ter of Foreign Affairs has asked your Legation to furnish him with a copy of the testimony taken on the American side bearing upon the riot between American soldiers and marines and the Panaman national police on July 4 last. In reply the Department desires to say that it will be glad to have you confer with the officials of the Canal Zone with reference to this matter. Bearing in mind the reasons given by the Panaman authorities requesting copies of the American testimony, together with the possible purpose for which it may be employed, you will use your own discretion in the matter of acceding to the request of the Panaman Minister of Foreign Affairs. I am [etc.] HUNTINGTON WILSON. REINSTATEMENT OF POLICE OFFICERS, DISMISSED AT REQUEST OF THE UNITED STATES.1 File No. 319.112 R 15/127. No. 54.] The American Minister to the Secretary of State. AMERICAN LEGATION, Panama, January 18, 1912. SIR: I have the honor to inform you that a report recently reached me to the effect that certain of the police officers who were guilty of brutalities toward seamen of the U. S. S. Buffalo on the night of September 28, 1908, and who subsequently were dismissed on this account upon the demand of the American Government, had been reinstated in the Panaman police. I accordingly requested the Zone police authorities, if possible, to ascertain the truth of this report, and I am now informed by them that two of these men are members of the Panaman police. These are Paulino Macías, who was restored to the police some months ago as a policeman (No. 336), and Abelardo Bustos, who was restored to the police about two years ago (No. 162). Of the other three, two are in Panama and the third has not been located. It will be remembered that the dismissal of these five men from the Panaman police was demanded by the Department as part of the settlement of the Buffalo case " for the reason that the investigations and reports made by representatives and officials of this [the American] Government clearly indicate that the police officers of Panama acted brutally and cruelly toward unarmed sailors wearing the uniform and entitled to the protection of the United States. (Instruction 192 of July 13, 1909.) This demand for their dismissal was communicated to the Panaman Government in Mr. Squiers's note to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, No. 531, of July 31, 1909, a copy of which was enclosed in his despatch No. 531 of August 2, 1909,3 which also enclosed the reply dated July 31, 1909, of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, giving the text of the President's decree commanding the chief of police to dismiss these men. Mr. 1 Continued from For. Rel. 1909, pp. 472-494. 2 For. Rel. 1909, pp. 472, 489. These numbers and dates are confused; see For. Rel. 1909, pp. 488-193. Weitzel's despatch No. 536 of August 13, 1909, enclosed a copy of a further note from the Minister for Foreign Affairs dated August 6, 1909, giving the text of a note from the chief of police stating that three of these men, including the two now reinstated, Paulino Macías and Abelardo Bustos, had been dismissed and that the other two had not belonged to the police for more than six months. If the information which has been furnished to me by the Zone police, and which was secured by the same detective who originally investigated this matter, is correct, Abelardo Bustos must have been reinstated soon after his dismissal and Paulino Macías must have been reinstated about two years later. In this connection, I have the honor to refer to my despatch No. 50 of the 9th instant, in which I have mentioned the numerous changes which have been made in the Panaman police, especially during the last weeks, for political purposes. It is credibly reported that many of the new political appointees are men of very doubtful character, some of them, in fact, having extremely bad records. I have [etc.] H. PERCIVAL Dodge. JANUARY 20, 1912. P. S.-I reopen my despatch to add that I have just been informed by the Zone police authorities that the former policeman, who, as stated therein, had not then been located, Sergeant Indalecio Franco, has now been found to be again serving in the Panaman police at Bocas del Toro as Policeman No. 669. This man is one of the two who was stated in the note of August 6, 1909, of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, enclosed in Mr. Weitzel's despatch No. 536 of August 13, 1909, above referred to, not to have belonged to the Panaman police for more than six months. The two men who have not been reinstated are former Lieutenant Emilio Lenares, who is a clerk in a hardware store in Panama, and Faustino Alvarado, who is a cab driver, also in Panama. H. P. D. File No. 319.112 R 15/127. The Acting Secretary of State to the American Minister. No. 34.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, February 19, 1912. SIR: The Department acknowledges the receipt of your despatch No. 54, of the 18th ultimo, reporting that Paulino Macías and Abelardo Bustos, two of the policemen who were guilty of brutalities toward seamen of the U. S. S. Buffalo on September 28, 1908, and who, together with three others, were discharged from the National Police force of Panama on August 1, 1909, to satisfy the demands of this Government, have been reinstated in the Panaman police. You add that the reinstatement of Bustos must have occurred soon after his dismissal and that of Macías a few months ago. The demands of this Government for the dismissal of these men contemplated, as it seemed hardly necessary to explain, not only the • Not printed. discharge of these policemen but also their permanent separation from the police force, and the Department is disagreeably surprised to learn that two of them have been reinstated. Although the Department believes it inadvisable to press this matter very urgently at the present time, you are instructed to lay before the Minister for Foreign Affairs the facts of the case, calling attention to the disagreeable impression the Department has received upon learning of the reinstatement of these men and stating that the Government can not be satified with less than the permanent separation from the Panaman police force of all the police officials involved in the Buffalo affair. You may add that this Government can not believe that the Government of Panama intends to depart from the attitude it adopted toward this matter at the time of its settlement and will accordingly not fail to cause Macías and Bustos to be promptly discharged and permanently barred from the Panaman police force. I am [etc.] File No. 319.112 R 15/128. No. 97.] HUNTINGTON WILSON. The American Minister to the Secretary of State. [Extract.] AMERICAN LEGATION, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your instruction No. 34, of February 19th last, relative to [etc.]