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Mr. Baker to Mr. Gresham.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,

No. 178.]
Managua, December 22, 1893. (Received January 12, 1894.)
SIR: I wish to report further proceedings in the matter mentioned in
my dispatches Nos. 161, 164, and 169.

On December 11 Mrs. Jacoby called in person on President Zelaya with my letter of the 9th to her, a copy of which I inclose1. After that interview she addressed me the note of which the inclosed documents are respectively a copy and a translation. According to them the President refused to comply with the promise made a few days before that he would await the answer from Washington before insisting upon the collection of the contribution from Mrs. Jacoby.

Under date of December 14 Mrs. Jacoby wrote me a communication, a copy and translation of which are inclosed herewith. From it you will notice that armed force was used to compel her to pay the contribution, which she did under protest before notary. (See inclosures.)

I therefore made the protest to this Government, a copy of which I inclose, and, in compliance with Mrs. Jacoby's request, I sent her a letter advising her of the course to pursue in the future in reference to those forced war loans.

The minister of foreign affairs has merely acknowledged the receipt of my communication so far, and advised me that he is awaiting instructions from the President on the subject.

I submit these documents for your consideration, and respectfully request your instructions on the subject.

I have, etc.,

LEWIS BAKER.

[Inclosure 1 in No. 178.-Translation.]

Mrs. Jacoby to Mr. Baker.

GRANADA, December 14, 1893. MY DEAR SIR: Day before yesterday, between 2 and 3 in the afternoon until 8 o'clock at night, an agent of police with eight soldiers was stationed at my house to compel me to pay the contribution, using force therefor, as I wanted to close my door, and he forbade my doing so. He came into the inner part of my house looking for some means of communication with the outside; he asked for the keys to open an inner door which I have, and which communicates with another independent house; he closed all my means of communication, and forbade the entrance of visitors or telegrams and the exit of any correspondence, and finally attempted to prohibit the entrance of provisions. The governor came. I spoke to him in a pleasant manner, convincing him that I had no intention of leaving the house, and I offered to go the following day at 1 o'clock to hand him the contribution, which I did, making at the same time the protest which I have the honor to inclose. I have witnesses for everything which I have related.

I expect to receive at any moment a notice of the second contribution. Please advise me if the protest is in due form, and whether I should make another each time payments are demanded of me, and if I shall suffer the imposition of a guard or pay before being forced to it by those means.

With all consideration, I remain, etc.,

JOSEFA JACOBY.

I Not printed.

[Inclosure 2 in No. 178.--Translation.]

Before me, Alonzo Peralta, appeared Doña Josefa, widow of Jacoby, aged 55, a resident of this city and employed in domestic occupations, who said that she comes before me to make formal protest to the representative of the public treasury of this city against the act of the supreme Government in imposing upon her a forced contribution, she being an American citizen as the widow of the American citizen William Jacoby; that she ignores and refutes, therefore, the right under which said contribution has been demanded from her twice; that she is going to pay solely on account of the use of main force and to avoid personal vexations the amount of 600 pesos fuertes; but protesting once, twice, three times, and as many times as may be necessary in law, reserving the right to claim the amounts exacted and the damages, and to preserve always the character of American nationality, therefore that of foreigner in Nicaragua.

Don Alberto Reyes, of age, of this city, bookkeeper and adminis trator of public revenues of this district, in representation of the public treasury, being present. said that he does not admit the protest made to him, because Mrs. Jacoby is before all things a Nicaraguan, and therefore subject to the laws of the country; that, therefore, he refutes the present protest and formalizes the collection made from Mrs. Jacoby, because she is neither considered nor recognized as a transient or resident foreigner, but as a Nicaraguan.

So said the parties to this in presence of the witnesses, Messrs. Segundo Almazer de la Rocha and Don Francisco Tomas Jimenez, both of age, amanuenses, residents of this city, and with the remaining qual ifications under the law, without any kinship to the undersigned notary, before whom I read this protest to the parties thereto. They averred that it is written in accordance with their wishes, and all sign with me. Testimony whereof I give in the city of Granada on the 13th day of December of 1893, at 1.45 in the afternoon. Amended. Supreme Government. Don. Interlineation r. Approved.

