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See, as to these cases, For. Rel. 1895, II. 1340, 1349-1350, 1356, 13571358, 1369, 1370-1380, 1395, 1407, 1416, 1423, 1434, 1444, 1446-1447. For a note to the Porte, expressing thanks for the meritorious conduct of certain Turkish officers at Harpoot and elsewhere, see For. Rel. 1895, II. 1382.

Tevfik Pasha, minister of foreign affairs, in a note to Mr. Terrell, Feb. 14, 1896, maintained that in the disturbances at Harpoot and Marash "the local authorities and imperial troops" made every effort for the protection of the property and lives of Americans, who had made acknowledgment of the measures taken for their safety, and that Turkey consequently was not obliged to indemnify them for their losses. He denied that any pillage was committed in the houses of the American missionaries. He also advanced that a government is not responsible for damage necessarily done in defending itself against an insurrection.

Mr. Olney, Oct. 17, 1896, replied that this doctrine of irresponsibility went much beyond "the very generally stated principle of international law that a government is not liable for damage to local interests of foreigners by the acts of uncontrollable insurgents," and "would appear to expand that doctrine to include irresponsibility for acts of the Government in repressing insurrection;" and that, in either case, it wholly ignored "the responsibility of Turkey for spoliations and injuries committed by its authorities or agents themselves upon the persons and property of American citizens," of which spoliations and injuries there was declared to be abundant proof. The Turkish answer was therefore pronounced to be "entirely inadmissible."

Referring, on Oct. 28, 1896, to affidavits from Harpoot establishing the complicity of the Turkish soldiers in the burning and plundering of the American college in that city, the United States said: “That the premises of American citizens were inadequately guarded, fired upon by Turkish shot and shell, pillaged by Turkish soldiery, and left for hours to the unchecked ravages of fire, seems to be fully established, and in the face of such evidence the plea advanced in Mavroyeni Bey's note on behalf of the Ottoman Porte is utterly untenable, to say nothing of the almost conclusive proof of collusion between the garrison and the attacking Kurds. No room is discernible for the application of the limited and jealously qualified rule of international law relative to the irresponsibility of a government for the acts of uncontrollable insurgents. The negligence of the authorities and the acts of their own agents are here in question, not the deeds of the Kurds, nor still less of the supposed Armenian rebels on whom the Porte seems to seek to throw the responsibility of these burnings and pillagings."

Mr. Olney, Sec. of State, to Mr. Terrell, min. to Turkey, Oct. 17, 1896,
For. Rel. 1896, 892; same to same, Oct. 28, 1896, id. 893. See also
id. 880, 883, 886, 895, 898.

As to the proof of complicity or connivance of the Turkish officials, see
For. Rel. 1895, II. 1444, 1446-1448, 1455-1458.

"We have made claims against the Turkish Government for the pillage and destruction of missionary property at Harpoot and Marash during uprisings at those places. Thus far the validity of these demands has not been admitted, though our minister, prior to such outrages and in anticipation of danger, demanded protection for the persons and property of our missionary citizens in the localities mentioned, and notwithstanding that strong evidence exists of actual complicity of Turkish soldiers in the work of destruction and robbery.

"The facts as they now appear do not permit us to doubt the justice of these claims, and nothing will be omitted to bring about their prompt settlement."

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President Cleveland, annual message, Dec. 7, 1896, For. Rel. 1896, XXVIII. 'None of our citizens in Turkey have thus far been killed or wounded, though often in the midst of dreadful scenes of danger." (Ibid.)

Mrs. Haiganoosh S. Abdalian, widow of Dr. Nahabed Y. Abdalian, a naturalized American citizen, who was killed during the disturbances at Gurun, Turkey, made a claim against the Turkish Government for $50,000 for the murder of her husband, $10,000 for imprisonment, bodily suffering, distress of mind, and the death of an infant child, caused by starvation and exposure, and $1,312 for the pillage and destruction of property belonging to her husband and herself. The whole claim amounted to $61,312. The Turkish Government replied that it could not admit the principle of granting indemnities for claims arising out of the disorders which took place in certain localities of the Empire."

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The Turkish Government made the same reply in respect of the claim of Levon H. Seyranian for the destruction of personal property in the village of Huseinig.

Referring to the Turkish reply in the case of Abdalian, the United States said: "In every case of this kind the Turkish Government either ignores or distorts the abundantly supported contention of this Government that the injuries to American property during the recent disorders were suffered through the insufficiency of the protective measures afforded. A government being able to quell and not quelling such disorders, and damage to American property having resulted, the United States contends that Turkey can be held responsible under a well-recognized principle of international law.”

Mr. Sherman, Sec. of State, to Mr. Angell, min, to Turkey, Aug. 23, 1897,
For, Rel. 1897, 592.

See, also, For. Rel. 1897, 590, 591.

As to the assault on Miss Melton, an American missionary, at Daree, a mountain village near Amadia, Koordistan, see For. Rel. 1893, 642, 643, 652, 656–665, 668, 683, 689, 695, 700, 704.

Mr. Straus, minister to Turkey, telegraphed to Mr. Hay December 9, 1898: "Had a satisfactory audience. The Sultan has directed the indemnity to be arranged, and sends compliments to the President.” This promise was followed by a long and varied negotiation, in which the payment of the promised indemnity was insisted on by the United States. It was not till June 12, 1901, that Mr. Leishman, Mr. Straus's successor, cabled that there had been deposited to his credit in the Imperial Ottoman Bank the sum of 19,000 Turkish pounds, being the equivalent of $92.625. This settlement embraced all valid outstanding claims of the United States against the Turkish Government, including those for the destruction of property at Harpoot and Marash.

