Letter

William A. Pile to Hamilton Fish, July 1, 1873

Author

William A. Pile

Recipient

Hamilton Fish

Date

July 1, 1873

Type

Letter

Language

English

No. 495. Mr. Pile to Mr. Fish.

Legation of the United States of America, Caracas, July 1, 1873. (Received July 22.)

No. 90.]

Sir: As soon as the message of the President of Venezuela to the extra session of Congress was published in the Opinion Nacional, I addressed a note to the minister of foreign relations courteously asking if the publication was a correct copy of the message. (See inclosure A.) To this the minister replied promptly, (inclosure B.) Some days afterward I received the rather curious note, inclosure C.

The character of my reply will be seen in inclosure D.

It is one of the mental vices of this people that they either cannot or will not perceive the limitations and modifications that necessarily exist with respect to almost all general rules.

The Opinion Nacional, nominally free and independent, nevertheless is completely subject to the dictamen of the President, and echoes his opinion and wishes upon all political subjects.

I am, &c.,

WM. A. PILE.

Topics

19th Century Diplomacy Reconstruction

Sources

FRUS u2014 Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the P View original source ↗

U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian. Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the P.