No. 172.
Mr. Cadwalader to Mr. Seward.
Washington, October 9, 1874.
Sir: The Department has received your dispatch No. 797, dated August 11, 1874, in reference to the arrest of Colonel Le Gendre, late consul at Amoy, and to which is annexed the telegraphic correspondence between Mr. Henderson, consul at Amoy, and yourself upon the question.
The Department is not advised of the termination of the proceedings, nor whether General Le Gendre has been held for trial, or what course has been finally adopted.
It does not clearly appear to the Department that a state of hostilities exists between China and Japan, nor is the Department precisely informed that General Le Gendre had actually accompanied the expedition to Formosa, nor whether he had committed any act within the jurisdiction of the consul at Amoy, or of any other consulate, for which he could be arrested and brought to trial, nor is the Department advised of the precise offense charged against him, and for which the arrest was made. In the absence of information on these points, and particularly in the absence of information concerning the precise charge made against General Le Gendre, and the proof supporting it, and of the authority to make the arrest, the Department withholds its approval and any expression of opinion. It is therefore desired that a full statement upon all these particular points be furnished, with details of the various steps and present position of the case.
The Department has had occasion to refer to these general questions growing out of the Formosa expedition in a late dispatch.
I am, &c.,
Acting Secretary.