guarantees public order and at the same time indorses the existence of a governing system of frauds and violence would be to offer unmerited offense to the country that has held out to us a generous hand, and which with singular disinterestedness contributes to our progress. The several questions which we hereby present to your execllency may be summarized as follows: 1. Does the American Government guarantee public order and constitutional succession in office in this Republic? 2. Is a government which violates the constitution and laws and attacks the first right of the citizens—the right of free suffrage-within the pale of such a protection? 3. Granted the possibility-to us an absolute certainty-that in the coming elections all manner of outrages will be committed against the people, will the Government of the United States look on with indifference at the spectacle of a defenseless people being cast at the mercy of those who trample on their rights? 4. Will it not be preferable for the United States to adopt, in time, such a course as would prevent their appearing before the eyes of the world as the champions of outrage and oppression? The directorate of the Liberal party requests your excellency to favor them with a frank answer to these questions and beg to respectfully point out that a reply expressing the repugnance of the United States to meddle in the internal affairs of a friendly nation could not be considered by us in the light of an answer, since our constitution confers upon your government the right to intervene for purposes of maintaining constitutional order, and if such faculty is given to avoid the evils of war it is natural that it also should be used to suppress the causes which, even contrary to our wishes, might produce them. PANAMA, November 5, 1905. No. 19.] PABLO AROSEMENA. EUSEBIO A. MORALES. D. DIAZ. F. FILOS, Secretary. The Secretary of State to Minister Magoon. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: The Department has given further consideration to the subject presented in your dispatch No. 21 of the 10th ultimo, heretofore acknowledged, communicating the text of a memorial as published in the Panama Journal of November 8, presented to the Secretary of War by the national directorate of the Liberal party of Panama on the occasion of the recent visit of the Secretary of War. Mr. Taft has also handed to me a copy in translation of the memorial. In this memorial the political relations and ties between the Republic of Panama and the United States are discussed with especial reference to the attitude of the United States in respect to the forthcoming elections in the Republic. After expressing the apprehensions of the Liberal party that fair and free election may be prevented by the actual Government of Panama, four concrete questions are submitted for answer, to which you particularly refer, as follows: First. Does the American Government guarantee public order of this nation and assure the constitutional succession of its public powers? Second. Can a government be within the limits of that protection when it violates the constitution and the laws and when it tramples underfoot the essential right of citizens—the right of suffrage? Given the possibility-which to us is an absolute certainty-that in the next elections all imaginable assaults against citizens will be committed, will the Government of the United States look upon this situation with indifference, a situation which delivers an unarmed people into the hands of those who trample upon their rights? Fourth. Would it not be preferable for the United States to express beforehand the line of conduct which it will adopt to prevent itself appearing before the world like a knight of abuse and oppression? The first of these four questions is to be answered in the negative. This practically disposes of the remaining three questions and of much of the arguments of the statement presented. The Liberal party should be informed that the Government of the United States, while guaranteeing the independence of the Republic of Panama, does not purpose to interfere with that independence. It is the earnest wish of the United States that there shall be a fair, free, and honest election in Panama, because it considers such an election necessary to the peace and prosperity of the country and the stability of its government. As between the two parties, the United States stands in an attitude of perfect impartiality and will do nothing to help either the party in power or the party of opposition. The United States will exercise its rights under the treaty for the maintenance of order in Panama, Colon, and upon the canal strip, and will not permit any interference with the peace and order of either of those cities or of that territory which can be prevented by the exercise of its treaty rights, and it will not go beyond its treaty rights. You will communicate a copy of this instruction to the Government of Panama, with the statement that the Government of the United States thus answers the Liberal party in such a way as it is hoped will correct any misapprehension which they may have regarding the conduct of the United States and without for a moment entertaining the thought that the Government of Panama will fail in any respect to secure to the people a perfectly fair, free, and honest election. You will at the same time suggest to the Government of Panama that, in view of the charges made in advance by the Liberal party, which are liable to be reiterated after the election, it is desirable to secure the most unimpeachable and satisfactory evidence of the fairness of the election by means of observation of competent witnesses during the conduct of the election. I am, etc., No. 24.] ELIHU ROOT. Minister Magoon to the Secretary of State. AMERICAN LEGATION, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your instruction No. 19 of December 4 on the subject of a memorial presented by the directorate of the Liberal party of Panama to the Secretary of War upon the occasion of his recent visit to the Isthmus. I have informed the secretary of state for foreign affairs of that part of the contents of your dispatch which refers to the attitude of the Government of the United States in respect to the approaching elections in the Republic, and inclose for your information copy of my note to him. [Inclosure.] Minister Magoon to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. AMERICAN LEGATION, Panama, December 16, 1905. EXCELLENCY: In obedience to instructions from the State Department of the Government of the United States, I have the honor to advise you that, in response to my dispatch of the 10th ultimo, communicating the text of a memorial presented to Hon. William H. Taft, Secretary of War, by the national directorate of the Liberal party at Panama, in which memorial the political relations and ties between the Republic of Panama and the United States are discussed with especial reference to the attitude of the United States in respect to the forthcoming elections in the Republic, a copy of which memorial was also handed to Secretary Root by Secretary Taft. After consideration of said memorial, the Secretary of State directs me to communicate to you the following: "The Liberal party should be informed that the