Foster to John W. Foster , Envoy Extraordinary and, February 27, 1875

No. 420. Mr. Foster to Mr. Fish.

Sir: Under date of the 14th instant, the consul at Acapulco reports to me that no action has been taken to arrest and punish the murderers of the American citizen, Henry Morris, killed in the assault upon the Protestant Church at that place on the 26th ultimo. He states that the judicial authorities are powerless to make arrests until a sufficient force of federal troops are placed at their disposal, the State militia sympathizing openly with the priest (the alleged instigator of the assault,) and his party; that a large petition has been presented to the governor demanding the removal of Protestants from the municipal council and their banishment from the country; that the district judge and governor, having confessed their inability to protect the native Protestants in the town of Acapulco, have been advised to leave as speedily as possible; and, in a communication of the 17th instant, the consul reports that, with a few exceptions, the Protestants have all left, a number of them having taken refuge in San Francisco, Cal., and that the town is now Quiet.

On the 23d instant, I received a note from Mr. Lafragua, in reply to my note to him of the 8th instant, (a copy of which I inclosed to you with my dispatch No. 241,) in which, in connection with some reference to the religious aspects of the affair at Acapulco, he states that, from the time the events were brought to the attention of the Mexican government, it has been issuing the most decisive orders for the arrest and punishment of the criminals, and refers to the measures which it has dictated as of the most extraordinary character. He also alludes to the omission of the Protestant congregation to give the legal notice of its establishment; and also to the fact that the name of Henry Morris, the murdered American, does not appear in the register of matriculation of the Mexican foreign office.

In my answer to Mr. Lafragua, under date of the 25th instant, I took occasion to state explicitly that the object of my intervention in the affair in question was on account of the murder of the American citizen, which would relieve me from noticing the religious aspects of his note. In view of the report of the consul of the situation at Acapulco up to the latest dates from that place, I could not refrain from expressing regret that Mr. Lafragua had not furnished me with some information in detail as to the specific character of the extraordinary measures dictated by his government, or at least to have been informed that some favorable results had followed these measures; in which connection I gave him some of the facts reported to me by the consul in the communication herewith inclosed. In concluding my note, I took occasion to say that the fact that Henry Morris did not appear registered in the foreign office could not affect the case, as he was certified to me by the consul at Acapulco as a native of Boston Mass., and as an American citizen

I am. &c.,