Mr. Loomis to Mr. Griscom.
Washington, February 4, 1904.
Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your No. 33 of December 31 last, on the subject of the wreck of the American ship Benjamin Sewall and the killing of several members of her crew by the savages of Botel Tobago.
The note which you addressed to the foreign office on December 17, 1903, carries out in anticipation the instructions of the Department’s No. 30, addressed to you on the same day your dispatch was written, and is approved.
The Department desires this matter to be kept in mind to the end that some measure may suggest itself to the Japanese Government that will act as a future deterrent to these savage islanders, and will afford protection to shipwrecked mariners in that locality.
I am, etc.,
Acting Secretary.