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No. 37.]

SIR :

Mr. E. Alexander to Mr. Ukl.

[Extract.]

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,

Athens, June 30, 1894. (Received July 17.)

The draft of a trade-mark convention has been submitted to the minister for foreign affairs, who is now considering the matter. In May I had several conferences with him on this subject. It is probable that the convention can be concluded at once.

I am translating the laws of Greece relating to trade-marks, and will send you the translation as soon as possible.

I have, etc.,

E. ALEXANDER.

No. 41.]

Mr. Alexander to Mr. Gresham.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Athens, July 21, 1894. (Received August 6.)

SIR: Referring to your dispatches numbered 21 and 23, I have the honor to inform you that a declaration for the reciprocal protection of trade-marks and trade labels has been signed by the Greek minister for foreign affairs, Mr. D. M. Stephanos, and by me.

A convention would have required the ratification of the Boulé (Chamber of Deputies), and, in the present condition of affairs in Greece, there would have been considerable delay in securing such ratification. This declaration, however, being simply an interpretation of our treaty with Greece, goes into effect at once.

I may add that Austria and France have arranged the matter in the same way, and that Great Britain is also preparing a similar declaration.

One copy of the declaration agreed upon to-day (old style, July 9) is submitted herewith; the other copy is filed in the foreign office.

I have, etc.,

E. ALEXANDER.

GUATEMALA AND HONDURAS.

LOCAL JURISDICTION OVER FOREIGN MERCHANT SHIPS.

Mr. Huntington to Mr. Gresham.

PACIFIC MAIL STEAMSHIP COMPANY,

35 Wall Street, New York, December 13, 1893. SIR: Referring to our letter of the 11th of November last, we again beg to call the attention of the Department to the request contained in the closing paragraph reading:

In view of the fact that this is not the first case on record in which the commanders of our steamers plying on the Central American coast have been called on to deliver to the authorities of the different republics passengers on their steamers (accused of political offenses against said republics), and under their charge and protection of our flag, we would esteem it a favor if some definite action should be taken by the Department, by prompt intervention in this instance, to secure protection in the future for passengers, cargo, and mails carried by our steamers, and that a definite policy be outlined by our Government, and communicated to this company, in order that such instructions may be issued to our commanders as will properly secure the protection of our ships, and prevent any misunderstanding on the part of our officers which might contravene and confuse the wishes of our Government and involve the Department as well as this company in needless complications.

The Department will readily understand that without some such definite indication of the policy of our Government in connection with these cases; it is impossible for us to lay down a fixed rule for the governance of our commanders on the Pacific coast, under which they shall act intelligently in such emergencies.

We trust, therefore, that, in the light of all the facts in connection with this incident now in the possession of the Department, it may be deemed consistent to comply promptly with our request as above indicated.

I have, etc.,

C. P. HUNTINGTON, President.

Mr. Gresham to Mr. Huntington.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

Washington, December 30, 1893. SIR: I have given attention to your letter of the 13th instant, in which you refer to the recent firing upon your steamer Costa Rica in the Honduranian port of Amapala, and repeat the suggestion contained in your letter of November 11, 1893, that a definite policy in respect to surrendering accused criminals when claimed by the local authorities in a port of call be outlined for the guidance of your commanders.

It is not practicable to lay down a general fixed rule applicable to the varying conditions in such cases. As a comprehensive principle, it is well established in international law that a merchant vessel in a foreign port is within the local jurisdiction of the country with respect to offenses or offenders against the laws thereof, and that an orderly demand for surrender of a person accused of crime by due process of law, with exhibition of a warrant of arrest in the hands of the regularly

accredited officers of the law, may not be disregarded nor resisted by the master of the ship. On the same voyage when the Amapala incident occurred, Capt. Dow appears to have acted on this principle in allowing the arrest at other ports, on proper judicial warrant, of two or three other passengers accused of crime. That the passenger may have come on board at the port where the demand is made, or at another port of the same country, is immaterial to the right of local jurisdiction. Arbitrary attempts to capture a passenger by force, without regular judicial process, in a port of call, may call for disavowal when, as in the present case at Amapala, the resort to violence endangers the lives of innocent men and the property of a friendly nation. Whether, if force be threatened, the master of the vessel is justified in putting in jeopardy, by his resistance, the interests committed to his care, must be largely a question for his discretion. It is readily conceivable that the consequences of futile resistance to overpowering force may be such as to make the resistance itself unwarrantable.

The so-called doctrine of asylum having no recognized application to merchant vessels in port, it follows that a shipmaster can found no exercise of his discretion on the character of the offense charged. There can be no analogy to proceedings in extradition when he permits a passenger to be arrested by the arm of the law. He is not competent to determine whether the offense is one justifying surrender, or whether the evidence in the case is sufficient to warrant arrest and commitment for trial, or to impose conditions upon the arrest. His function is passive merely, being confined to permitting the regular agents of the law, on exhibition of lawful warrant, to make the arrest. The diplomatic and consular representatives of the United States in the country making the demand are as incompetent to order surrender by way of quasi-extradition as the shipmaster is to actively deliver the accused. This was established in the celebrated Barrundia case by the disavowal and rebuke of Minister Mizner's action, in giving to the Guatemalan authorities an order for the surrender of the accused.

