Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 6, 1904

Mr. Hay to Mr. Combs.

Department of State,
Washington, February 25, 1904.

No. 97.]

Sir: Referring to the correspondence in relation to the killing of the American citizen, Charles W. Renton, which passed between the Government of the United States and that of Honduras in 1894–1897, during the incumbency of your predecessors, Ministers Young and Coxe, I have now to inform you and instruct you as follows:

The brief facts in this case, shown for the most part by the testimony taken by the naval board of inquiry and in the judicial proceedings in Honduras, are as follows:

Charles W. Renton, an American citizen, in 1887 took up, under a license from the Government of Honduras, a large tract of land on the southern shore of Brewers Lagoon, Honduras, and erected thereon buildings, planted cocoanut, orange, lemon, and lime trees, stocked the place, and engaged in farming and stock raising. He also opened a store at his house and traded with the natives, from whom he bought rubber, hides, sarsaparilla, etc. His wife, Mrs. E. C. M. Renton, and a young niece, Ella Miller Renton, lived with him. Renton was industrious, of good habits, and well liked by the natives.

Bad feeling existed between Renton and certain members and employees of the Brewers Lagoon Wood and Produce Company, which also had a store at Brewers Lagoon Village. The managers of the company were James G. Dawe, an Englishman, and Edgar and Fernando Eude, Frenchmen. These men and Arthur Sandham, an Englishman; Jesse Kittle, an American, and a negro named Johnson, employees of the company, and Arthur Isert, an American, at the time subcommand ante for the district, who consorted with them, had the reputation of being a lawless lot. They had terrorized the coast and had harassed and persecuted Renton some time previous to his murder, among other things trespassing on his land and pulling up his cocoanut trees. Mrs. Renton asserts that they also repeatedly killed and appropriated the Rentons’ cattle, broke down their fences, and set fire to the grass.

They finally determined to do away with Renton and obtain possession of his property. On March 15, 1894, Dawe sent the negro, Johnson, to Renton’s with orders to raise a disturbance and induce Renton to come out of his house. This the negro did, and when Renton came from his house with Charles Johnson, an American, who was stopping with him temporarily, Dawe, Kittle, and Fernando Eude, who were lying in wait, fired at Renton and Johnson, one shot wounding the latter in the leg. Renton also fired, but without effect. Renton then dragged Johnson into the house, and remained there at the earnest solicitation of Mrs. Renton. Dawe subsequently sent a message to Sandham, Isert, and Edgar Eude for reenforcements. Stevens, a native of Jamaica, who carried the message, says that it was an order to come and kill Renton.

Samuel Davis, who was employed by the Brewers Lagoon Wood and Produce Company, testifies of Sandham, Isert, and Edgar Eude starting in the night of March 15 for Ren ton’s, armed with Winchester rifles and Colt revolvers, and of their plan to kill Renton. It was their first intention to blow up Renton’s home with a keg of powder, but this was abandoned. Early the next morning the party, composed of Isert, Fernando and Edgar Eude, Dawe, Kittle, Sandham, and the negro Johnson, gathered about Renton’s house and awaited his appearance. When Renton came out to milk his cow they fired at him, one shot striking him in the side below the heart, the ball passing entirely through his body, and another in the right side below the ribs. Mrs. Renton was wounded in the right wrist by a buckshot, the latter evidently fired by Isert. The Rentons surrendered, and the party then took Renton, his wife, and niece to a neighboring Indian hut, where they were kept under guard until evening. Kenton’s house was robbed of everything of value, with the exception of a few articles of wearing apparel, etc., which they allowed Mrs. Kenton to have. The house was then set on fire and with its contents burned to the ground. That evening Kittle, the two Eudes, Isert, and Sandham forced Mrs. Kenton and her niece to get into a canoe, of which Edgar Eude took charge, and several natives were compelled to go along as sailors. They were taken across the lagoon, where they landed, and after walking all night, arrived at Patook, where Mrs. Kenton was detained a prisoner for several days and then ordered to proceed alone into Nicaragua. She states that they treated her harshly and threatened her life several times during the trip. She made her way to Bluefields and told the American consul, whence she came to the United States.

On the same night that Mrs. Kenton was forced to start across the lagoon, Isert, Fernando Eude, Kittle, and Sandham dragged Kenton from the hut to which they had taken him and finally disposed of him. Kenton was at that time unable to move without assistance on account of his wounds. It does not definitely appear in what manner his life was taken, but these men were seen to take him from the hut and to return the next morning without him. Mrs. Kenton states-that she learned from the conversation of the men who took her away in the canoe that her husband was to be killed, and that when they were in the middle of the lagoon she heard two shots, and one of the men remarked that that was the last of Kenton. Charles Stevens, the Jamaica negro who carried the message from Dawe to Brewers Lagoon village for reenforcements, testifies that the negro Johnson, who acted with the gang in the attack at Renton’s house, told him that the party, after hauling Kenton out of the hut, killed him and chopped up his body, put it in a dory, and dropped the pieces in the lagoon. Stevens testified of his own knowledge of the return of the party at about 4 o’clock in the morning, and stated that Jesse Kittle’s waika girl refused to wash out the bloody shirt which he brought back to the house. Dawe asserted that Kenton ran away in the bush, but this was clearly an invention, as Isert, in his testimony before the naval board, said that Kenton’s wound (received in the attack at Kenton’s house) must of necessity have been fatal; “that he could not have lived, much less run away.” He added that Kenton got no more than he deserved. Sam Davis also testified that Dawe told him he shot Kenton and that Kenton would die before sundown. Davis, on account of his knowledge of the Kenton affair, was repeatedly threatened by the members of the Brewers Lagoon Company party, was offered money to leave the country, and finally appealed to the commander of the U. S. S. Montgomery for protection, by whom he was brought back to the United States.