For. Rel. 1899, 765–775; For. Rel. 1900, 906-909; For. Rel. 1901, 518.

10. KILLING OF RIOTERS BY AUTHORITIES.

§ 1031.

"On the occasion of the conflict which took place on the 10th instant at Lattimer, near Hazleton, Pa., between the sheriff

Riots at Lattimer. of Luzerne County and his armed force on one side and the striking laborers on the other, 10 Austrian and Hungarian subjects were killed and 11 more or less severely wounded. I take the liberty, Mr. Secretary of State, herewith to inclose a list of these dead and wounded persons, and to add that it has not yet been possible to ascertain the citizenship of all the victims of that collision, and that there are 23 more wounded men in the hospital at Hazleton whose names indicate that they are of Austrian or Hungarian origin, but the physicians who have them in charge have not permitted them to be questioned.

"According to the information which I have received, and which is based upon the inquiries made by the imperial and royal consulate at Philadelphia and the examination of several witnesses of the occurrence, the unfortunate victims of the catastrophe had engaged in no acts of violence and were guilty of no resistance to the lawful authorities that could justify the violent means used against them.

"I have the honor to inclose a report of the examination of 13 eyewitnesses, among which are not only the statements of workmen who had taken part in the procession, but also the sworn depositions of American citizens who were not concerned in the affair at all, and I likewise inclose a memorandum in the English language, in order that

it may be more readily examined, wherein I have given a concise account of the occurrence as it is shown, by the aforesaid inquiries, to have taken place.

"I have no reason to doubt the correctness of these depositions, or that of the reports which I have received, and I have found no fact mentioned in the numerous accounts given by the press that deprives the essential points of the accompanying statements of their force. These important points go to show that:

"(1) The workmen who took part in the procession from Harwood to Lattimer were unarmed, and had no intention of engaging in acts of violence at the latter place.

"(2) That the sheriff, before fire was opened, had certainly not exhausted all means of asserting his authority in a peaceful manner, but that fire was opened upon defenseless and unarmed men, who had already obeyed the first orders of the sheriff, who forbade them to pass through West Hazleton.

"(3) That the men fled at the first shot, and that the firing upon the fugitives was nevertheless continued for two minutes.

"In this connection I have the honor, Mr. Secretary of State, to call your special attention to the statement made by Mr. Boyle, the undertaker at Hazleton, who says that of the 10 bodies mentioned by him 9 had received their wounds in the back.

"The Imperial and Royal Government, in view of this statement, can not avoid the impression that its subjects suffered death or wounds, not in consequence of unlawful resistance to the constituted authorities, and therefore not through their fault or owing to an unfortunate accident, but through an unjustifiable, illegal, and, as it appears, improper use of the official authority of the sheriff, consequently of a responsible representative of the authority of the State. It has therefore instructed me to call the attention of the Federal Government to the case, and to request it to cause the facts to be subjected to a rigid investigation, and to acquaint me with the result thereof with as little delay as possible.

"I have the honor hereby to obey these instructions, and I have, at the same time, been directed to add that my Government reserves the right to ask for a suitable indemnity for its subjects who were killed or wounded on that occasion, and for their surviving relatives.”

Mr. Hengelmüller, min. of Austria-Hungary, to Mr. Sherman, Sec. of
State, Sept. 28, 1897, For. Rel. 1898, 46.

The receipt of Mr. Hengelmüller's note was acknowledged Oct. 9, 1897, and on the 11th of the same month he was advised that the governor of Pennsylvania had been requested to investigate the case and report the result.

After further correspondence, not material to the merits of the case, Mr. Hengelmüller was informed, Dec. 28, 1897, that the trial of

the persons charged with the killing and wounding of the Austrian and Hungarian subjects would take place during the coming month, and that certain reports on the case which the governor of Pennsylvania had in his possession would be held by him till the conclusion of the trial, since their publication might prejudice it.

To this communication Mr. Hengelmüller replied (1) that his Government could in no case consider the "technical question" of the guilt or innocence of the sheriff and his posse of the crime with which they were charged "as being synonymous with the question whether those victims of the catastrophe, who had a right to their protection, are entitled to indemnity;" (2) that, while his Government had no reason to doubt the accuracy of the investigations made by its own. consular officers, it had requested, as a preliminary step, the institution of an investigation by the Federal Government, in the hope that that Government would be glad to "ascertain the facts for itself, and to secure a basis, well established by both parties, for the subsequent treatment of the case;" and (3) that, as the last communication of the United States was tantamount to a declaration that no such investigation could be made, his Government had instructed him to declare that it must hold the Federal Government responsible for the injuries complained of and must ask of it a just and adequate indemnity for the victims.

The United States declared itself unable to accept either the premises or the conclusion of this reply, but, in view of the position taken by the Austrian Government, requested the governor of Pennsylvania to send on the reports in his possession, assuring him that they would not be made public pending the trial of the sheriff and his deputies.

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For. Rel. 1898, 57, 62, 64, 68.

I have now the honor to advise you that I have received from his excellency, the governor [of Pennsylvania] a statement by Mr. Martin, the high sheriff of Luzerne County, and a report by Brig. Gen. J. P. S. Gobin, who commanded the Third Brigade of the National Guard of Pennsylvania at Hazleton during the riots, and also copy of the report of Gen. Thomas J. Stewart, adjutant-general of Pennsylvania, relating to the same subject.

"By a collation of these three statements, which are mainly in substantial agreement, the circumstances of the occurrences near Hazleton appear to be as follows:

"About the last of August or 1st of September the employees of one of the collieries near Hazleton ceased work because of some difficulty with the superintendent. The employees at other mines followed in sympathy, and the movement developed into large marching parties, which began to assemble and move upon the workings and

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