Government of the United States, while guaranteeing the independence of the Republic of Panama, does not purpose to interfere with that independence. It is the earnest wish of the United States that there shall be a fair, free, and honest election in Panama, because it considers such an election necessary to the peace and prosperity of the country and the stability of its government. As between the two parties, the United States stands in an attitude of perfect impartiality, and will do nothing to help either the party in power or the party of opposition. The United States will exercise its rights under the treaty for the maintenance of order in Panama, Colon, and upon the canal strip, and will not permit any interference with the peace and order of either of those cities or of that territory which can be prevented by the exercise of its treaty rights, and it will not go beyond its treaty rights." I am also directed to further advise the Government of Panama "that the Government of the United States thus answers the Liberal party in such a way as it is hoped will correct any misapprehensions which they may have regarding the conduct of the United States, and without for a moment entertaining the thought that the Government of Panama will fail in any respect to secure to the people a perfectly fair, free, and honest election." I am also directed to suggest to the Government of Panama that, in view of the charges made in advance by the Liberal party, which are liable to be reiterated after the election, it is desirable to secure the most unimpeachable and satisfactory evidence of the fairness of the election by means of observation of competent witnesses during the conduct of the election. (Mr. Root instructs Mr. Magoon that Department's instruction No. 19 of the 4th instant may be communicated to the directorate of the Liberal party as answer to their memorial.) FR 190546 PERSIA. MURDER OF REV. BENJAMIN W. LABAREE, AN AMERICAN MISSIONARY IN PERSIA. NOTE. For previous correspondence see Foreign Relations, 1904, pp. 657-677 and 835-836. No. 98.] Minister Pearson to the Secretary of State. AMERICAN LEGATION, a Teheran, January 9, 1905. SIR: Since the date of my dispatch of December 6, the status of the Labaree case has completely changed. From its then confused and critical plight, the case has emerged into a definite and a measurably satisfactory condition. After receiving the authorization of the Department to demand an indemnity and to press for settlement, I made on the 29th of November a formal and unequivocal presentation of our demands, requiring a categorical answer within five days and the payment of the indemnity in cash in gold within thirty days. The Persian Government at first refused, but at the end of fifteen days accepted all our demands, and at the end of thirty days the indemnity payment is in hand. The murderer is in jail for life and a special commissioner sent by the Shah is in the field with orders to capture the accomplices, dead or alive. I inclose a memorandum presented by me on December 20, which sets forth the conditions on which the indemnity was reduced from $50,000 to $30,000. And also copy and translation of the reply of the minister for foreign affairs. Also copies of letters from Mrs. Labaree, * * * which explain fully the proceedings, the conditions, the arguments, and the motives which led to the result. I am sure that the President and the Secretary of State will share in my regret that perplexing and conflicting conditions made it expedient to accept less than the full $50,000, which the Persian Government agreed to pay in cash and had set apart at the time for the purpose. I knew that my government expected an indemnity that would be at once exemplary and deterrent, and that it would concur in my belief that the higher the indemnity the greater the security of our citizens in foreign lands. But under my instructions I felt obliged to defer in a measure to the urgent wishes of the widow and her advisers, though I took care that the $20,000 abated should not be thrown away, but should serve as a a Not printed. guaranty for the performance of the conditions in regard to punishment and as a guaranty against the usual methods of taxation and torture. As it is, after being reduced by two-fifths, the indemnity is still three times greater than the maximum ever heretofore paid by the Persian Government for the murder of a private person. * * My difficult task was to obtain the concession that "the amount of the indemnity should not be recovered by special tax or by other device or pretext enacted from the innocent inhabitants of the province." In this, finally, I succeeded, and this satisfied Mrs. Labaree's scruples and removed the foundation of her fears. * * * * * I am, etc., [Inclosure 1.-Translation.] MEMORANDUM. RICHMOND PEARSON. In the matter of the murder of Benjamin W. Labaree, an American citizen. The Persian Government having agreed to the demands of the American Government requiring 1. The imprisonment for life of Mir Ghaffar, the principal murderer. 2. The arrest and punishment according to the measure of their guilt of his accomplices in the murder. 3. The payment in cash for the benefit of the widow and orphans of the deceased of an indemnity in the sum of $50,000 gold. And the President of the United States desiring to set a salutary example to prevent similar crimes rather than to exact harsh and inconvenient terms of the Persian Government, and considering the unbroken friendship that has subsisted between the two governments in the past has instructed Richmond Pearson, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States, to accept the sum of $30,000 instead of the sum of $50,000, the full amount of the indemnity conceded by the Persian Government on the following express conditions, to wit: 1. If Mir Ghaffar shall be permitted to escape from prison by the negligence or connivance of Persian officials. 2. Or if the leading accomplices, notoriously identified as participants in the crime and living within the jurisdiction of Persia, shall not have been captured and punished according to the measure of their guilt before March 9, 1906. 3. Or if the amount of the indemnity or any part thereof shall be levied by special tax, or by other device or pretext exact it from the Christian population residing in Urumia or elsewhere in Persia, then and in any such event, so much of the indemnity as is hereby remitted, to wit, the sum of $20,000, shall immediately become due and payable just as if no reduction had been made in the total amount conceded by the Persian Government, it being the purpose and intent of both governments in concluding this form of settlement to prevent as far as possible the recurrence of similar crimes. Signed on behalf of the United States by Richmond Pearson, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, the 20th day of December, 1904, corresponding to the 12th of Shavval A, H. 1322. [Inclosure 2.-Translation.] The Minister for Foreign Affairs to Minister Pearson. MINISTRY FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS, YOUR EXCELLENCY: I have considered the draft memorandum, which you presented to me several days ago, containing the conditions for bringing to a conclusion the case of the murder of Mr. Labaree. |