orders to the end that, with the greatest dispatch possible, may be prepared the measure for the extraordinary credit of $17,500. When these indispensable requisites have ended, the said department will advise, and I will hasten to announce to your excellency the date on which you may take charge of the said amount, thereby definitively ending the differences of a pecuniary character. In regard to the other point to which your excellency refers in your note, I beg to refer to what I have already said upon the subject, and I avail myself, etc., By authorization, JOAQUIN VALERA. Mr. Gresham to Mr. Taylor. [Telegram.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Referring to your No. 193, 23d ultimo; have you received Caroline indemnity? GRESHAM. Mr. Taylor to Mr. Gresham. [Telegram.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Indemnity paid and draft mailed to-day. TAYLOR. No. 209.] Mr. Taylor to Mr. Gresham. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Madrid, July 13, 1894. (Received July 28.) SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your cablegram of the 12th instant, inquiring as to the payment of the Caroline indemnity, a copy of which is appended on the overleaf. It has so happened that the payment was made to-day, of which fact I have notified you by a cablegram, a copy of which is appended on the overleaf. I inclose herein the first of exchange (No. 30762), drawn by the Union Bank of Spain and England, Limited, to your order on Messrs. Ladenburg, Thalmann & Co., 46 Wall street, New York, for $17,500 in American gold. As soon as a proper and becoming time elapses I will make the demand for the return of the missionaries in accordance with your instructions. I am, etc., HANNIS TAYLOR. No. 227.] Mr. Taylor to Mr. Gresham. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Madrid, August 27, 1894. (Received September 10.) SIR: A reasonable time having elapsed since the payment of the Caroline indemnity, I have addressed to the minister of state a formal demand for the return of the missionaries according to your instructions, which I have endeavored to follow in every particular. I inclose herewith a copy of my note, hoping that it may meet with your approval. I suppose the check for the $17,500, mailed to you on the 13th (No. 209) of July, has been duly received, although there has been no acknowledgment of it. I am, etc., [Inclosure in No. 227.] HANNIS TAYLOR. Mr. Taylor to Señor Moret. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Madrid, August 27, 1894. EXCELLENCY: It now becomes my duty, under special instructions from my Government, to call your attention to that aspect of the affair at Ponape which still remains for adjustment. In my note to you of July 14 I had the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the sum of $17,500 in American gold in settlement for certain pecuniary losses sustained by the missionaries at Ponape during the troubles of 1887 and 1890, according to the agreement of my Government as expressed to you in my note of January 9, 1894, upon that subject. In that note, in reply to yours of the 12th of October, 1893, I expressed the willingness of my Government to accept the indemnity for the pecuniary aspect of the matter without thereby waiving, either expressly or by implication, its coincident demand for the return of the despoiled American citizens to the spot where they have established vested and recognized rights through half a century of residence and tenure. That aspect of the matter, as your excellency will remember, was postponed for the moment under the assurance contained in your note of the 12th of October, 1893, that "the Government of His Majesty, ratifying what it has already promised, will be specially careful, as soon as the reports from the superior authorities of the Philippines (who have again been consulted) permit it, to announce to the Washington Government the date at which the missionaries may effect their return to Ponape without any risk." It is now with the greatest satisfaction that my Government is able to announce to you, what of course you already know, that Señor Don Juan de la Concha, the present governor of the Carolines, has expressed himself very fully and formally upon this subject to the effect that he is willing to grant permission to the said missionaries to return to the field of their labors, with full protection both as to life and property. the moment that he is permitted to do so by His Majesty's Government at Madrid; that he only awaits inquiries from that source in order to urge the return of the missionaries most heartily. This opinion and resolution of the gover or of the Carolines, which has been duly and officially communicated to my Government, has no doubt by this time been communicated to your excellency. As the views thus expressed by the governor of the Carolines removes the last obstacle to the return of the missionaries, my Government directs me to ask of your excellency to grant at once the necessary permission, so long delayed, for their return. I seize, etc., HANNIS TAYLOR. No. 231.] Mr. Taylor to Mr. Gresham. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Madrid, September 1, 1894. (Received September 13.) SIR: I have the honor to inclose herein, with translation, a copy of a note just received from the minister of state in reply to my note of the 27th ultimo, demanding permission for the missionaries to return to Ponape, a copy of which I mailed to you on that day. I am, etc., HANNIS TAYLOR. [Inclosure in No. 231.