Mrs. Kenton laid her complaint before the Department, and in June, 1894, our minister asked the Government of Honduras to investigate the affair and bring the guilty parties to trial. In the fall of 1894 a one-sided investigation was made by the. Honduran authorities. See report of Commander Davis, of the U. S. S. Montgomery (Foreign Relations, 1895, Part II, p. 890), who states that the governor at Truxillo admitted voluntarily “that the previous investigation or investigations of the affair had been one-sided and partial, and that no witnesses had been examined except those who would testify in favor of the Brewers Lagoon Wood and Produce Company either through interest or intimidation.” (See also record of first investigation bv Honduran judicial authorities, Foreign Relations, 1895, Part II, p. 883.)

In March, 1895, the Navy Department, at the request of this Department, sent the U. S. S. Montgomery, Capt. C. H. Davis, commander, to Honduras to investigate the case. (See reports of Captain Davis and the naval board convened to make the investigation; Foreign Relations, 1895, Part II, p. 890 et seq.)

Upon being informed of the result of this investigation, Acting Secretary Uhl, on March 19, 1895, cabled Minister Young as follows: “Naval investigation establishes Renton’s murder. Urge Honduras Government to take prompt action lest delay enable guilty parties to escape punishment.”

Mr. Young replied March 23 that the Government promised to act promptly.

On March 26 Minister Young wrote: “Have again impressed on Honduras necessity of vigorous action and speedy report upon the Renton case. Have received assurance from that Government that they are prosecuting investigation with interest, diligence, and vigor, and hope soon to report satisfactory results.”

On May 25, however, he wrote that the Government of Honduras had given him no satisfaction for some weeks concerning the matter; that he had again urged the importance of speedy and vigorous action “in the atrocious murder case,” and he trusted that some result might soon be reached.

On the same day the Department cabled the minister as follows: “President disappointed at not being advised that Honduras’ promise to act promptly in the Renton case has been fulfilled. Atrocity of murder and violation of property call for instant efficient justice. Urge action. Report promptly.”

Minister Young was informed on June 12 that three of the assassins had been arrested. Two others were subsequently placed under arrest. None of the suspected parties were under arrest during the first investigation. On June 17, 1895, the diplomatic representative of the Government of Honduras at Washington wrote to the Department the following note:

No. 59.]

Legation of Honduras at Washington,
Narragansett Pier, R. I.,
June 17, 1895.— (Received June 20.)

Mr. Secretary: The minister of foreign relations writes me, under date of May 25, that he received a telegram on that day from the United States minister accredited to the Government of Honduras, whereby the said-minister informs him that his Government is not satisfied with the result of the investigations relative to the murder of Mr. C. W. Renton, and the aforesaid minister of foreign relations consequently instructs me to furnish the following explanations to your excellency:

Mr. C. W. Renton is said to have been murdered on the 16th day of March, 1894, in his own dwelling house in the uninhabited portion of the Mosquito Territory; it is suspected that his murderers were persons of foreign nationality, several of them being Americans, while no natives or citizens of Honduras appear to be charged with complicity in this criminal act.

The region in which it is stated that the deed was committed is the most lonely part of Honduras. In it there are no towns even of minor importance, and as a consequence the action of the authorities can not be as easy or as efficient as it could in a distriet that was inhabited, or at least near to cities or towns enjoying the advantages of civilized life, For this reason, and also perhaps because some of the few persons of foreign nationality who live in that section may have been interested in preventing this matter from coming to light, some time elapsed before Renton’s death came to the knowledge of the authorities; the latter, as soon as the case was brought to their notice, held a suitable investigation and made every effort to detect the guilty parties; their efforts, however, have thus far been unsuccessful, either owing to the difficulties peculiar to the wild region, or mainly because some of the persons who could have assisted the authorities with their testimony, thus clearing up the mystery which surrounds this crime, have left Honduras, their whereabouts being unknown, and the others, who are of foreign nationality have refused to testify; and, as there are not sufficient data to warrant coercion, it has been impossible to compel them to testify concerning the occurrence without giving cause for the presentation by their governments of complaints or claims against the Government of Honduras on the ground that their citizens or subjects have been wrongfully coerced.

My Government, Mr. Secretary, which is most deeply interested in having all crimes and offenses committed within the Republic brought to light and punished according to law, has endeavored with all possible diligence to cause the authorities to investigate, as they have done and are still doing, in order to find out who was guilty of the murder of Mr. C. W. Renton and who were guilty of complicity in that crime, to the end that they may be brought to justice. In taking this course my Government has endeavored to fulfill its constitutional duty of seeing that the laws are enforced and that justice is promptly and faithfully administered by the authorities, and at the same time, by the diligent investigations which have been made (as is shown by the reports of proceedings, a copy of which has already been sent to the American minister residing at Guatemala, and by those which, as I am authorized to give your excellency the most positive assurance, will be made hereafter), my Government, I repeat, seeks to give that of your excellency the most conclusive evidence of its desire that foreigners in general, and Americans in particular, shall enjoy in Honduras the same guaranties that are enjoyed among all other enlightened nations by the citizens and subjects of other countries.

