Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-04-24
OUR NATIONAL HONOR.
The Treaty for ReopeninE the We'll and
LA AbrA Claims.
From the Nelo Tor1 Heral3.

La ADrs Claims.
From the Nslo Yoy; Heral&.
WASHINGTON, April 2O.-The secret
tepate to-day defeated the convention be-
tween Mexico and the United States for
rehearinc the Well and LIZ Abra claims,
which, being OF the nature OF treaty, re-
CURED two-thirds vote 10 be adopted
mis- in the face OF the fact that the Secre-
tarv of state. after investigating the
charges OF fraud presented by the Next
ran Government, did officially report 10
fonGress that ''the honor of tne United
States required that these CLAIMS should
he further Investigated, and asked Con-
gress for authority for suc1 luVestlga-
lion" e.,-...
trvjJ the Senate Will baVe to discuss the
matter over again. this time IN open SEES
sion. tor Senator Morgan was careIul
enough OF the cOuntry's good lame ana
listYusttul enough of the secret session 10
introduce bill, so long ago as Dec. Il,
authorizing a rehearing IN the form % d
suit directed to be brought by the I hIUeo
States against the claimants. NO uouDt
Mr.. Morgan viii push Jnls Dill loi "aiU
without delay.
The convention which was made by Mr..
Frelinghuvsen and renewed by Mr.. Bay
ard with the government OF mexico pro-
Vided for the setting aside OF the award
given by an arbitration court, OF winch
Sir Edward Thornton was the umpire, IN
favor OF the so-called We'll and La Abra
claims against the governmental Mexico.
The We'll claim was for a quantity OF cot
Ton. The La Abra clam was for dam
ares alleged 10 have been incurred by The
owners of the La Abra mine, in the State
OF Durango, VINO charged that their prop
ertv was destroyed and that they were
prevented from working their interests
there BY the Mexican soldiers. These
claims date back for quarter OF centu-
~ or more.
The Mexican government accepted the
verdict of the arbitration, and has al
ready paid $500, 900 Of the 81. 100000 that
was awarded. OF these $S00,000 100000
have already been distributed to the
claimants and 100000 now remain in the
hands Of the Secretary OF State for dis
trbution. But during the term of Mr..
Frelinghuysen the Mexican government
got hold of evidence showing that the
claims had been procured by fraud.
Among other things, they have secured
the letter books and the account books Of
the La Abra Mining Company, in which
il is shown that the mine was deserted by
the owners, without any interference or
any trouble with the Mexican troops, be-
cause it did rot pay and was dead loss,
and that the idea of bringing a claim
against the government was not thought
of until some years after the property had
been abandoned, when some Of the credit
Ors of the company suggested that If a
case was made out large sum Of money
could undoubtedly be collected. The let
ter books that are in the hands of the
Mexican government now show the whole
conspiracy from beginning to end-how
the claim was first suggested, how the
At. h-nAa arNA
furnish a very strong case of fraud,
which evidence was entirely unknown at
the time of the arbitration. This evidence
has all been submitted to two adminstra-
tiOns-that of President Arthur and that
of President Cleveland-and both urged
upon the Senate the ratification of the
treaty to reopen the award and allow
Mexico to submit this evidence as neces-
sary for the honor Of the United States.
These claims have long ago passed out
of the hands Of the original claimants and
are now owned by Spectators in the city
of Washington, who have contracted with
prominent lawyers and lobbyists here tor
large contingent fees, provided they
could prevent the ratification OF the trea-
ty and the reOpening of the case. There
has been as strong lobby in opposition
to the ratification Of this treaty as has
ever been seen in Washington. and the
treaty has been opposed by some of the
strongest and most influential men in the
Senate. among whom are Sherman, NOOr-
bees, Vest, Evarts, Logan and others.
MI. Sherman's interest in preventing the
reopening of this claim lies IN the fact
that the estate of his brOther-in-law,
Thomas W. BARLEY, is entitled TO $4,000
Ia case the claims are paid. Another
brother-in-law, Charles W. MoultOn, has
also contingent interest in the claims.
Ex-COngressman Samuel ShellabaTger,
who is an intimate friend of Sherman, has
very large fee involved. Senator NOor-
bees has several friends who also have
large financial interests in the claims,
his law partner, Judge Kew, being the
owner of % per cent. of the We'll claim OF
$500 Senator Vest also has law
partner involved in the matter, to whom
large contingent fee is coming in case
the award is paid. The owners OF the La
Abra mine also were residents OF st.
Louis. Senator Evarts, when he was Sec
retary of State, went through the whole
case and was in Office at the time the ar
bitratiOn was made. he distributed
100000 among the claimants and bas
been making speeches in the Senate while
the treaty has bsen under consideration
to justify his action. Senator L0gan's in
terest in the matter is in behalf of the
widow of an Illinois lawyer by the name
Of FOucke. Mr.. FOucke owned d large in
terest in this claim and left MS widow no
other property. she has been living for
several years upon the expectation get
ting this money, and Gen. Logan has
done everything he could to help her.
Other Senators for similar reasons have
been opposed to reOpening the case and
IN favor of insisting upon the payment oil
the claims by Mexico.
While some of them admit that tine
claims may he fraudulent, they argue thai
10 IS dangerous to set aside the decree O
an arbitration and establish a precedenl
that cannot be permitted in diplomatic
history.