Mr. Uhl to Mr. Young.

No. 108.]

Sir: Your dispatch, No. 87, of the 23d ultimo, inclosing copy of a communication from William Hayden, acting consular agent at Amapala, to Mr. Strobel, under date of February 27 last, and also a protest made before Mr. Hayden by Henry J. Stibbs, has been received.

Mr. Hayden’s letter to Mr. Strobel had sometime previously been received here, and with it was transmitted a protest from young Stibbs’ father relating to his arrest and imprisonment at Choluteca. Mr. Peterson, the consul at Tegucigalpa, was directed to investigate this matter in the light of the protest made by the elder Stibbs, and a dispatch just received from Mr. Peterson informs the Department that he has sent papers in the case to your legation. You have, of course, a copy of the protest made by Stibbs, jr., and possibly you may also have [Page 312] that made by Stibbs, sr., but as I am nor certain you have the latter, I forward you herewith a copy of the same. You will observe on reading these two protests that they differ in this important particular, that the protest of the elder Stibbs states that the wrong was done to his son by the Nicaraguan authorities; while I infer from the protest made by the younger Stibbs, in connection with Mr. Hayden’s letter to Mr. Strobel, that persons acting under the authority of Gen. Bonilla of Honduras, were responsible for the acts complained of. It is the desire of the Department that you will investigate fully and report just who are responsible for the arrest and imprisonment of young Stibbs, giving the grounds upon which the arrest was made and any circumstances which may explain or throw light upon it.

I am, sir, etc.,

Edwin F. Uhl,
Acting Secretary.