The El Paso Chamber of Commerce respectfully proffers its cooperation and aid in securing further data, and will institute specific inquiry for the purpose of verifying or supplementing the statistics and information contained in your letter. With a view to facilitating such further inquiry and pursuit of the facts, we beg to submit the following observations, suggested by your letter of July 16: 1. It is conceded that some of the alleged cases of injustice can be traced to sensational or highly exaggerated newspaper accounts of unimportant incidents, or even to pure invention without any basis of fact. 2. We respectfully submit that the statements of the railway companies in Mexico are not to be taken as conclusive evidence, for two reasons: (1) The railway companies are interested parties, it being to their advantage pecuniarily that the present procedure in Mexico, which throws the burden of liability upon the employee, should be maintained. (2) Railway companies in Mexico evidently do not make it the duty of their officials to secure and preserve records of such imprisonment of their employees. It is rather to the interest of the railway companies that they should remain officially ignorant of matters an official knowledge of which might imply obligation to assist employees in distress or might embarrass the companies in their efforts to secure fresh American employees to replace those who had suffered injustice in discharge of the duties incident to railway service in Mexico. 3. Railway companies may well "disclaim all ground of complaint touching the treatment of their employees by the Mexican judicial authorities," as noted in your letter, since the Mexican procedure relieves the company of responsibility for accident and throws the responsibility upon the employee. 4. It is noted in your letter that the answers of the railway companies to Mr. Clayton's inquiries are "not explicit as to the time of detention." We respectfully submit that this is a vital point. It is a fundamental principle of our law that justice shall be not only sure, but speedy. It is highly important to know how many days, or weeks, or months the imprisoned American citizen must spend in the Mexican jail, enduring the conditions and subsisting upon the food characteristic of Mexican jails; among people of strange race and tongue, through whom he is powerless to send any message that might bring to his relief the mighty forces of the American State. You have noted the "singularly large showing" of American railway employees imprisoned in the State Sonora during the past year, with no account rendered as to the eventual disposition of their cases, and with no assurance that there are not to-day American citizens dragging out miserable lives in unjust imprisonment in some of the jails of Sonora. 5. No one doubts that the American Government, through its State Department and its embassy to Mexico, purposes to employ all means deemed proper, practicable, and effective to protect the rights of American citizens in Mexico. But, as noted in your letter, "not all such arrests are brought to its notice." It is this fact which calls for further action by the American Government, to the end that every American citizen employed in Mexico shall be assured of opportunity to bring any case of alleged injustice to the attention of the American embassy. The fact is significant that, as noted in your letter, "during Mr. Clayton's incumbency of over four years but twelve complaints of this character have been under consideration." It is commonly believed in this part of the United States that accidents leading to such imprisonment in Mexico are much more frequent than is indicated by the statistics received by Mr. Clayton from the railway companies. The fact that, as noted by you, of the thirty-two reported cases of arrest and imprisonment of American railway employees in Mexico during the past year, eight cases are reported in connection with 268 miles of railway in Sonora, leaving but twenty-four cases reported for over 7,000 miles of railway throughout the rest of Mexico, and the further fact that out of a total of sixty-two railway employees in train service in Sonora, seventeen were arrested and imprisoned in one year, while but thirty-six arrests are reported for the remaining four thousand employees throughout Mexico-these facts are, if not conclusive proof of the unreliability of the statistics, significant enough to warrant and urge further inquiry. We are gratified to note your conclusion, as stated in your letter, that "there remain enough cases of protracted imprisonment, especially when the accused is held for trial, to warrant the repeated protests of this Government against the delays of Mexican justice." We are equally gratified to note the vigor and persistency of the American State Department in pressing upon the Mexican Government the propriety and advisability, from every point of view except that of the pecuniary interests of the railway companies, of amending the Mexican law so as to bring Mexican procedure into conformity with that of the United States and other nations with respect to the incidence of responsibility for