The copy to which I refer, and which I presume has already been sent to the Department of State by the United States minister, confirms my assertions; and the proceedings which are now being held, and which will be continued until all means of investigation have been exhausted, and a copy of which I will send your excellency in due time, will not leave the slightest doubt, I trust, at the Department under your worthy charge that Honduras has done everything that can in justice be required of a government that is constantly giving evidence of its desire and its firm purpose to fulfill its international obligations.

Be pleased to accept, etc.,

Ant. Lazo Arriaga.

July 2, 1895, Acting Secretary Uhl wrote to Minister Young, then in this country on leave, sending him a copy of the report of the commander of the Montgomery and instructing him, upon the expiration of his leave, to proceed to Tegucigalpa, learn the present status of the case, and personally impress upon the authorities “the confident hope of the President that the persons implicated in the murder of Mr. Renton may be speedily brought to trial, and upon conviction made to suffer the extreme penalty of the law. The President has reason to feel a deep concern at the apparently unnecessary delay which has been permitted in this case. His just expectation now is that the Government of Honduras will act promptly and energetically in bringing to justice all persons guilty of the atrocious murder.”

In pursuance of this instruction Minister Young on December 23, 1895, wrote to the minister of foreign relations of Honduras, calling his attention to the case, which he termed “one of the most atrocious murders that can be found in the annals of criminal history.” He referred to the interest that the President of the United States had taken in the case and his great surprise and annoyance that no settlement had been reached. He asked for a statement of the present condition of the case.

December 27 following the Honduran minister of foreign relations replied, referring to the difficulties which he stated had arisen in the prosecution of the preliminary steps of the criminal case against the assassins of Mr. Renton, owing to the absence from the country of some of the witnesses at the first investigation who were able to testify and the silence of others from fear of those implicated. He stated, however, that the Government had taken a lively interest in the matter, and that, as the result of proceedings which had been instituted, Dawe, Isert, Sandham, Kittle, Johnson, and Edgar Eude^a had been arrested; that the legal proceedings against them had continued without delays other than those occasioned by the appeal of the criminals from the judgment of the judge of letters on a point of jurisdiction, but that had been determined and the case was again proceeding in due course. He referred to the fact that the British charge in Central America had asked that Dawe and Sandham, who were British subjects, be set at liberty. The minister suggested that the matter be allowed to follow its legal course. December 27, 1895, Minister Young cabled:

Made demand upon this Government Renton matter, and have had one conference with the President and satisfied that they are trying to gain time. They urge reasonable delay. Recent demand has been made by British chargé d’affaires that Dawe, one of the murderers shall be liberated, claiming preliminary examination was a trial; it was preliminary investigation only. I have another meeting Saturday.

January 6, 1896, Minister Young again wrote to the Honduran minister of foreign relations, referred to the reasons given by the latter for the delay in the proceedings against the persons accused of the murder of Renton, and said:

All these reasons of Your Excellency may be good, but they do not answer the demand of the United States in behalf of Mrs. Renton for the devastation of her lands, the robbery of her herds, the destruction of her home, the assassination of her husband, and her forcible and violent expulsion from your territory under threats of death by an armed mob.

He characterized the first judicial investigation made by the Honduran authorities as “little more than a farce.” He referred to the findings of the naval officers on board the U. S. S. Montgomery, and said:

If there is a crime recorded in modern history more atrocious, more infernal, more savage, than the murder of Renton, the pillaging and burning of his house, the robbery of his herds, the destruction of his trees and forests, the devastation of his fields, and the expulsion of his family from the country by force, I have never found it. * * * * Your Excellency assures me that the murderers will be tried and punished. I earnestly believe and hope that they will. If not, civilization will rise aghast and demand of you, Where are your courts, and what are your laws? Mrs. Renton has asked to be reimbursed for her losses, placing her damages at $37,420, and the naval board expresses the belief that her demands are just. By the direction of my Government I must insist upon a speedy settlement of this matter.

January 10, 1896, the Honduran minister of foreign relations replied to Mr. Young’s note of the 6th, stating that the Government of Honduras had “done everything possible for the capture of the culprits and for the continuance of the legal course of the trial.”

He referred to the steps that had been taken, and said:

By such proceedings the State saves its responsibility, since it has done everything proper, and it is not possible to demand more than the activity and zeal of the judicial authorities, if all the inconveniences that I have indicated to your excellency in former dispatches are taken into account.

* * * I do not believe that in any country the State is responsible for the damages that natives or foreigners may receive in consequence of the crimes that individuals commit. These matters are of a merely private character, and the individuals have their speedy action before the tribunals against the authors of the crimes. If the State should be responsible for those deeds it would be on every account impossible to satisfy the continual exactions of the claimants. In the case of Mr. Renton there is, besides, the circumstance that Honduraneans were not those responsible for the crime, nor did any employee of the nation intervene in it. Nor does the circumstance of the scandal and the immediate impunity of the authors of the crime, on account of the want of authorities who were able to give protection to the victim, have influence in favor of the payment of the indemnity. Mr. Renton, on establishing himself in an uninhabited place where the action of the authority is almost null, must have understood all the dangers he was going to encounter, and he subjected himself to them knowing that he could not be protected in case of attack by his personal enemies.

He mentioned the fact that his Government had received information that there were heirs direct, children of Mr. Renton’s first marriage, who had preferred rights to those of the widow, and who had asked for the possession of the inheritance, so that in no case could Mrs. Renton claim damages to interests not hers. He concluded by stating that the Government of Honduras believed the claim presented by Mrs. Renton had no just foundation.

