José Maria Autran to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, December 17, 1877

Commandant Autran to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

To His Excellency Monsieur the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Haytian Republic:

Sir: The difficulties between the Spanish Government and that of Hayti, resulting out of insults received by the Spanish nation in the capital even of the Republic, have reached such a point, and the opposition of the Haytian Government, at the same time, to satisfy the rightful claims which ours has constantly made is so tenacious, that the Spanish Government has taken, finally, its resolution, in such a violent situation, it pretends as much as it is its right, that its flag be respected, and its representatives be shown the respect which is due to them.

The unjust condemnation which has recently been pronounced upon a Spaniard named D. José Santisi, and the unfruitful results which my predecessor, the commander of the Barcaiztequi, has obtained in favor of his liberty, as result of his innocence, proved by the decree of the Tribunal of Cassation, circumstance which had not been brought to the knowledge of Monsieur Terry, nor the copy of the declarations which were favorable to Santisi, and which prove the unjust decree of the said tribunal, all this indicates clearly that the Haytian Government is not inclined to act with the justice which is proper, and that motives which I do not allow influence it to follow a line of conduct which is as dangerous as it is incomprehensible.

The Government of His Catholic Majesty does not intend to remain any longer inactive, and in the instructions which I have received through the medium of my immediate superior chief, who commands me to press the demands made, confiding this delicate mission to the navy, that it may act in the form and measure necessary, that the Spanish honor and dignity remain at their natural standard.

Now, I must frankly state that the past grievance and the recent one of Santisi are of such a nature that they form part of those for which I came to demand redress. The demands presented by the consul of Belgium, Mr. C. Fitter, in charge of the consulate of Spain, have proved ineffectual, and the desire of the Haytian Government to prolong this state of things, humiliating to the last degree for the glorious Spanish flag, so manifest that I have resolved to take upon my shoulders the responsibility of making the following demands; but before formulating and giving to them the solemn character of last pacific manifestations; before leading you to believe that my absence from this port indicates, for a future more or less near, demands supported by sufficient forces, it becomes my duty to recall to the Haytian Government the number and the character of the injuries received by Spain, in order that by these means the justice and equity of the reparations which I am about to demand may be understood.

1st. The Haytian Government, which ought not to misunderstand the independence of its own judicial power, which, during the command of General Domingue, had condemned to three years of forced labor the insurgent Cuban D. Manuel Fernandez, which ought to know that the sentences of this power are without appeal, that a change of chief, in the executive power, does not authorize them to modify its legal and solemn sentences, which are the only guarantees of social life; and if the sentences of this power, pronounced after having recourse to all the competent tribunals, are absolutely obligatory in the territory where they are pronounced, they are much more so when some interest of the foreigner is in question; that this interest, in the present case, is the honor of the Spanish nation, which peremptorily demands the punishment of a man who, without recognized flag, a prescript and outlaw, has outraged her in this same territory, and who holds the perfect right to let fall the weight of the law itself on him.

This government at length, which knows all this, but which, according to all appearance, is disposed to trample on all, not only despises its own judges and the laws of its own country, but which, by opening new judgment on the said Fernandez, or pretending to annul the last one, darts open insult to the Spanish nation, which holds the unquestionable obligation to repress it.

2d. The President, the government, and the Haytian marine, which ought not to be ignorant of the mutual interchange of courtesy to which are bound all civilized people, without exception, and which received the visits of the commander of the Spanish war-steamer Bazan, in August of last year, allowed themselves the insolent liberty of not returning them. This offense to the flag of Spain and many omissions of respect to our officers as the result of such attitude do not require commentaries, and do not call for any efforts of imagination to show the necessity in which the Spanish Government finds itself to seek immediate redress.

3d. Between the 10th and 11th of October, also of last year, Haytian subjects, and with them some Cubans, insulted the Spanish consulate, with the cries of “Down with Spain, and long live free Cuba!” and the authors of these insults have not even been punished on the pretext that these acts occurred during the night, and that the authors of it could not be recognized, unless they were designated by the consulate. Your Excellency is perfectly aware of the fact that no government whatsoever can, in any case, require of foreign representatives the duty of pointing out and recognizing natives or others; nor hope that in a matter like the one which occupies me, it would be proper for the consul to seek to identify persons, in order to denounce them to the local authorities. Every government has the exclusive mission to guard the inviolability of the foreign domicile, and to use the force at its disposal in order to prevent its being insulted or degraded, and it is absolutely incumbent upon it to punish the promotors of such like acts of savage felony.

4th. The 3d of March of this year, a Mr. Despeaux insulted the Spanish flag hoisted at the consulate. This fact, according to notification of the Haytian Government, was given cognizance of at the Department of Justice, and nothing has resulted from it. Neither does this fact call for commentary of any kind.

5th. During the first days of July of this year, various stupid vagrants trampled under foot the Spanish Pavilion, at the doors of a panorama, without any other satisfaction having been received of the Haytian Government than the inadmissible narration that this flag had been torn by the basket carried by a saleswoman on her head and around which it had become twisted. Your excellency will readily perceive that such an excuse, were it sufficient, is but a new insult added to those which I have just brought to your notice.

6th. and last, comes recently the condemnation to death of the Spaniard, D. Jose Santisi, whose unjust judgment and the unwonted sentence have been qualified by the Belgian consul, who is charged ad interim with Spanish affairs here, as a “judicial murder,” and this signifies that the Haytian Government, denuding itself of all sentiments of honor and justice toward Spain, pretends to throw down the gauntlet to us, not knowing assuredly, in its insane delirium, that it will be taken up at fit time and circumstance.

For this reason, and as reparation to the Spanish nation, so unjustly offended, the Haytian Government will give the following reparations:

• In any one of the batteries of the forts, or on some vessel of war, the Spanish Pavilion shall be hoisted and saluted with twenty-one guns, for the effacement of the insults of which I have spoken to Your Excellency, and which are signaled in paragraphs 2, 3, 4, and 5. The Haytian Government will at the same time officially promise to Mr. the consul of Belgium and to the Dean of the consular corps in this city, that it will effectually seek out and punish, if they are found, the parties to these excesses, and especially Mr. Despeaux, who to the present time has remained unpunished.
• The government of President Boisrond Canal will immediately impose on the insurgent Cuban, D. Manuel Fernandez, the punishment of three years’ forced labor, to which he has been condemned by the competent tribunal and in the full enjoyment of its legal functions.
• The Haytian Government will order that the Spanish subject, D. José Santisi, will be immediately handed over to me unconditionally, unless that in the short delay which remains to the government it be fully proved that he be guilty, and in that event that no other penal laws be imposed on him than the one applicable to his case by the code.

In order that the Haytian Government may have sufficient time to meditate on its future acts, I grant it a delay of seventy-two hours, or three days exactly; this delay passed, and whatsoever shall be the result and the decision which the said government may take, I shall leave the port and will go to Santiago de Cuba, in order to give account of my mission to the authorities which have sent me.

I shall feel a deep sentiment of regret if the Haytian Government, not duly considering the justice of the Spanish cause, should persist in refusing the reparations demanded; but this sentiment would at the same time be counterbalanced, in view of this consideration toward Spain and my government, whose reputation stands perfectly shielded against all censure, since repeated efforts have not been wanting in order to avoid a rupture, which, if it becomes inevitable in a future more or less distant, will fall down forcibly and solely on the heads of those who have themselves provoked it.

In the meanwhile I pray God to have your excellency in his holy keeping.