Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-06-12
THE CEDAR KEYS TROUBLE.

| Information Sent to the Senate by the
| President in Relation To the Landing al
| Armed Force from the Hrvcnus
| Gutter M.!.ana at Cedir Keys. Fla
| The Measure deemed Lawful and Nee.
| essary.
WASHINGTON. June 6.-The Presi.
! dent sent 10 the Senate yesterday. in re-
| ply to the resolution Of May % request.
| ing information concerning the ALLEGED
| landing of an armed force from the
! United States revenue cutter McLane at
! Cedar Keys, and entry of the houses OF
| citizens by force and their alleged pur.
suit Of citizens of the United States in
| the surrounding country, a letter con.
tanning what he describes as all the in
formation possessed by the Executive
department relating to matters inquired
about. 1t will be observed" saws the
President, that the United States col
] lector of customs at Cedar Keys had
been driven from his office and from
the town, and the administration of the
customs laws of the United States
at that port suspended by the
violent demonstration of one Cot
irell, the mayor of the place,
assisted by his town marshal, Mitchell.
If 1T had been necessary, as | do not
think it can be in any case, for United
States officer to appeal to the local
authorities for immunity from violence
in the exercise of his duties, the Situa-
ton at Cedar Keys did not suggest or
encourage such an appeal, for those to
whom the appeal would have been adj
dressed, were the lawless instruments
of the threatened violence. 1t will
always be agreeable to me if the local
authorities, acting upon their own sense
OF duty, maintain the public order in
such a way that the officers of the
United States shall have no occasion to
appeal for the intervention of the Gen
eral Government; but when this is not
done, shall deem it my duty to use the
adequate powers vested in the Executive
to make it safe and feasible to hold and
exercise the Offices established by the
Federal Constitution and laws.
THE means used in this case were,
in my opinion, lawful and necessary,
and the officers do not seem to have in
truded upon any private RICH in eXecut-
ing the warrants placed in their
hands. The letter, dated August last,
which appears in the correspondence
submitted, appealing to me to intervene
for the protection of the citizens of
Cedar Keys from the brutal violence of
Cottrell, it will be noticed, was written
before the appoin tment of the new col
lector. That the officers of the law
should not have had the full sympathy
of every good citizen in their efforts to
bring these men to merited punishment
is a matter of surprise and regret.
1t is very grim commentary upon the
condition of social order at Cedar Keys
that only a woman, who had, as she
says in her letter, no son or husband
who could be made the victim of his
malice, had the courage to file charges
against this man who was then holding
a subordinate place in the customs serv-
ice"
The papers accompanying the mes
sage included the correspondence be-
tween the Department of Justice and
Marshal Weeks, and between the Treas.
ury Department and the customs Off.
GERS and the officers of the revenue cut
ter McLane. The report of E. l..
Estrange, the United States deputy
marshal who was sent to Cedar Keys
to search for Cottreu and Mitchell, with
warrants for their arrest, shows that
Cottrell was not found, but Mitchell
was arrested and released on bail. He
says that he and Captain Smyth of the
McLane we're victimized by the people, |
who foiled them several times in
their efforts to capture Cottrell. The !
Acknowledgement, he says, has been !
misinformed in the matter of their |
searching dwellings unlawfully. In
every case, he says, they asked permits !
sion, which was cheerfuliy granted.
The report of Captain Smyth of the |
McLane, and J. II. Pinkerton. collector |
at Cedar Keys, agree wi tn the reports |
that have been published.