. According to your directions I laid the facts of this matter before Señor Chiari, Minister for Foreign Affairs, in the sense of your instruction, also handing to him an aide mémoire embodying the substance of my verbal communication. * On the 13th instant I received a note dated the 12th instant, a copy and translation of which are enclosed. * Señor Chiari has since informed me verbally that the policeman No. 667 serving at Bocas del Toro under the name of Balbino Palma has been ascertained to be Indalecio Franco and has accordingly also been dismissed. Señor Chiari further stated that to prevent any further reinstatement of these men, their photographs had been taken and sent to all the police stations in the Republic. I have thought well to have Señor Chiari's statements confirmed by the Zone Police who now inform me that it is a fact that these three men have been dismissed and duly photographed. I have accordingly verbally stated to Señor Chiari my appreciation of his Government's disavowal and expressions of regret and of its prompt. action. I have [etc.] H. PERCIVAL DODGE. [Inclosure.-Translation.] No. 794.] The Minister for Foreign Affairs to the American Minister. MR. MINISTER: I have the honor to refer to your excellency's memorandum of yesterday in regard to the appointment to the police of some of the individuals who took part in the Buffalo affair. I have taken great pains to investigate the facts reported by your excellency and can inform you as follows: Unfortunately it is true that Paulino Macías and Abelardo Bustos were serving in this city as policemen. From data which I have before me, furnished by the commander of the police, it appears that the said individuals were appointed by the ex-Commander Señor Leonidas Pretelt, on August 2, 1911, and November 11, 1909, respectively. In compliance with instructions issued by His Excellency the President of the Republic, the individuals mentioned have been this day dismissed from the police and every proper means has been taken so that there may not be the slightest complaint on this account in the future. In regard to Indalecio Franco, I take the liberty to inform your excellency that from the latest list of the personnel of the Bocas del Toro police which can be consulted, which is dated February 20 last, there is in that city no person by that name in the Government service. Your excellency states that Franco was reinstated as number 669 and this number corresponds to Policeman Balbino Palma. However, as it may be possible that he has been appointed since February 20, the commander of the police yesterday telegraphed to Bocas del Toro ordering his dismissal in case he has been reinstated. The Government was in ignorance of and sincerely regrets what has happened, which can only be explained in the following manner: In accordance with the decree organizing the police, it is the commander who appoints and dismisses all the policemen. Probably the chief of police at the time when Macías and Bustos were reinstated did not have in mind the circumstance that these individuals were dismissed from the police owing to their behavior in the affair referred to, since it is not credible that he could have intended to cause the least mortification to your excellency's Government. With assurances [etc]. File No. 319.112 R 15/128. EDUARDO CHIARI. The Acting Secretary of State to the American Minister. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, April 6, 1912. SIR: The Department is in receipt of your despatch No. 97, of March 23 last, in which you report regarding the case of Paulino Macías, Abelardo Bustos and Indalecio Franco who had been dismissed from the police force of Panama because of their connection with the Buffalo affair. The Department is gratified to know of the prompt steps that were taken by the Panaman Government to rectify the error that had been made in restoring these men to positions on the police force of the Republic, and to find that the views expressed by the Department in its instruction No. 34, of the 19th of February last, are in entire accord with those held by the Panaman Government. I am [etc.] HUNTINGTON WILSON. PARAGUAY. POLITICAL AFFAIRS-INSURRECTION OF FEBRUARY - MARCH, 1911; COUP D'ÉTAT OF JULY, 1911; VARIOUS INSURRECTIONS, NOVEMBER, 1911, to MAY, 1912; PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSIONS OF GONDRA, JARA, ROJAS, PEÑA, NAVERO, AND SCHAERER.— RECOGNITION OF PRESIDENT SCHAERER BY THE UNITED STATES. File No. 834.00/101. The American Consul at Asuncion to the Secretary of State. AMERICAN CONSULATE, Asuncion, April 17, 1911. SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith my report dated April 13, 1911, on the insurrection in this country in February and March, 1911. I have [etc.] [Inclosure.-Extract.] CORNELIUS FERRIS, JR. Report on the Insurrection in Paraguay in February and March, 1911. ASUNCION, Paraguay, April 13, 1911. CIRCUMSTANCES LEADING UP TO THE OUTBREAK. The insurrection which began in Paraguay on the 21st of February, 1911, was the culmination of political differences between the Provisional President, Colonel Albino Jara, and the leaders of the Liberal-Radical Party, namely, Manuel Gondra, Juan B. Gaona, Adolfo Riquelme and Eduardo Schaerer, the two last named being the most prominent leaders. The Liberal-Radical Party came into power by a revolution in 1908, Colonel Jara being the effective agent to accomplish that result. In November, 1910, Manuel Gondra was inaugurated President, having been duly elected under the constitution. Colonel Jara was appointed Minister of War and Marine, Adolfo Riquelme was appointed Minister of Interior. Juan B. Gaona was Vice President and President of the Senate. Eduardo Schaerer was to have been appointed Intendente of Asuncion. All of these offices were held by the same persons under the provisional government established by the revolution of 1908, except Manuel Gondra, who was Minister of Foreign Relations. * * During the provisional government Colonel Jara had been the dominant personality. When Mr. Gondra became President it was understood that Colonel Jara was to leave the country on some foreign mission, taking the portfolio of Minister of War until such mission should be decided upon. Whether he had acquiesced in that arrangement is not clear, but he persisted in holding the ministry of war, and upon that issue his relations with the rest of the ministry were strained to the breaking point. A crisis was reached upon the question of the appointment of a chief of artillery. The Minister of War holding out against the President, the latter ordered his arrest, upon what technical charge I have not been able to ascertain. Colonel Jara took refuge in the artillery barracks, and on the 17th of January [1911] used that arm of the military service to obtain control of the police 1265 67106°-F B 1912-80 |