accidents in railway service. We beg to suggest that more complete, accurate, and reliable information can be secured through the organizations of railway employees than through the reports of Mexican railway companies or Mexican officials regarding cases of alleged unjust imprisonment of American railway employees in Mexico. To invite reports through this suggested channel would probably result in bringing a large number of cases of alleged unjust imprisonment before the State Department. In many of these cases doubtless the imprisoned American would be accorded substantial justice by the Mexican authorities without appeal to his Government. But the very fact that the prisoner is assured of quick and easy appeal to his Government will be the best possible safeguard against injustice, and the strongest possible guaranty of a speedy trial and disposition of his case. Moreover, if but one American citizen out of a hundred thus arrested were by this means protected against prolonged imprisonment or unjust sentence, the personal right to life and liberty guaranteed by the American Constitution to every American citizen fully establishes the obligation of the United States Government to secure to this individual citizen both the protection of the American Government and the opportunity to present his appeal for such protection. I have, etc., ERNEST E. RUSSELL, Secretary. CONDOLENCES ON ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT M'KINLEY. Señor de Azpiroz to Mr. Hay. [Telegram.] MEXICAN EMBASSY, Allenhurst, N. J., September 15, 1901. Mexican people and Government deplore your national calamity. I offer you my personal profoundest sympathy. DE AZPÍROZ, Mexican Ambassador. Mr. Hill to Señor de Azpiroz. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, September 25, 1901. EXCELLENCY: The pressure of public business attendant upon the death of President McKinley has delayed until now an acknowledgment of your telegram of the 14th instant conveying an expression of the sympathy of the Government and people of Mexico with the Gov ernment and people of the United States in the loss they have sustained by that sad event. I shall be obliged if you will assure your Government that their condolement is gratefully appreciated by the Government and people of the United States, who are deeply touched by the innumerable manifestations of sympathy which they have received from all parts of the world. At the same time I beg to thank you for the expression of sympathy made on your own behalf. Accept, etc., DAVID J. HILL, No. 263.] NETHERLANDS. MARRIAGE OF QUEEN WILHELMINA. Mr. Hill to Mr. Newel. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, January 7, 1901. SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatch No. 353," of the 15th ultimo, relative to the marriage of the Queen of The Netherlands. You will make all necessary congratulations and participate in such manner as may be expected of the diplomatic corps. I am, etc., DAVID J. HILL, Mr. Newel to Mr. Hay. [Telegram.] SGRAVENHAGE, February 7, 1901. Her Majesty Wilhelmina, Queen of The Netherlands and Princess of Orange-Nassau, married Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin at 12.30 to-day. The streets filled with thousands of happy people in brilliant sunshine. Mr. Newel to Mr. Hay. NEWEL. No. 376.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have the honor to confirm herewith my cablegram" of the 7th instant announcing the marriage of Her Majesty Queen, Wilhelmina of the Netherlands with Duke Hendrik of MecklenburgSchwerin. The festivities in connection with the royal ceremony commenced on the 22d ultimo, at which date the formal notice of the purposed royal wedding was given at the city hall. This event was hailed by a general display of flags from all the Government and public buildings, the various foreign legations and ministers' residences, and a large number of private houses. From last Monday, the 4th instant, the city has been en fête, all the principal thoroughfares being gaily decorated during the day and illuminated at night. On that day the soldiers donned their full tenue, and in the afternoon an enormous band of musicians, representing music corps and societies from all parts of the country, assembled before the palace with their varied-colored banners and played the national anthem and popular airs. Immediately after they marched in procession through the town, while the Queen received in audience delegates from the provinces who tendered the felicitations of their respective districts. Early in the evening the Queen was serenaded by a very large company of vocalists selected from the best singers of The Hague and Rotterdam, the houses were lighted up with illuminations and the thousands of people who thronged the streets were in ecstacies in their rejoicing over the great coming event. While everything was at its brightest the two Queens, accompanied by the Duke, proceeded to the railway station to welcome the foreign princes and immediate relatives on their arrival in The Hague. On Tuesday, the 5th instant, the Queen granted an audience to the chiefs of the foreign missions and the representatives