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 of 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:

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.

a 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 $3,176. 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.

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

I am, etc.,

JOHN HAY.

No. 175.]

Mr. Brown to Mr. Hay.

AMERICAN LEGATION, GUATEMALA AND HONDURAS, Guatemala, May 23, 1904.

SIR: Referring to instruction No. 97 of February 25 last, concerning the Renton claim against Honduras, I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy with translation of the reply received to the legation's representations, stating that the Honduran Government desires a just solution of the matter and expressing the hope that it will be possible for Minister Combs to confer personally with the Honduran Government at Tegucigalpa respecting this case.

I have, etc.,

PHILIP BROWN.

[Inclosure.--Translation.]

Mr. Vasquez to Mr. Brown.

REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS, MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Tegucigalpa, May 4, 1904.

MR. MINISTER: I have had the honor to receive the memorial and the documents related thereto of the claim of Mrs. Emma G. Renton and Ella Miller Renton, presented to the Department at Washington, and which originated in a crime which foreigners committed against Charles W. Renton in Honduran territory.

The claimants took steps in this direction in 1894, as you know, the year in which the crime occurred.

My Government is not only interested in arriving at a solution of this affair in accordance with justice and right, but also in preserving the cordial relations of friendship that bind it to the Government of the United States, and nas given me instructions to make known to your excellency that in due time there will be forwarded the reply that the study of the documents and antecedents of the case may bring forth.

I cherish the hope that upon the return from the United States of His Excellency Mr. Leslie Combs, he will come by way of this capital, when we can personally take up this affair.

With assurances, etc.,

MARIANO VASQUES.

(NOTE. The above-mentioned claims, and the claim of the estate of Jacob Baiz, were settled on November 25, 1904, by the subjoined agreement.)

AGREEMENT.

[TRANSLATION.]

The undersigned, Leslie Combs, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Government

a Inclosures not printed.

of Honduras, and Alberto Membreno, secretary of state in the department of industrial development and public works, especially authorized; after the various conferences which have taken place between Mr. Combs and the Government of Honduras for the adjustment of claims brought by the family of the American citizen, Charles W. Renton, and the estate of Mr. Jacob Baiz, also American; have agreed to terminate said claims by means of the following agreement:

I.

The Government of Honduras will pay to the representative of the American Government, as a sum total, final adjustment, and in complete satisfaction of the pending claims to which reference has been made, the sum of one hundred and twenty thousand pesos, silver, of legal circulation in Honduras, in monthly installments of three thousand pesos each.

(NOTE. Of this sum 78,607.82 pesos are to be applied to the Renton claims, and 41,392.18 pesos to the Baiz claim.)

II.

These monthly installments shall be paid by the custom-house of Puerto Cortes to the American consul of that place the last day of each month; payments to commence December 31st next.

III.

None of the quantities mentioned in the present agreement shall

bear interest.

IV.

The United States minister declares definitely closed the Renton and Baiz claims, to which reference is made in his notes of March 25, September 28, and November 24, 1904; claimants being unable, at any future time, to allege pretensions or rights that have any relation with either of these questions.

In witness whereof they have signed the present agreement, in duplicate of the same tenor, at Tegucigalpa, the 25th day of November, 1904.

FR 1904 M- -24

LESLIE COMBS.

[SEAL.]

HAITI.

DENUNCIATION OF THE TREATY OF AMITY, COMMERCE, AND NAVIGATION OF 1864.

Mr. Léger to Mr. Hay.

[Translation.]

LEGATION OF HAITI,

Washington, May 7, 1904.

Mr. SECRETARY OF STATE: In the course of the interview you did me the honor to grant me on the 5th instant, I took the liberty of drawing your attention to the controversies arising from the treaty concluded in 1864 between Haiti and the United States, as well as to the insufficiency of that diplomatic instrument respecting the extradition of fugitive criminals and the status of our respective consuls. I availed myself of the opportunity to inform you that my Government, desirous, above all, of making the excellent relations now existing between our two countries even closer, would be glad to substitute for the treaty of 1864 conventions that would make further misunderstandings impossible.

In reply to this communication you graciously authorized me to submit to you drafts that could serve as a basis for negotiations. You will therefore find herewtih a draft of a treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation, and a draft of a convention for the extradition of fugitive criminals." The treaty of 1864 will thus cease to be binding at the expiration of one year, or sooner if the negotiations should, as I hope they will, be brought to a conclusion before then.

With my anticipated thanks for the benevolent cooperation you may be so good as to extend to me in the matter, I beg you to accept, etc.,

J. N. LÉGER.

Mr. Hay to Mr. Léger.

No. 76.]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, May 25, 1904.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 7th instant, in which you inclose drafts of a treaty of extradition between the United States and Haiti and of a treaty of amity between the same parties.

The Department will, at an early date, again communicate with you on the subject of the treaty of amity.

Accept, etc.,

JOHN HAY.

a Not printed.