New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1870-07-01
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OFFICIAL JOURNAL Of tine UNITED STATES.
UfFlCAl JOURNAL OF THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS
THE SAN DOMINGO INvESTIGA.
TlONS.

THE SAN DOMINGO INvEsTIGA
TlONS.
biography or the Actors.
Especial to the Chicago Tsibune.l
WASHINGTON, June 27.-The reports ant
testimony in the San Domingo investigation
placed before the Senate to-day, constitute
. printed volume of 3l5 pages. The inou'r.
Of the committee was pretty closely CON
fined to the case Of Hatch. but there was 90
taiDed, accidentally. considerable evidenc
. as to the negotiations for the pending
treaty. The story that can be drawn from
this is of interest. President BaeZ may b.
q man OF ability and character, but in the1
volume of questions and answers be appear
greatly under the control of Fabius ant
Cazeneau. These two gentlemen fgur'
largely in the whole San Domingo business
Fabius is an American, originally from New
York, who, in July, 1868, got grant o.
commission from Baez, by which he became
owner of one-fifth of all the public lands O.
San Domingo. Early in 1869 Mr.. Seward
sent him down there on commission O.
inquiry. Shortly afterwards he turned uI
here as private diplomat, working for an.
nexation.
Last summer he was in San Domingo az
An agent of a New York steamship line.
At the time the treaty was made he figured
as 8 confidential friend of Baez. Then he
was our resident agent in general charge o!
things at SANTANA, and lately he puts in an
appearance here as Minister of the Domini-
can Republic. Cazeneau is also an Ameri.
. cam by birth; lived most of his time in
Texas; was sent to San Domingo BY Pierce
in 1854; got an appointment from johnson
as minister resident, but was rejected by the
Senate in the spring of 1866. on the ground
of disloyalty during the war, and holds one
large land grant and three or four remain
ing grants from Baez. Both these gentle
men will be wealthy persons if annexation
is carried. Fabius was about here and at
the White House good deal in the last
In February, 1869, Seward sent him down
TO San Domingo. He returned, and made
his report in April.
In May and June he talked annexation
with President Grant. In July he went to
San Domingo as agent for Spofford Titon,
who have q steamship privilege from Baez,
and it happened that he was on the vessel
with General Babcock. He and Cazeneau
were very friendly to Babcock, and Cazen-
eau acted as interpreter between Baez and
Babcock in all the preliminary negotistions
for the treaty. and in making the singular
September protocol already published.
Smith was our commercial agent there then,
but Baez did not like him. He had nothing
to do with the treaty, and, on report made
by Babcock, he was removed. Mr.. Fish
told Babcock before going down that he did
not have much confidence in CaZeneau, but
Babcock found that he or Fabius must be
taken as interpreters. Fabius visited this
country in October, but was again in San
Domingo in November, when Babcock went
to make the treaty.
On this occasion General Sackett was
taken along as interpreter. Smith had
been removed, and Perry was his successor.
Perry signed the treaty on our part, the
fact that Babcock was in the army not per-
Knitting him to do SO, but instructions from
the State Department put Perry fully under
the control of Bsbcock, and he was not at
all times present during the negotiations.
Fabius and Cazeneau were in attendance
every day. Fabius acted as interpreter
when sSackett was tried and Cazeneau ap-
peared to be an adviser of Baez. The
treaty, when signed, differed but little from
that drawn up in the State Department, and
taken down by Babcock just as it was fin
ished. Baez, Fabius, and Cazeneau pro-
posed to make Babcock grant of land at
SANTANA for the great kindness he had shown
them, but he promptly declined to accept it.
Fabius and CaZeneau frequently talked mat
ters over with Perry, Babcock and Sackett
at the Consulate Office, and on one occasion
Cazeneau suggested the getting up of
secret treaty to be laid before the Domini.
refused to do anything of the kind. When
our flag was run up at SANTANA, Immediately
after signing the treaty, Fabius took charge
of it. At the request of Babcock. or the
naval authorities, coal ships were ordered to
report to him, and the Navy Department in
structed him to select q site for coaling
station. Babo0ck's correspondence with
Baez, between the first and second visit to
the island. was carried on, not through our
hy,f 4 hyor h md pon
was id correspondence with Cazeneau all
this past winter. He showed the letters he
wrote, as well as those he received, to Presi- |
dent Grant; and, as he testified, was simply
the Presidents secretary In writing them. |
On the ninth of last February Cazeneau |
wrote to Babcock, repeating the advice he
gave Baez, to hold Hatch IN prison. for the
with the ratifcatid of the treaty.
Soon after the receipt of this, the cor.
was broken by instructions of |
the President to Babcock, who, since that |
date, has written none of the San Domingo |
officials, except once to Fabius, suggesting |
that he or some one else connected with |
the Dominican government had better come |
up here. Perry tells long story about the |
efforts of Cazeneau and others to get large |
land grant from Baez and his Senate, as late |
as last April, in violation of the treaty, CIV |
ing as his authority three of the Dominican |
Senators, who said the concession would |
have to be made, if he did not prevent it |
by vigorous protest. Fabius processes not |
to know anything about this, but the row
Perry created on the subj ect was such that |
Baez asked his removal. The protocol was |
signed on the fourth of September, and six |
days thereafter one of Cazeneau's grants was /
as Fabius testified, and on the |
same day a new railroad grant was made to
New York parties.
Perry has great deal to say about the |
way Baez got SO strong vote of his people
for the treaty, and the evidence on this point
is not disputed or contradicted. He says |
lists were opened and men came in and
signed for annexation. The first man who |
voted in the negative was arrested, and
BaeZ told Perry he would Danish or I'M
prison any man who so voted. Many men
who took that side were banished or i'm
prisoned. Three men in San Domingo city,
who merely talked against annexation, were
set upon, and had to seek refuge in the
Italian Consulate, but Baez sent them away
In vessel the next day. Large numbers
we're arrested, and this led to such a state
Of feeling that revolution was attempted.
In two or three cities the prisons were so
full that BaeZ asked Admiral Poor to give |
him place at Samaria in which to keep the |
prisoners. Perry believes the majority of
,he people favor annex alton, but says the
election was farce and fraud. In San
Domingo only eleven dared to vote against
hetreaty. while several hundred would have
lone SO if it had been q free election.
What Is the Matter wi.h Mr. Fishs
The Louisville Commercial has this edito.
rial paragraph in relation to the following
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