firearm which was caused by the soldier Cruz Rosales while on duty as sentry in one of the sentryhouses near the cuartel of San Pedro, demanding the arrest and punishment of said sentry, and the payment of an indemnity of ten thousand dollars gold ($10,000) for the heirs of the deceased. Whereas, The Government of the Republic, taking as a basis the report made by the minister of justice, Mr. E. Constantine Fiallos, who went to San Pedro expressly to conduct the proper investigation of the case, accompanied by the consul of the United States, Mr. F. H. Allison, made judicial investigations upon the presentation of the claim, stating at the same time the hope by which he was animated to reach an amicable and just ending of the difficulty which had sprung from the sad event of the death of Mr. Pears. Whereas the said minister of the United States in his dispatch of April 9 of the current year insisted on the claim set forth, for which reason it was deemed necessary to request the judgment of a committee of jurists, which gave its opinion, that in conformity with the laws of the Republic and on account of the legal acquittal of the sentry, Cruz Rosales, there was lacking the legal base upon which the indemnity demanded ought to rest, or what is the same, that there was no act from which the responsibility of the Republic might be deduced, but with the view of avoiding further difficulties, it was agreed that a proposal should be made to the American Government so that the sum claimed might be reduced, the more so as there existed a letter signed by four of the near relatives of Mr. Pears, addressed to the Secretary of State of the American Government, by which they refused the share that they might claim in the indemnity demanded. Whereas in accordance with the judgment, and on account of the suggestion of the honorable Minister Hunter in his dispatch of July 24 of the current year, that it would be satisfactory to him if he would be advised of a way by which an amicable arrangement could be reached, it was proposed to him to pay an indemnity of five thousand pesos ($5,000.00), insisting always upon the legal impossibility of the punishment of the sentry, Cruz Rosales, on account of the inability to reopen the procedure ended by the acquitting sentence passed in authority of judgment. Whereas with such antecedents it was justly expected that the claim would be arranged on principles less oppressive for the country; but with the last dispatch of the chargé d'affaires, Mr. Sidney B. Everett, the controversy is finished and a decision most beneficial to the interests of the country must be given out to avoid difficulties of a more serious character; and Whereas, It is true that even if we have been unsuccessful in reducing the sum of the indemnity claimed, yet we have still obtained definitely that the demand be abandoned for the punishment of the sentry Cruz Rosales, which was the most dangerous portion of the claim set forth; in that way the honor of the country remaining untouched. Wherefore the President decrees as follows: To acknowledge as a liability of the State the sum of ten thousand dollars gold ($10,000.00), which shall be paid to the order of the legation of the United States in Honduras as an indemnity to the family of the American citizen, Frank S. Pears, who died in Puerto Cortez the 31st day of January, 1899. This expense must be charged to the entry of the public credit, for which the minister of that department will be advised. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have the honor to confirm the following telegram: His Excelleney CÉSAR BONILLA, "GUATEMALA, November 20, 1900. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tegucigalpa: "I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your excellency's note of the 3d instant, inclosing a draft on New York for $10,000 gold as indemnity in the Pears case. "I shall have great pleasure in transmitting it to my Government, and shall further acknowledge the receipt of your excellency's note by mail. "I am, with assurances of personal esteem, your excellency's obedient servant, "HUNTER." In expressing my sincere gratification that this incident has been finally disposed of, I also take the opportunity to renew, etc., W. GODFREY HUNTER. CONSULAR IMMUNITIES IN CONNECTION WITH JUDICIAL SUMMONS. Mr. Hunter to Mr. Hay. No. 481.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have the honor to inclose herewith copies of a correspondence I have recently had with the minister of foreign affairs, to which I beg to direct your attention. It seems that Mr. P. A. Bruni, our consular agent at Champerico, having been summoned to appear in court at Retalhuleu to testify in some case, wrote back to the judge, saying that while he was willing to come to the court, yet he only did so out of pure good nature, as he considered that his official character freed him from any obligation to obey court summonses. The minister objects to this attitude on the part of the agent, and requests me to persuade him "to modify his ideas in this respect, which I have done by means of a letter to Consul-General McNally, a copy of which is hereto attached. Inasmuch as there is no consular convention between the United States and Guatemala, I would request the Department to advise me what course to pursue in these and similar cases. I have, etc., [Inclosure 1.-Translation.] W. GODFREY HUNTER. Mr. Barrios to Mr. Hunter. GUATEMALA, December 4, 1900. MR. MINISTER: Mr. P. A. Bruni, United States consular agent at Champerico, has been summoned to attend a trial in the criminal court of Retalhuleu; and although this gentleman in a note manifested his willingness to attend court, yet he also stated that he did so out of pure good nature, as he considered that by virtue of the official character with which he was invested he was not obliged to respond to such sum monses. This declaration, made by the consular agent referred to, compels me to request your excellency to take cognizance of the case, because my Government is not disposed to tolerate proceedings which are in any way contrary to what is laid down by the laws of nations. In effect, your excellency knows better than I that the members of the consular corps do not enjoy in any country in the world any special rights which place them outside the jurisdiction of the laws of the place where they exercise their functions, but that, like all the inhabitants, they are subject to the authority and protection of the said laws. I would request your excellency, if it will not give you trouble, that your honorable legation will give Mr. Bruni a friendly warning, to the end that he may modify his ideas in this respect in case there may be summonses in the future. I cherish the hope that your excellency, seeing through the reasons which this office holds, may be pleased to agree to the foregoing and will accept, etc., JUAN BARRIOS, M. |