If it were generally understood that the masters of American merchantmen are to permit the orderly operation of the law in ports of call, as regards persons on board accused of crime committed in the country to which the port pertains, it is probable on the one hand that occasions of arrest would be less often invited by the act of the accused in taking passage with a view to securing supposed asylum, and on the other hand that the regular resort to justice would replace the reckless and offensive resort to arbitrary force against an unarmed ship which, when threatened or committed, has in more than one instance constrained urgent remonstrance on the part of this Government.

I am, etc.,

W. Q. GRESHAM.

Mr. Gresham to Mr. Young.

No. 76.]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, January 31, 1894.

SIR: I inclose herewith for your information copy of a letter from the president of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and copy of the Department's reply thereto, in relation to the firing upon the steamer Costa Rica in the port of Amapala, Honduras, and the position of commanders of merchant vessels as regards demands for the surrender of criminals. W. Q. GRESHAM.

I am, etc.,

No. 56.1

REVOLT IN HONDURAS.

Mr. Pringle to Mr. Gresham.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,

Guatemala, January 6, 1894. (Received January 26.)

SIR: With reference to the situation of Honduras I beg leave to say that I have just sent you a cable as follows:

JANUARY 6, 1894.

Vasquez defeated at Choluteca. Loses many prisoners. Yuscarán held by revolutionists. Situation serious for Vasquez.

PRINGLE.

I understand that Gen. Vasquez is about to make a final effort to reestablish his authority and to drive the revolutionists out of Honduras. A decisive engagement was expected yesterday near Tegucigalpa, the capital, but up to the present moment of writing I have heard nothing.

Should the Government forces be again defeated serious trouble must follow.

Yuscarán is a mining town, about 12 leagues from Tegucigalpa, and there is quite an amount of American capital invested there.

Our consul at Tegucigalpa has not been able to furnish me with any information at all, as I understand the telegraph lines are only allowed to send dispatches which are favorable to the Government.

I have, etc.,

D. LYNCH PRINGLE, Chargé d'Affaires ad interim.

No. 63.]

Mr. Pringle to Mr. Gresham.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,

Guatemala, February 9, 1894. (Received March 2.) SIR: Mr. Peterson, consul at Tegucigalpa, wrote this legation saying that there were several Americans serving with President Vasquez in Honduras, and that if the revolutionists under Policarpo Bonilla captured them they would undoubtedly be shot.

The situation has become desperate for President Vasquez, and from the present information in my possession I deem his downfall only a question of a few days. As Mr. Peterson is cut off from all outside communication I thought it best to cable you.

Amongst the Americans serving with Vasquez is a Mr. Imboden, who owns large mining interests at Yuscarán, and who is a bitter personal enemy of Bonilla. His brother is at present in Guatemala and appealed to me two days ago to take such steps as I thought proper to avert such a possibility.

I informed Mr. Imboden that I could not act officially, as he must be well aware of the fact that all Americans serving during revolutionary times must accept the consequences of defeat.

It is possible, however, that you might take another view of this matter, inasmuch as the Americans are all serving in the army of the constitutionally recognized Government, and in most instances are fighting for the preservation of their property and interests.

As I have reason to believe that the Ranger is at Amapala, which is about three days' journey from Tegucigalpa, I thought it best to call your attention to this fact, that in case you wished to communicate with the capital, an officer might be sent from there.

I have, etc.,

D. LYNCH PRINGLE, Chargé d'Affaires ad interim.

P. S.-I inclose copy of letter from Mr. Imboden, the gentleman referred to in this dispatch.

[Inclosure in No. 63.]

Mr. Imboden to Mr. Pringle.

GUATEMALA CITY, February 8, 1894.

DEAR SIR: I beg to call your attention to the many official telegrams from the seat of war at Tegucigalpa, Honduras, published in the daily newspapers of this city. All these advices claim that the allied troops of Nicaragua and revolutionists of Honduras have reduced Gen. Vasquez and his army to a state of siege in the capital and will force his retreat or capitulation. In the latter event many people believe that should any of the Americans now serving as officers or soldiers under Gen. Vasquez, who is the President of Honduras, become prisoners of war they would be murdered by the revolutionist forces.

While I do not believe this would occur, it is nevertheless possible, and as there is at least a doubt on the question, I suggest it is worthy of the prompt attention of the American Government. Many of the Americans serving now with Gen. Vasquez are long resident in that country, are men of character and good position, commercially and socially, and they maintain they have the same right to enlist their services with the Government of Honduras that an Englishman or German had who joined the American Army in 1861, and are entitled to all the amenities of civilized warfare.

Trusting you will give this effective attention,
I am, etc.,

F. M. IMBODEN. ·

No. 79.)

Mr. Gresham to Mr. Pringle.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, February 16, 1894.

SIR: I append a copy of your telegram of 8th instant, reporting the statement of Mr. Peterson, consul at Tegucigalpa, that if any Americans in the army of Vasquez should be captured by Bonilla they will be shot. In an interview with the minister of Nicaragua, I find that Dr. Guzmán does not share Mr. Peterson's apprehensions.

I am, etc.,

W. Q. GRESHAM.

No. 68.]

Mr. Pringle to Mr. Gresham.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Guatemala, March 1, 1894. (Received March 15.)

SIR: I have the honor to report to you that on the evening of the 22d instant President Vasquez, of Honduras (with about 300 troops), cut his way through the lines of the Nicaraguan and Honduranean revolutionists under Bonilla, and escaped from Tegucigalpa, where he had been besieged for thirty-one days by Bonilla.

As telegraphic communication has been interrupted, it is almost impossible to get any positive or accurate information. Mr. Peterson

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