January 11 Minister Young cabled to the Department:

I have received at this moment the reply of minister for foreign affairs of Honduras to my last demand for the settlement of Renton claim. They do not recognize its justice. They will not settle. Correspondence has been sent by next mail. Send instructions.

On February 6, 1896, Secretary Olney, evidently in consequence of verbal representations made by Minister Arriaga, cabled Minister Young as follows:

Renton claim held in abeyance reasonable time to await result criminal prosecution.

February 12, 1896, Mr. Olney wrote Mr. Young, referring to the telegram of the 6th, and said:

It has been decided that the claim against Honduras growing out of the murder of Mr. Renton shall not be pressed for the present. The Government has assured this Department of its intention to push the prosecution of the persons charged with the murder of Renton promptly and vigorously to a conclusion. If the trial is conducted accordingly, the claim for damage and indemnity may remain in abeyance until the result of the trial is known. Then you will be fully instructed what to do. This suspension of the claim is without prejudice, and is not intended as an intimation that it will be abandoned or that the claims are in any respect weak or ill-founded. The desire of this Government is, first, that the authorities of Honduras may be left free to punish the murderers of Renton; after that, such action as the conditions call for will be taken respecting the claim.

On the same day Mr. Olney wrote Minister Arriaga, transmitting a copy of the report of the commanding officer of the U. S. S. Montgomery, and stated that it was hoped that the facts brought out in the naval investigation would be useful to the prosecuting officers in Honduras as a guide to their investigation of the crime and as a suggestion of the sources of evidence that might be used with effect in the prosecution.

Mr. Olney referred to his cablegram of February 6 to Minister Young, stating that the claim for indemnity might rest in abeyance for a reasonable time to await the result of the trial, and said:

I have no desire to complicate the existing conditions by pressing a claim for damages while the effort to punish the perpetrators of the crime is being made. The claim is, therefore, withheld for the time being without prejudice and without any intimation as to the action which may be finally taken respecting it. It is earnestly hoped that the charge against these parties, who, from the reports before this Department, are clearly guilty of murder, may be promptly and vigorously prosecuted in the criminal courts of Honduras and that upon conviction punishment may be administered to them without undue delay. After the conclusion of the final trial action will be taken respecting the pending claim, both upon the murder of Mr. Renton and the practical confiscation of his and his wife’s property in Honduras.

The records of the Department show nothing further in the case until April 8, 1897, when Mr. Coxe, who had succeeded Mr. Young as our minister to Honduras, forwarded to the Department a copy of the opinion and judgment of the supreme court of justice of Honduras in the case of the persons charged with the murder of Renton, etc., rendered February 8, 1897, which had been transmitted to our minister by the Government of Honduras (Foreign Relations, 1897, p. 347). In his dispatch forwarding the copy of the opinion Mr. Coxe reported the receipt of a telegram from our consul at Tegucigalpa announcing the escape of Isert and Sandham, and stating that only Dawe remained imprisoned.

From the decision of the supreme court it appears that as the result of the investigation before the justice of the peace at Yronia, on June 22, 1895, Isert, Dawe, Sandham, Kittle, Johnson, and Fernando and Edgar Eude were formally committed for the crime of assassination committed on the person of Charles W. Renton, for setting fire to his house, for wounding Johnson, and (with the exception of Dawe) for illegal and forcible removal of Mrs. Renton from the territory of Honduras to that of Nicaragua; that the case was carried to the court of the district of Trujillo, where it was tried before a jury which found proved the following facts:

1. That on the 15th of March, 1894, with their firearms, Grosvenor Dawe and Fernando Eude exchanged shots with Renton.

2. That on the 16th of the same month Charles W. Renton, his wife, and servant Johnson were wounded by projectiles from firearms in Brus Laguna.

3. That on the same date the house which belonged to Renton in Brus Laguna was set on fire.

4. That on the same 16th of March, with their firearms, Grosvenor Dawe, Fernando and Edgar Eude, Arthur Ysert, Arthur Sandham, J. Kittle, and Phillips Johnson shot at Mr. Renton.

5. That at Brus Laguna, on the date mentioned, Renton was detained and guarded in the house of Ysis Cruz.

6. That Grosvenor Dawe, Fernando and Edgar Eude, Arthur Sandham, Arthur Ysert, J. Kittle, and Phillips Johnson detained and guarded Renton in the house of Ysis Cruz.

7. That Grosvenor Dawe, Fernando and Edgar Eude, Arthur Sandham, Arthur Ysert, J. Kittle, and Phillips Johnson burned the house of Renton.

8. That Edgar Eude forcibly led Mrs. Renton up along the coast in the direction of Cape Gracias.

9. That Fernando Eude removed from the house of Renton several articles belonging to the latter.

10. That some of these articles were conveyed to Brenes (Brewers) Lagoon Wood Produce Company.

13. That J. Kittle, Fernando Eude, and Arthur Ysert used the mules of Renton.

12. That Edgar Eude, Grosvenor Dawe, and Arthur Ysert (used Mr. Renton’s mules) have enjoyed an irreproachable reputation.

13. That Edgar Eude and Arthur Sandham remained in Canon Island the 15th of March, 1894.

Result. That the previous verdict was returned to the jury in order that it might amplify same, on account of having omitted to propose some questions, and said tribunal answered:

1. That it is proved that from the shots fired by Fernando and Edgar Eude, Arthur Sandham, Jesse Kittle, and Arthur Ysert at Charles W. Renton there resulted wounded the latter, his wife, and the servant Johnson.

2. That it has not been proved who among the aggressors is the author of the wounds of Charles W. Renton, his wife, and servant Johnson.