JOSEFA JACOBY,
ALB. REYES,

A. DE LA ROCHA,

F. TOMAS JIMENEZ.

Before me:

ALONZO PERALTA, Notary.

This took place before me, from folios 82 to 84 of my protocol of the present year, and I seal and sign it in the city of Granada, Republic of Nicaragua, December 13, 1893.

[SEAL.]

ALONZO PERALTA,

[Inclosure 3 in No. 178.]

Mr. Baker to Mr. Madriz.

SIR: I am in receipt of a communication from Mrs. Josefa Jacoby, a copy of which I beg to inclose, together with a copy of a protest which she has filed at this legation.

From these documents your excellency will see that Mrs. Jacoby has been compelled by the authorities to pay a contribution to a forced loan, raised under a decree of the junta of Government of Nicaragua of August 3, 1893.

From documentary evidence in my possession Mrs. Jacoby is a citi zen of the United States, and as such entitled to all the privileges and immunities accruing to American citizens under the treaty of 1867, which provides "that the citizens of the United States, residents in the Republic of Nicaragua, shall be exempted from forced loans in time of war."

The decree referred to above mentions in its preamble that the forced loan levied upon Mrs. Jacoby is "to finish to pay the extraordinary expenses incurred by the war," while the former decree of July 24, which said decree of August 3 modifies as to amount, also recites in its preamble that—

Whereas the ordinary resources are not sufficient for the maintenance of the forces raised for the purpose of reestablishing the public order subverted in Leon; and whereas it is indispensable to provide for those expenses, etc.

#

I beg to submit, therefore, that the forced loan which has been collected from Mrs. Jacoby is, within the clear intent of the treaty, a war loan, from which American citizens are exempt; and under general and specific instructions from my Government to that effect, and in its name, I hereby protest against the action of your excellency's Government in collecting said loan from Mrs. Jacoby, as well as against the forcible means used by the authorities of Granada in its collection.

I beg to ask also that the amount collected be refunded to Mrs. Jacoby, and remain, etc., LEWIS BAKER.

[Inclosure 4 in No. 178.]

Mr. Baker to Mrs. Jacoby.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,
Managua, December 16, 1893.

MY DEAR MADAM: I am in receipt of your communication of the 14th, and note the vexations to which you have been subjected, as well as the fact that you have made the payment of $600 under a protest, a copy of which you inclosed.

I have filed that paper, and have made a formal protest to the Government of Nicaragua against the act of collecting war loans from an American citizen. I have also asked that the money be refunded to you.

It is difficult for me to comply with your request for specific instructions as to your action in the future payments, but as the new loan of November 25 is also a war loan, according to its preamble, you are likewise exempted from it, and can therefore refuse to pay it, letting the authorities levy on any of your property for its collection. But if you choose to pay it, a formal protest must by all means accompany each payment, and the document sent me is in proper form therefor.

I beg to remain, etc.,

LEWIS BAKER.

No. 184.1

Mr. Baker to Mr. Gresham.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,

Managua, December 31, 1893. (Received January 12, 1894.) SIR: I beg to transmit herewith an affidavit made before me by Mrs. Josefa Jacoby as to the treatment she suffered at the hands of the authorities of Granada in the collection of a second forced loan imposed by decree of November 25.

In connection with my former communications, No. 164 and 178, I beg to say that the inclosed letter of Mr. Luciano Gomez, formerly minister of hacienda, and brother-in-law of Mrs. Jacoby, shows that the President on the 12th instant renewed to him the promise made to me that the collection of the forced contribution from Mrs. Jacoby would be held in abeyance until advices could be received from Washington, and notwithstanding this promise the forcible means related in Mrs. Jacoby's affidavit were resorted to afterwards, and pending the decision. The preamble of the decree of November 25, 1893, referred to above, reads as follows:

In prevision of a conflict between this Republic and that of Honduras, on account of the hostile attitude against Nicaragua assumed by the Government of that nation, and as it is peremptorily necessary to prepare in time for the defense of the national honor and sovereignty; and it being indispensable, for that purpose, to secure the necessary means by a forced loan, because the state of depletion of the public treas ury does not permit their being drawn from the funds of ordinary revenue, in use of the faculties conferred by decree of the Constituent Assembly of October 19 last, the Government decrees, etc.