- -Translation.] MINISTRY OF STATE, EXCELLENCY: I have read, not without surprise, in your note of the 27th instant, that the governor of the Caroline Islands has given a decision (is of opinion "dado un dictamen") which, as your excellency is kind enough to inform me, is now in the possession of the U. S. Government, by which he recommends the return of the Methodist missionaries to Ponape. I am surprised, because the ministry of state and perhaps not even the ministry for the colonies, has no knowledge of such a document, and also because a local governor is not vested with the power and authority to perform an act of this nature. The governorgeneral of the Philippine Islands, the only authority directly responsible to the Government of the nation, is alone authorized to take such a step, and it is upon his judgment alone that the Government could base the decision which your excellency urges upon me with such interest. Nevertheless I have hastened to inform the ministry of the colonies of the contents of your note, and have asked with urgency for all information regarding the matter which may be in the possession of the ministry, with the purpose of basing upon official data the reply which I propose giving to the petition which your excellency presents. I avail, etc., S. MORET. Mr. Uhl to Mr. Taylor. No. 186.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I have to acknowledge receipt of your No. 227, of the 27th ultimo, and to approve your course in demanding of the Spanish Government permission for the return of the missionaries to the Caroline Islands. The draft for $17,500 which accompanied your No. 209, of July 13 last, was duly received. I am, etc., EDWIN F. UHL. No. 237.] Mr. Taylor to Mr. Gresham. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Madrid, September 20, 1894. (Received September 29.) SIR: I have the honor to inclose herein, with translation, a copy of a note from the minister of state in further reply to my note of the 27th ultimo, asking permission for the return of the missionaries to the isle of Ponape. I am, etc., [Inclosure in No. 237.-Translation.] Señor Moret to Mr. Taylor. HANNIS TAYLOR. MINISTRY OF STATE, Palace, September 18, 1894. EXCELLENCY: With reference to my note of August 31, which was written in answer to the note which your excellency addressed to me on the 27th of the same month, in relation to the return to Ponape of the Methodist missionaries, I have to add that the minister for the colonies informs me that there is no information in his ministry in regard to the opinion expressed and the conduct observed by the governor of the Carolines, Señor Don Juan de la Concha, in regard to this delicate question. The reports of the superior authorities of the archipelago go to prove that the circumstances which counseled the Spanish Government to postpone the granting of the permission to return to Ponape which the Methodist missionaries request have undergone no change, and on this account the minister of the colonies does not think that the moment has come to grant their request. In communicating this to your excellency, I seize, etc., S. MORET. RECIPROCITY ARRANGEMENT-PUBLICATION OF DEFINITIVE REPER TORY. Mr. Gresham to Mr. Taylor. [Telegram.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Original repertory of reciprocity arrangement was signed here in Spanish and English. Inadvertently English alone sent to Spain, which, retranslated there for Cuban customs authorities, contains numerous discrepancies. To correct errors Spanish minister here had copy original Spanish certified under legation seal and forwarded to Havana for official use, but he is informed by captain general of Cuba that minister for colonies regards the translation of English text as official. Evident misunderstanding, as original Spanish text is alone official for Spanish Government. See minister for colonies and request him to instruct Cuban authorities to print copy sent by Spanish minister for use hereafter as official text. Early action necessary, as daily errors occur from use of their present text, which is a Spanish retranslation from the English translation of the original Spanish. GRESHAM. Mr. Taylor to Mr. Gresham. [Telegram.] MADRID, October 18, 1893. Minister ultramar admits that Cuban repertory is translation. English version maintains that neither in ministry states nor elsewhere is there any knowledge of a Spanish version signed by Spanish minister being in existence. Minister ultramar promises to recognize Spanish version attested by Spanish minister when received here. Have minister send such copy at once. Meantime ultramar telegraphs to suspend proceedings Aguilera case. TAYLOR. No. 48.] Mr. Gresham to Mr. Taylor. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, October 26, 1893. SIR: In accordance with the terms of your telegram of the 18th instant, a facsimile copy of the Spanish version of the repertory articles to be admitted into Cuba under the commercial arrangement between the United States and Spain has been forwarded to the Spanish minister to be transmitted to his Government. This repertory was signed in Spanish and English text at Washington, October 17, 1892, by the Secretary of State, Mr. Foster, and the Spanish minister, Señor Dupuy de Lôme. The copy referred to has been carefully compared with the original in this Department by a representative thereof and a member of the Spanish legation, and the Spanish minister has promised to have the same duly certified under the seal of the legation and transmitted to Spain by this mail. A type-written copy of the same Spanish text was also certified in this manner and forwarded to Cuba on or about September 21 last for publication by the Spanish customs authorities. I am informed by the consul-general at Havana that the copy has been received, but publication was delayed owing to the belief prevalent at Madrid that the English text was the only text signed. As almost all the difficulties which have arisen with the customs authorities in Cuba have grown out of the numerous errors which exist in the Spanish translation of the English, it is desirable that the correct repertory should be published at the earliest possible date. In order to prevent delay, therefore, you are instructed to request the minister of the colonies to send telegraphic instructions to Cuba ordering the publication of the copy already there, which is exactly the same as the copy now sent to Madrid. By this action a delay of some weeks will be avoided. I am, etc., W. Q. GRESHAM. |