3. That it has not been proved that Charles W. Renton died from the result of the wound that he received on the 16th of March, 1894, at Br us Laguna.

Result. That on March 16, 1896, the judge of the district of Trujillo pronounced the decision which he considered in conformity with the merits of the findings, and there was lodged an appeal on behalf of the accused Dawe, Ysert, Edgar Eude, Jesse Kittle, and Arthur Sandham.

The appeal being heard, the court of Comayagua on August 31, 1896, rendered its judgment, condemning the parties as shown below:

	For illegal detention of person of Mr. Renton.		Attempted homicide of Mr. Renton.		Burning house.		Total.
	Yr.	mo.	Yr.	mo.	Yr.	mo.	Yr.	mo.
Arthur Isert	0	6	2	6	3	8	6	8
Grosvenor Dawe	0	6	2	6	3	8	6	8
Edgar Eude	0	6	2	6	3	8	6	8
Jesse Kittle	1	6	3	0	5	0	9	6
Arthur Sandham	1	6	3	0	5	0	9	6

“and to pay for the curing of Mr. Charles W. Renton and to supply food to himself and his family during the time he may me incapacitated for work; to pay the costs and all losses and damages; to lose the arms with which they committeed the crime, and all other accessories.”

Kittle and Isert were absolved from the crime of robbery.

In the same sentence the judge of Trujillo is commanded to proceed according to law on account of the crimes of wounding less gravely John Johnson and the forcible removal of Mrs. Renton to Cape Gracias á Dios.

The defendants appealed from the judgment of the court of appeals of Comayagua to the supreme court of justice, but the latter court declared the appeal inadmissible. The opinion of the supreme court is dated February 8, 1897.

A perusal of the foregoing statement shows that the hope expressed by the President of the United States in July, 1895, that the persons implicated in the murder of Mr. Renton would be speedily brought to trial, and, upon conviction, made to suffer the extreme penalty of the law, was not realized.

While Sam Davis, on March 23, informed the authorities at Port Burchard of the killing of Renton and the abduction of Mrs. Renton and her niece, no judicial investigation of the matter was begun until September 13 following. Davis, who is characterized by the commander of the Montgomery as “an intelligent American negro, whose evidence was straightforward and unaffected, and convincing by its simplicity,” deposes that when he notified the military commandant at Port Burchard the latter stated that he could not act without the authority of his superior officer (captain) at Iriona; that the latter, when the matter was brought to his notice, went with 20 soldiers to Brewers Lagoon where the captain had an interview with Dawe; that Dawe induced the captain to go to his house with him, where they remained for two hours, after which they went to the company’s store, where Dawe, in Davis’s presence, took from the safe $150 and paid the same to the captain; that the latter paid some of the money to the soldiers, and that after some time spent in drinking, the captain and soldiers left without taking any action against the guilty parties, and returned to Iriona.

Subsequently, in September following, by direction of the judge of the peace and superintendent of the Territory of Mosquitia, Refsman, a one-sided and partial investigation was had. According to Davis’s statement, the evidence given by him at this time was submitted by the authorities to Dawe, and apparently changed to suit the latter. The accused were not placed under arrest during this investigation, and Davis states that the magistrate, Judge Refsman, and Pinadi, who acted as his secretary, accepted the hospitality of Dawe and Eude, and that the latter bribed the judge to refrain from doing his duty in the matter.

It seems safe to assume that but for the visit of the U. S. S. Montgomery to Honduras in March, 1895, and the action of this Government in directing our minister to urge prompt action by the Honduran authorities, there would have been no further proceedings against the parties.

The second judicial investigation began in June, 1895. As the result of these proceedings five of the assassins were arrested, and on June 22 they were formally committed for the murder of Renton, for arson, for wounding Johnson, and all except Dawe, for the abduction of Mrs. Renton. (See Foreign Relations, 1895, Pt. II, p. 921.) They were subsequently tried at Trujillo before a jury, whose findings are indicated on page 359 (supra). It will be observed that the jury found that it had not been proved that Renton was dead. Another of the findings of the jury was that “Edgar Eude, Grosvenor Dawe, and Arthur Isert have enjoyed an irreproachable reputation.” Contrast this finding in this respect with that of the United States naval board of the Montgomery.

Fernando Eude appears to be a desperado of the worst type. He has terrorized the natives and Indians of the whole lagoon, and especially is this the case since the Renton murder, as, upon interrogating people of the neighborhood, fear of him was repeatedly expressed. His latest crime is the murder in cold blood, in the latter part of February, 1895, of the captain of an English schooner on board his own vessel, and for which he is now in Nicaragua a fugitive from justice.

Edgar Eude appears to be a man of the same general character as his brother, and is especially notorious for having made threats against the Rentons before the final accomplishment of their desires, the murder of Renton and the seizing of his property; and since the murder he has been particularly active in attempts to silence all persons who might give unfavorable testimony. He has always openly expressed his satisfaction at the finishing of Renton and his regret that Mrs. Renton and her child were not also done away with.

* * * * * * *

Each of the above-named men kept one or more native mistresses.

Arthur Isert is an American from Pittsburg, Pa., about 40 years of age, and evidently of good education. He claims to have been educated in Germany as a mining engineer and to have come to Honduras from California in 1889, being for a time engaged at his profession in the mines of that country, and finally drifted to the Gulf coast, where he has since been engaged in various callings. He now lives on a small plantation near Tocomache, and at the time of the Renton murder was subcomandante of that district and was then and had been for the previous three months, with his wife, on Cannon Island as a sort of charity guest of the company. He is a desperado of the most dangerous type, clever and unscrupulous, and by his superior education has become a leader among the less educated and ignorant persons with whom he associates, and is generally feared by both natives and foreigners living along the coast.

