, 1901-06-04
DEMANDED RELEASE
OF PRISONER BY MEXICAN CON-
MhNDANT AND THE ORDER
WAS OBEYED.
the Texas-Mexican Frontier-Gen-
eral Had Order in His Pocket Not
to Interfere With M~exicans, But
He Went Ahead Just the Same.

The question whether the constitu-
ton follows the flag may be difficult
for many people to understand. as pre-
scented in lcga! ~phraseology. but Gen
eral Merriam. commander of the de
partment of the Colorado. gave a dem
onstration of protecting an American
citizen on foreign soil which was close
ly followed when American troops IN
der General Chaffcc were landed in
China. says the Denver News. The
example set by General Merriam was
clearly understood by many people on
the spot and has been the precedent
for commanders on the border for the
last twenty-five years.
\ typewriter document bearing the
ans. now on file at army headquarters.
tells the story of the generals act. 1t
was in April, 1876. General Merriam
then not bearing his present high ii
tlc-was in command of one of the
posts on the Texas side of the Rio
Grande river. a revolution was in
progress on the Mexican side of the
river and the military commander lev
led a tax on all citizens of the town
An American was in business in the
town and refused to pay his assess
mont. He was arrested. thrown into
prison and announcement was made
that if the tax was not paid b. daylight
the g morning the prisoner would
be led forth and ~summarily shot.
Friends of the prisoner became alarm
ed and learning that the tax consisted
of a certain number of saddles and
brides, appeared before the command
er with the requisite assessment. The
commander then announced that on aC,
count of disobedience of the prisoner
he had assessed an additional tax of
500 in cash Unless the money was
forthcoming the prisoner would be shot
at daylight.
General Merriam was informed OF
the procedure. He crossed the river
in company with an aide. appeared at
headquarters and demanded the i'm
mediate release of the American and
restoration of the property. A stormy
interview ensued but the firmness OF
the American commander carried the
day. The prisoner was released and
his property was restored The gener
al gave notice that he would not per
nit any American to be ~unjustly tax
ed and warned the commander to keeT
clearly within the limits of his author
ity in dealing with Americans.
The popularity about the procedure
was hat while General Merriam was
arguing with the Mexican. at immi
nent danger of an outbreak. he carried
in his pocket an order from the com.
mander of the Texas department tC
interfere in no way with the custom OF
the MeXicans in taxing foreigners. He
fatty disregarded the order and the
next day when the MeXicans fired on
~peaceable Americans from the oppo,
site side of the river, the batteries of
the American fort were opened and the
guns of the Mexicans were silenced.
For this energetic method of infus-
ing respect for American citizenship
into the MeXicans. Merriam received
the thanks of the department at
Washington and the order of his com
handing officer was buried in the
archives.
Il did not stop to inquire whether
the constitution followed the flag" re.
marked the genera yesterday in speak
ing of the incident. THE question
was whether the life of an American
citizen vas at stake. AS the question
was answered in the affirmative. the
next point to be decided was how to
save the mans life. When the mat
ter was presented at Washington /
was notified that it was perfectly right
to go upon Mexican soil. If you need
more troops said the dispatch. you
can have all the troops in Texas"
The general looks back with pride
on the incident at New Laredo, al
though it might have led to serious in
ternational complications. He is con-
WINGED, however. that there is nothing
in international law which would con-
denim the rescue of a fellow citizen in
a foreign country from unjust perse-
cution.