The oasis., 1901-08-03
rncarceratiou of Railway men in Mexico.

of the El Paso chamber of commerce, cordial recognition and hearty appre- citation of the interest that you have taken in this question, and the efforts that have been made by Ambassador Clayton under your instructions to se- cure accurate information as to the grounds for complaint by the Ameri- can railway employees in Mexico.
 The Fl Paso chsmber of commerce respectfully proffers its cooperation and aid in securing further data, and will institute specific inquiry for the purpose of verifying or supplemehtlng the statistics and information con- tained in your letter.
 With a view to facilitating such fur ther inquiry and pursuit of the facts, we beg to submit the following obser- vations, suggested by your letter or July l6.
 l. It is conceded that some of the alleged cases of injustice can be traced to sensational or highly exaggerated newspaper accounts of unimportant incidents, or even to pure invention without any basis of fact.
 ,. We respectfully submit that the statements of the railway companies in Mexico are not to be taken as con- elusive evidence, for two reasons: (1l The railway companies are interested parties, it being to their advantage pecuniarily that the present procedure in Mexico which throws the burden of liability upon the employe, should be maintained. (2) Railway companies in Mexico evidently do not make 1t the duty of their officials to secure and preserve records of such impris- onment of their employees. It is rather to the interest of the railway compan- ies that they should remain officially ignorant of matters, an offici knowl' edge of which might imply obligation to assist employees in distress or nigh! embarrass the companies in their ef. forts to secure fresh American em ployes to replace those who had sui fered injustice in discharge of the duties incident to railway service in Mexico
 Railway companies may well "dis claim all ground of complaint touching the treatment of their employees by the Mexican judicial authorities" as noted in your letter, since the Mexican pro- cedure relieves the company of re- sponsiblity for accident and throws the responsibility upon the employe.
 It is noted in your letter that the answers of the railway companies to MT. ClaytOn's inquiries are mot eX- plcit as to the time of detention. we respectfully submit that this is a vital point. It is fundamental principle of our law that justice shall be not only sure but speedy. It is highly important to know how many days or weeks or months the imprisoned Am erican citizen must spend in the Mex ican jail, enduring the conditions and subsisting upon the food characteris- tic of Mexican jails, among people of strange race and tongue, through whom he is powerless to send any message that might bring to his re- lief the mighty forces of the American state. You have noted the 'singularly large showing" of American railway employes imprisoned in the state ol Sonora during the past year, with nc account rendered as to the eventual disposition of their cases, and with no assurance that there are not today Americans citizens dragging out mls. orolnla livac in uniilGt imprico n m a n f