The case went to the superior court at Comayagua on appeal by the defendants. While the evidence clearly shows that they were guilty of murder, Isert, Dawe, Eude, Kittle, and Sandham were merely condemned for “attempted homicide on the person of Mr. Renton” to terms of two and a half or three years’ imprisonment; for burning his house, to terms of three years eight months or five years; for “illegal detention of the person of Mrs. Renton,” to terms of six months or one year and six months. They were also sentenced “to pay for the curing of Renton and to supply food to himself and his family during the time he may be incapacitated for work,” etc. In the same sentence the court at Trujillo was directed to proceed according to law on account of the wounding of John Johnson and the forcible removal of Mrs. Renton.

A further appeal was taken by the prisoners to the supreme court of justice, but the latter court declared the appeal inadmissible. The decision of the supreme court is dated February 8, 1897. As indicated above, the Department has been informed that Eude and Kittle escaped very soon after this date, and Isert and Sandham escaped on March 18 following. The United States minister, with his dispatch of April 8, 1897, transmitting a copy of the decision of the supreme court, inclosed a copy of a communication from our consular agent at Truxillo, in which it was stated that Isert and Sandham had escaped on March 18 and that only Dawe remained imprisoned. It does not appear that any of them were ever recaptured, and the Department has no information whether or not Dawe served out the remainder of the sentence which had been imposed on him. It does not appear that any action was taken against the parties charged with the removal, etc., of Mrs. Renton, although, as indicated above, the sentence of the court at Comayagua commanded the court at Trujillo “to proceed according to law on account of * * * the forcible removal of Mrs. Renton,” etc.

After careful consideration of the case, the conclusion has been reached by the Department that the facts afford ample ground for the presentation to the Government of Honduras of a pecuniary claim for damages in behalf of the injured parties.

It appears from the evidence that the Brewers Lagoon party, in their systematic and lawless persecution of Renton previous to his death, were aided by Arthur Isert, the subcomandante of the coast, and that he was the leader in the attack on the Rentons on March 16. He was also one of the men who afterwards dragged the wounded man from the hut to which he had been taken after he had been shot, and finally disposed of him. It is also apparent that other local Honduran officials whose duty it was to investigate the crime and vigorously prosecute the offenders at first failed to act, and when they were finally compelled to act conducted the investigation in a manner calculated to screen the guilty parties rather than bring them to justice.

The liability of the Government of Honduras is believed to be fully established, however, on grounds apart from the fact that a minor official of that Government was directly concerned in the crime. While a State is not ordinarily responsible for injuries done by private individuals to other private individuals in its territory, it is the duty of the State to diligently prosecute and properly punish such offenders, and for its refusal to do so it may be held answerable in pecuniary damages. There was an inexcusable delay in initiating a judicial investigation. The first proceedings were partial and onesided. The subsequent judicial proceedings, which were the direct result of the naval investigation by the U. S. S. Montgomery, terminated in condemning for minor offenses persons who, the evidence before the Department shows, were guilty of a deliberate and brutal murder. And finally, soon after the decision of the supreme court all of the murderers, with the single exception of Dawe, were permitted to escape.

The case is very similar to that of Frank G. Lenz, who was murdered by Turkish subjects while passing through a remote part of the Ottoman Empire, in the course of a bicycle tour around the world, in 1894. It was only after persistent efforts by the friends of the murdered man and by this Government that the Turkish authorities began an investigation of the crime. The guilty parties were finally identified and arrested, and, although the evidence showed a premeditated murder, judgment was rendered for murder without premeditation, and they were permitted to escape in a body in a manner which showed gross negligence, if not complicity, on the part of the officials charged with their custody. Under the circumstances this Government demanded and collected of the Turkish Government an indemnity in behalf of the mother of the murdered man. In instructing our minister in regard to the case Secretary Hay said: “If his (Lenz’s) murderers had been duly punished, this Government would not have felt disposed to demand the payment of an indemnity. The evidence showed a deliberate and premeditated murder, yet the judgment was rendered against the murderers as for ‘murder without premeditation,’ and even this penalty was not actually inflicted, for the guilty parties escaped.” (Secretary Hay to Minister Straus, March 25, 1899.)

In the memorial filed by Mrs. Renton in behalf of the estate of her husband, Charles W. Renton, and those interested therein, viz: Herself, Charlotte Donnelly, daughter, and Daniel H. Renton, son, of said Charles W. Renton, she makes a claim on account of the murder of Renton, the failure to promptly apprehend and adequately punish the perpetrators of the crime, etc., of $100,000. For this item of the claim the Department considers the sum of $15,000 a suitable amount at which to fix the indemnity to be demanded, and you are instructed to make such demand.

