Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-02-24

Alleged lnactien d Our State Department
Said 10 81 The Cause.

| Said 70 b The Cause.
Especial to the New York Herald
| Havana. Feb. 2s.-Consul General Lei
has resigned. lie determined some
days ago to take such . step II he were
not upheld in his efforts to protect al
| American citizens In Cuba.
The consul general asked the state
department that he be authorized te
demand the release OF citizens OF the
| United States confined in Cuban prisons
under the same illegal circumstances
! as was the ll-fated Ruiz. Such author
ity has not leen granted to him.
Great pressure Is being brought to
bear here to make Consul General Lee
deny The Herald's Jacksonville dispatch
to the effect that the diplomatic repres-
entative Of the United States In Havana
had asked the government to send war
| ships to Cuban waters. AS a pretext
! for such denial and as basis upon
which 1t can be founded. It is stated
that. according to the dispatch, Consul
| General Lee had asked for a wayship
to take him to the United States. What
the conssil general did do. II can be re-
iterated on the highest authority, was
to ask for warships to support him in
his efforts to protect Americans in peril
Of their lives, and American interests
which were in jeopardy. The Herald's
jacksonville dispatch, therefore. was alb
solutely correct, and upon indisputable
authority can be confirmed in every de-
tail. II necessary, the full official te!e-
gram In which Consul General Lee ask
ed for warshipS can be secured.
Washington. Feb. 23.-No further
step has been taken by the state de-
partnient in the case Of DR.. Ruiz. the
American citizen who was found dead
in his cell at Guiana bacoa. Cuba. under
suspicious circumstances. Consul Gen
eral Lee, who is investigating the affair.
under the orders of the department has
net yet reported the resets of his in
quiry. In the meantime. all talk Of ul-
timatums and calls fof warships Is pro-
nonnced Ia be without foundation. The
department OF state. I'm this case. as In
others preceding II. has insisted upon q
full investigator. and has asserted its
right to know the charges upon which
persons OF American citizenship are de-
tanned in custody. and Minister Taylor
al Madrid Will push this demand To the
end.
There has been some friction all along
b. tween the Spanish officials in Cuba
and Consul General Lee whenever the
latter was obliged 10 intervene in favor
O: arrested American citizens. This
has grown out OF radical difference
in construction placed upon the organic
law.
The state department has instructed
the consul general to insist upon his
right to have arrested Americans re-
leased at the end of a period of deten-
ticn of AZ hours, or else that they be con-
fronted with formal charges. Under the
constitution governing the island. il Is
provided that persons so arrested must
he brought before judge within IS
hours and must be confronted with
charges within - hours. or be released.
But, on occasions when the consul
general claimed this privilege for an i'm
rrisoned American citizen, the Spanish
officials. from the captain general down,
Set UP the plea that. in time of strife like !
this. the civil code was suspended. and
with il the privileges claimed Inas.
much as 1t would amount to a total re. |
nurciation of the heneSts derived from
the Gushing protocol to accept this view
(she protocol was drawn to meet such
Conditions as now exist on the island).
tl'e department of state has steadfastlyI
INSISTED upon claiming the right to have
charges preferred against imprisoned
Americans. Tee practice of Spanish of |
hcals has not been consistent, for. i'm |
some instances. they have allowed the |
justice of our claims and have dis |
charged or tried the persons in whose |
behalf complaint is made, but in other. |
they have ignored our representations.
and the indications are that they will
yield the point only under strong pres
sure.
At the beginning of the present MONTH
the state department had informationi
that three naturalized American citizens
were confined in Cuban jaiis, againstI
whom no charges had been preferred. /
and in whose interest demands for re-
lease are pending. They are Frank ].
Larrieu, arrested at Cardenas, avail
lack in May last year; Esteben venero
naturalized in 1895, and arrested at Los
Falos tHavana province), Sept. % last
and Jose Gonzales. naturalized in 1882.
arrested at Las Mangas. Nov. 10 last
and now in prison at Pinar Del Rio.
This is the official list but there NAV
ana undoubtedly are. a number of othe,
American citizens in detention. of whose
arrest neither Consul General Lee or the
state department is aware The diff
culties surrounding the effort to secure
knowledge of all such cases are very
great. many of the arrests being made inI
the interior, remote from telegraph andI
all other means of communication. and
In places where there are no othe,
Americans to report the fact to the con.
sui general.
OF course. the Spanish officials are at
no pains to take notice of an appealI
based on American citizenship, nor to
report the fact that they have arrested
att American citizen to the Americanl
consular Office.
Benin Reeked With Blood.
London. Feb. PA dispatch from
Brass. on the West coast of Africa. gives
details relative to the capture on Feb. IS
OF Benin city by the ROYAL Niger com