of various corporations, that they might present their last felicitations and wedding gifts. Early in the afternoon other musical bodies greeted the Queen in song from the palace gardens, and at the termination thereof the royal party drove through the city and neighborhood in full state. At night there was a gala dinner at the palace, to which were invited all the foreign ministers, the court officials, in addition to all the royal guests, and immediately upon the close the whole company attended at the opera house, where a special musical display was given in honor of the occasion. After the theater the royal guests, the court and some of the Dutch people were entertained at the German legation, where the German minister had prepared an elaborate soirée. No member of the diplomatic corps, except the Russian minister and two others, was invited. On Wednesday, shortly after noon, there was a large procession of a great many trades and artisans before the palace and through the town, after which the royal party again drove through the streets and vicinity, accompanied, as on the preceding day, by a full escort. That evening there was a grand soirée at the palace, to which all the diplomatic corps, the élite, and military were invited, and at which some of the leading members of Dutch society gave a series of tableaux vivants, representative of graphic pictures from the history of the houses of the Orange and Mecklenburg families. The wedding morning was an exceptionally fine one, the route to the church was crowded hours before the ceremony took place with an expectant and glad throng of people, and at every point of vantage eager spectators were to be observed. The civil part of the ceremony took place at the palace, the minister of justice, assisted by the secretary of the city corporation, being the officiating functionaries, while the presidents of the States-General, the court of justice, the council of state, the chief officer of the court, and an important military officer acted as witnesses, the only attendants being the nearest family relatives. From the palace the wedding party proceeded to the church in a stately procession. The route was lined by soldiers and police and an eager and exulting crowd. Long before the arrival of the SoyFR 1901-27 ereign the diplomatic corps in full force, the members of the StatesGeneral, together with the élite of the whole country and a large press representation had assembled to witness the public performance in the church. From beginning to end there was nothing to mar the general gayety and pleasure of the occasion. The ceremony in the "Groote Kerk" was singularly beautiful and impressive, and reached its climax when at the close of the marriage service the officiating Dutch Reformed clergyman, Mr. van der Flier, made the customary present of a Bible to the royal bride, who was standing radiant in the sunlight, which for an instant streamed in at the windows. It seemed to me as I looked around that there were no dry eyes in the church. The return to the palace was as grand and enthusiastic as the procession thither. At 4 o'clock the royal pair started for the palace in the country, "Het Lee," where they pass the honeymoon, making their next appearance in Amsterdam at the beginning of March next. The universal approval of this love match is very touching, and I am told that the people believe that the "orange weather" (fine weather) during the service is a sure sign of a happy married life. A few days prior to the wedding Duke Hendrik was by royal order appointed rear-admiral of the Netherlands navy, lieutenant-general of the Netherlands army and of the Colonial army, all three appointments being à la suite, and therefore honorary. Immediately after the marriage a special issue of the Netherlands Gazette appeared announcing the marriage and containing two royal orders, whereby the duke was proclaimed a prince of the Netherlands, and conferring upon him the right to act as advisory member of the Netherlands council of state. At the audience of the 5th instant Her Majesty the Queen wishes me to thank the President for his kindness and to express her gratitude for the many evidences of good will and sympathy which she had received from the American people. I have, etc., STANFORD NEWEL. LIABILITY OF NATURALIZED CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES UNDER MILITARY AND EXPATRIATION LAWS OF THEIR NATIVE COUNTRY. " DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, August 30, 1901. NOTICE TO AMERICAN CITIZENS FORMERLY SUBJECTS OF THE NETHERLANDS WHO CONTEMPLATE RETURNING TO THAT COUNTRY. The information given below is believed to be correct, yet is not to be considered as official, as it relates to the laws and regulations of a foreign country. A subject of the Netherlands is liable to military service from his nineteenth to his fortieth year. He must register to take part in the drawing of lots for military service between January 1 and August 31 of the calendar year in which he reaches the age of 19. He is exempt, however, from service if he is an only son or is physically disabled; See instruction to Belgium, December 10, 1900, page 16. |