Claim is also made for loss of property of said Charles W. Renton in the sum of $32,104.20. A schedule sworn to by Mrs. Renton is submitted, specifying the different items of the claim and indicating the valuation thereof. It is made up as follows:

6,000 cocoanut trees, standing on March 10, 1894, average value of $4 each	$24,000.00
About 1,250 additional young cocoanut trees, destroyed by Brewers Lagoon Wood and Produce Company, average value $2 each	2,500.00
About 100 orange trees, standing March 16, 1894	2,000.00
Fences, barbed wire, staples, etc	500.00
Posts and labor for fences erected and standing at the time	2,050.00
Labor and material for corral	25.00
Labor in making wells and ditches, pump and pipe	185.00
Trees around house exclusive of above	108.00
Tools	269.45
Firearms, etc	187.00
Wearing apparel	244.75
American flag	35.00
Total	32,104.20

Evidence as to the value of the property was adduced before the naval board which convened on the U. S. S. Montgomery, and the finding of the board in relation to this branch of the claim is as follows:

After a careful survey of the Renton property as it now stands, and from all evidence collected, the board is of the opinion that Mrs. Renton’s claim for $37,420^a damages incurred is a just one. All the porable property on the place at the time of the murder has since been either destroyed or appropriated by the Brewers Lagoon Wood and Produce Company, and the Honduras authorities have taken no steps whatever to prevent such destruction or appropriation.

Commander Davis, in transmitting the report of the naval board, says:

With regard to the money indemnity claimed by Mrs. Renton, it is impossible to obtain a just estimate of the valuation of the property destroyed or stolen. Those who agreed in palliating the crime also agreed in undervaluing the property. I myself saw the evidence of thrift and industry at Renton’s place. I saw many young cocoanut trees, and lemon, lime, and orange trees in various stages of growth. I saw the wire fencing, and the ruins of the house, and the foundation of the new house which Renton was building. My movements were watched from the cay, and when my boats were seen to leave the ship, Kittle was dispatched at once to precede me, and the two mules were loosed from the company’s ranch and were grazing at their old home on my arrival. I learned from the Indians that they had been owned and used by the company and had appeared on Renton’s place that morning just before my arrival. I saw the neglected flower garden and the overgrown walk and the gate hanging from its rusty hinges. I saw the cocoa patch and the cow corral and the chocked-up well. I saw the cooking stove and fragments of china and cooking utensils in the ruins of the house. I learned that the lumber destined for the new house and the shingles seized by Dawe and used by him to build a house on the cay for his Waika mistress had been hewn out by Renton from the timber felled in the ridge by the labor of his own hands, and that only the sills and flooring were of lumber imported from the United States. I could not put a money value on these things. I know that Renton’s whole fortune was in this place, and that he was robbed and murdered, his property destroyed, and his wife driven forth from a country in which protection is guaranteed by a treaty to American citizens. Mrs. Renton’s statement of the crime is literally true and not exaggerated. I should incline to accept her estimate of the damages as true also.

You will present a claim under this head for the amount at which the damage is fixed in the memorial, viz, $82,104.20.

A further claim is made for the cession or final grant of the lands held by Renton at Brewers Lagoon under a license from the Government of Honduras of August 26, 1887, which it is claimed was matured into an absolute title under the laws of Honduras, by cultivation and occupation for a period of five years. In the event that the Government of Honduras refuses to grant said lands to the heirs and legal representatives of said Renton, claim is made for the actual value of the said lands, which is alleged to be $100,000.

The claimant is not able to furnish a copy of the license or any documentary evidence of title, as it is alleged that the papers which the Rentons had in their possession were destroyed when the house was burned, and that the officials at Truxillo, where they should be recorded, refused to furnish certified copies, and deny the existence of any record of title to the lands claimed.

It appears, however, from letters, affidavits, etc., submitted by the claimant, that Louis Bogran, President of Honduras in 1897, offered inducements to Mr. Renton to take up lands in that country, informing him that he could make his own all the lands he might cultivate; that the President gave Renton “a letter or license to take up under the existing agricultural laws whatever government lands he could cultivate;” that the President subsequently gave Renton a letter to the governor of the Department of Colon, at Truxillo, instructing the latter to give Renton a license to enter upon Government lands selected by Renton at Brewers Lagoon;^a that the governor directed the “alcalde auxiliary” at Brewers Lagoon to survey and deliver certain lands to Renton; that the lands were surveyed in the presence of several witnesses, and that Renton placed barbed-wire fences where the alcalde marked out; that the land measures, north to south, 15,000 barras (yards), east and west, 4,000 barras; is bounded on the north by the lagoon, south by wild lands, east by the Negro Watler Lagoon, canos, and lakes, and west by the Secre River; that Renton also cultivated and planted with cocoanuts a tongue of land commencing at the entrance to Brewers Lagoon on the west and bounded on the north by the Bay of Honduras, or Caribbean Sea, and on the south by Brewers Lagoon.

It is alleged that the Cannon Islands, in Brewers Lagoon, were also included in the survey, and that Renton planted cocoanut trees there to evidence his claim of property and possession; also that the governor of Colon, in August, 1887, gave to him absolutely 25 caballerias of land fronting on the north side of Brewers Lagoon and the west side of Secre River; that Renton properly occupied and cultivated these lands for a period of more than five years, as required by the law of 1866; that in 1892 Renton took the necessary steps to secure from the Government at Truxillo the evidence of his title, but without success, the officials denying the existence of any record of title. It is understood that the officials claimed that while the law of 1886 permitted the acquisition of national lands by settlement, the land law of May 15, 1888, repealed the law of 1866, and provided that thereafter national land could only be acquired by purchase, at prices ranging from $1 to $2 per manzana; and that a final grant could not be made to Renton until the land had been resurveyed.

Commander Davis of the Montgomery, in his report on the Renton case, said that Renton held his land under a concession of the Government; that his title was what is known as an agricultural title.

The claimant suggests in the event that the record of the title is destroyed or can not be procured at the office of the governor of Truxillo, that the same can be ascertained from the description given in the memorial and the documents attached, and also from the fences standing upon the property and natural water boundaries described.