I have, therefore, taken this decree to cover, within the clear intent of the treaty of 1867, a forced war loan which should not be collected from American citizens.

I have, therefore, made another protest to the Government against this new collection, a copy of which I beg to inclose.

All of this I beg to submit, with a request for instruction from the Department, and remain, etc.,

LEWIS BAKER.

[Inclosure 1 in No. 184.]

Affidavit of Mrs. Jacoby.

MANAGUA, December 25, 1893.

I, the undersigned, Josefa Jacoby, widow of William Jacoby, a citizen of the United States of America, resident in the Republic of Nicaragua. by these presents state and declare that on the 12th day of December of the current year I was notified that the "distributing committee (junta calculadora) of Granada had levied from me the sum of $1,666 as a forced loan, to be paid in accordance to the decree of November 25 of the current year, in three parts; the first part twenty-four hours after the notice, the second eight days thereafter, and the third within two weeks, at the office of said committee. Granada, December 11, 1893. Signed: Trinidad Ccón, Manuel Lacayo, Juan I. Urtecho, Salvador Cuadra." On the 13th I advised the vice-consul of the United States at Managua of this new contribution imposed upon me. On the 20th of this month two agents of the police came into my house and penetrated into my sleeping room, where I was ill in bed. They notified me that I should pay them the third part of the contribution, viz, $555.33. I begged them to let me do so the next day, when I could do so under protest before notary public, as I considered myself exempt from such loans. They refused to do so, and added that I must draw at once for that amount, because otherwise they would not allow anything to eat to come into the room and that we could then die of hunger. As in the former instance, they really forbade all communication, and then. convinced that they would carry out their menace, I called two persons, Don Rafael Alegria and Miss Mercedes Alegria, to witness that I paid over the money under compulsion, and I signified this to the

committee in writing, advising them that I should make a formal protest as soon as I could appear before notary public. The agents took the money to the committee and a receipt was given to Don Rafael Alegria with the statement that they did not admit any protest.

This is the third time a squad of soldiers has been put at my house to force me to pay like contributions. The first time they remained outside; the second an agent entered the house and forbade my going out, receiving visits, correspondence, or telegrams or provisions, while eight soldiers remained outside and I was kept under strict supervision to prevent my escape. Of all this I can bring witnesses.

I certify to all related above as being true in all particulars. JOSEFA JACOBY.

Witness:

LOUIS CHABLE.

Sworn to and subscribed before me, Lewis Baker, minister of the United States of America at Managua, by Mrs. Josefa Jacoby, who is personally known to me, and whose signature is also known to me.

In testimony whereof I have appended hereto my name and the seal of this legation, this 25th day of December, 1893, at Managua, Nica

ragua.

[SEAL.]

LEWIS BAKER.

[Inclosure 2 in No. 184.-Translation.]

Mr. Gomez to Mrs. Jacoby.

MANAGUA, December 13, 1893. DEAR SISTER-IN-LAW: From the time I arrived here I took the opportunity to speak with Gen. Zelaya and most of the ministers, to advise them that you had been made a prisoner in your house on account of the contribution, and after discussion of the point it was decided that the promise made to the American minister through his secretary would be complied with, viz, to await the six weeks. An order to that effect was given last night.

So keep quiet and await the answer which the minister will receive. Nothing else of importance.

Your affectionate brother-in-law,

LUCIANO GOMEZ.

No. 185.]

Mr. Baker to Mr. Gresham.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,

Managua, December 31, 1893. (Received January 12.)

SIR: I beg to transmit for your consideration a copy and translation of the reply of the minister of foreign relations of Nicaragua to my protest of December 15, against the collection of a forced war loan from Mrs. Jacoby, an American citizen, a copy of which was sent in my dispatch No. 178, of December 22.

Awaiting your instructions on the subject,

I beg to remain, etc.,

LEWIS BAKER.

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