While the ordinary evidence of title is lacking, there is evidence before the Department sufficient to show that Renton took up a large tract of land at Brewers Lagoon under the agricultural laws of Honduras, and that he occupied and cultivated such lands, and that there was on his part a full compliance with the law entitling him to a final grant, and you are directed to ask that such final grant be issued, or in default thereof adequate compensation therefor.

It appears that the Brewers Lagoon Wood and Produce Company about 1891 obtained from the Government of Honduras a concession to cut mahogany in the neighborhood of Renton’s plantation, and that the systematic persecution of Renton by the members of the company, which finally culminated in his murder, had its beginning in encroachments upon and appropriation of his land; and that in this course the members of the company were encouraged by the subserviency and supineness the local Honduran officials.

Mrs. Renton also files a separate memorial preferring claims as follows:

1. For indemnity for personal injuries, for failure to afford proper or timely protection to her person or property, by reason of which her health has been impaired, for denial of justice, etc., $100,000.

The evidence shows that in the attack on Renton’s place, March 16, 1894, Mrs. Renton was wounded in the wrist by a shot fired by Isert, and that she was subsequently forcibly taken away from her husband by Kittle, the Eudes, Isert, and Sandham and conveyed in a canoe, under the direction of Edgar Eude, across the lagoon, there detained a prisoner for several days, and then ordered to proceed alone to Nicaragua. She alleges that during the trip she was harshly treated and her life several times threatened. It does not appear that any action was ever taken against these parties by the Honduran authorities, notwithstanding the sentence of the court at Comayagua commanded the court at Truxillo “to proceed according to law on account of the forcible removal of Mrs. Renton,” etc.

That the terrible experience through which Mrs. Renton passed seriously affected her health and shattered her nervous system is amply shown by the certificates of two physicians who attended her and the statements of others. She is clearly entitled to substantial damages from the Government of Honduras, and the sum of $10,000 is fixed by the Department as an appropriate amount to demand for this item of the indemnity to be asked.

2. For damages for loss of individual property, consisting of house, trading station, cattle-raising business, and personal property at Brewers Lagoon, $13,768 and interest. In her memorial Mrs. Renton states that the house, the stock of the trading station and the proceeds thereof, and the cattle were her separate property at the time of the killing of Mr. Renton. And it will be observed that the claim made by her in behalf of the estate is limited to the lands and improvements, no item being included for the house, trading station, stock, and cattle. In support of her claim Mrs. Renton files an itemized statement, specifying the property lost and the approximate value thereof. This is made up of the following general items:

House	$1,000.00
Materials for house	658.00
Household goods	741.50
Stock in trading store	714.50
Cattle	9,596.00
Mules	225.00
Wearing apparel	153.00
Cash in house	500.00
Sundries	180.00
	a13,768.00

In the judicial proceedings in Honduras some testimony as to the amount of property possessed by the Rentons was taken.

Gregorio Torres, a resident of Brewers Lagoon, testified that he had personally brought to Renton 131 head of cattle and 2 mules; that Renton subsequently sold 60 cattle; that at one time he saw the mules in the possession of the Brewers Lagoon Wood and Produce Company.

Stephen Zacharias testified that he witnessed Dawe, Sandham, Kittle, Isert, and the Eudes before setting fire to Renton’s house take all the furniture, boards, shingles, cattle, and deer hides, grindstone, tools, and everything they could use to the cay; that he had seen the two mules in the possession of Eude and Kittle. Somewhat similar testimony was given by the witnesses Maria, Louis, Roberto, Valeroso, Mayren, and Cuca, some of whom testified that they had seen some of the property in possession of Dawe and Kittle, and that they had slaughtered the cattle left at Renton’s after the fire.

Appraisers appointed by the Honduran court at Irias, in June, 1895, appraised the value of the burned house at $1,700; cocoanut trees (1,820), at $1,300; 2 mules, $200; furniture, etc., $271.

A claim is also preferred by Joseph O. Clement, general guardian of Ella Miller Renton, niece of Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Renton, who was living in Honduras with them at the time of the murder of Mr. Renton, for an indemnity in her behalf of $15,000 for personal injuries and impairment of health resulting from the shock and hardships inflicted upon her during her expulsion from Honduras and incident to the murder of Charles W. Renton and the shooting of her aunt, and also for failure to promptly apprehend and punish the guilty parties.

The facts upon which the claim is based sufficiently appear in the papers relating to the foregoing claims. The young woman is entitled to a substantial indemnity on account of the treatment to which she was subjected, and the Department fixes the amount to be claimed at $5,000.

You will bring these several claims to the attention of the Government of Honduras, ask for prompt payment thereof, and the issuance of the land titles or compensation therefor.

Copies of the memorials submitted by the claimants (with the exception of that filed in behalf of Ella Miller Renton^a) are not forwarded, as they are very voluminous, covering in the neighborhood of 300 typewritten pages.

I am, etc.,

John Hay.

1. Fernando Eude fled from the country and was never arrested.
2. The original claim filed by Mrs. Renton in 1894 was for this amount.
3. The governor gave Renton a document authorizing the holder to acquire the rights granted to immigrants under the law of February 26, 1866, by which a foreigner may, by taking up and cultivating national lands for a term of five years, make the same his own property, and may also take other national lands contiguous thereto.
4. In the claim presented by Mrs.Renton in 1894 the value of the cattle was fixed by her at $6,420,instead of $9,596,a difference of $3,116. Several of the other items are also somewhat increased in her last claim.In view of this the amount to be claimed under this head is fixed by the Department at $10,000.
5. Inclosures not printed.