TURKEY.. ASSAULT ON MISS MELTON. [See Foreign Relations, 1893, pp. 642, 649, 630, 652, 656, 665, 668, 683, 689, 695, 700, 704.] No. 124.] Mr. Terrell to Mr. Gresham. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Constantinople, December 6, 1893. (Received December 26.) SIR: I have the honor to inform you that I have no late information of progress in the trial of the men under arrest for assaulting Miss Melton. A long letter of 40 or 50 pages from Mr. McDowell, received on the 2d instant, reveals no evidence sufficient to convict. I deem it unnecessary to forward a copy. I inclose copy of a letter just received from Mr. McDowell, which indicates that the new governor sent from here is desirous of doing his duty. I have no means of doing more in this matter to enforce respect for our people in that distant region. The trial is progressing on the river Tigris, at Mosul, opposite old Nineveh. * I have, etc., [Inclosure in No. 124.] A. W. TERRELL. Mr. McDowell to Mr. Terrell. MOSUL, TURKEY, November 16, 1893. DEAR SIR: I have been informed that the vali received a strong tele gram from the grand vizier last week in reference to our case, which I presume to be due to some action taken by you. The vali has twice sent me assurances of his interest in the case since receiving the telegram. I thank you for your perseverance in the matter. If redress is obtained it will be due only to your indefatigable efforts. I sent you by last post a full statement of our case. If it has not been received on receipt of this letter, will you please to telegraph me to that effect that I may send a duplicate of it. There is nothing new to say about our case. Very respectfully, etc., E. W. MCDOWELL, Mr. Terrell to Mr. Gresham. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, No. 134.] Constantinople, December 13, 1893. (Received Jan. 2, 1894.) SIR: I inclose for your information the copy of a letter just received from the Rev. E. W. McDowell, at Mosul, dated November 24. The letter to which he refers, written to the church secretary in New York, asking further action of you, may have induced the belief that Miss Melton's case was neglected here. The estimable gentlemen in charge of missionary enterprises are, I fear, sometimes unreasonable in their demands; certainly there was no occasion for this gentleman's colleague to write home to have the Department take more energetic action. * I have, etc., [Inclosure in No. 134.] A. W. TERRell. Mr. McDowell to Mr. Terrell. MOSUL, TURKEY IN ASIA, November 24, 1893. DEAR SIR: Yours of October 31 was received by last post. I am glad to know that our Government shows no signs of receding from its first position in this case, and that in case of failure to punish the assailants of Miss Melton an indemnity will be asked. We, from the first, have been morally certain as to who the guilty parties are, but did not think it wise to specify their names until the time had come to give the evidence. While, as you suggest, it is impossible for us to secure personal testimony in the case, I feel confident that the circumstantial evidence which I have sent you will strike you as being exceedingly strong against the men referred to, whose names I gave. There has nothing of importance occurred in the case since I last wrote you. Abdullah Pacha, sent to Amadia to investigate the matter, is taking his time to do it, and has already visited and interviewed the intimate friends of the prisoners in villages on this side of Amadia, e. g., Sheikh of Bowrnemee and Beshid Bey. But I am satisfied to have him go on in his own way, for I am sure he is weaving a rope with which, figuratively speaking, we can hang the prisoners. I regret to say that my colleague, before he reached Mosul, hearing what seemed to him unfavorable news about our case, wrote to our secretaries at New York, asking them to secure further action by the Department of State. Possibly they may send this letter to Secretary Gresham, who perhaps may telegraph you. Please accept this as an apology beforehand. We are perfectly satisfied that you are doing what is right in the case. In my letters to our missionary board I have not had a word of complaint to offer, and shall write them this week to inform Secretary Gresham, in case the letter referred to has been sent him, that it was written by one not fully acquainted with the circumstances, and that we on the ground are satisfied that you have pushed the case as rapidly as was possible under the circumstances. Very sincerely, etc., FR 9444 E. MCDOWELL. No. 139.] Mr. Terrell to Mr. Gresham. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Constantinople, December 17, 1893. (Received Jan. 6, 1894.) SIR: I have the honor to inclose the memorandum of a conversation with his highness the grand vizier, yesterday, the 16th, regarding the progress of the investigation of the outrage on Miss Melton. I have attempted to keep you advised of the progress of this investigation on account of the great interest felt in it by religious people in the United States. I have, etc., A. W. TERRELL. [Inclosure in No. 139.] Memorandum of a conversation with Djevad Pasha, grand vizier, on the 16th December, 1893. I said: On the 16th instant I visited the grand vizier, and "I came chiefly to tell you that I am delighted over a telegram just received from Mr. McDowell at Mosul. He says, 'Your new governor is doing well."" He answered, "I also have received a long telegram from the vali; he is a true man. He informs me that he has arrested two of the three men who assaulted that woman, and has the evidence that will convict them. The object was robbery. The third party is known, and he is being pursued and will be taken." To this I responded: "This evidence of your energy in securing the punishment of those miscreants will be greatly appreciated by my Government. No money indemnity could repair the wrong done to that defenseless woman; none is asked, none is wanted, if punishment is inflicted." He then signaled his secretary, and directed him to bring the telegram to Gargiulo, whose interpretation of the telegram fully sustained his statement. Mr. Uhl to Mr. Terrell. A. W. TERRELL. No. 110.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, December 29, 1893. SIR: I have received your No. 124, of the 6th instant, in regard to the case of Miss Melton. You say that so far no evidence sufficient to convict her assailants, who are under arrest, has been adduced. Your intimation that the new governor seems, upon information received by you, desirous of doing his duty gives the Department hope, coupled with your interest in securing due punishment for her assailants, that they may yet be convicted and punished. The Department realizes fully the difficulties under which the prosecution labors, but this Government has every just expectation that the Ottoman authorities will perform their whole duty in this matter. * Until the results of the trial be made known, the question of an indemnity must be held in abeyance. You will put forth your best efforts in Miss Melton's behalf, and by keeping the Department amply advised of the progress of the case will enable it to determine what further steps should be taken, if any. I am, etc., EDWIN F. UHL, Acting Secretary. No. 182.] Mr. Terrell to Mr. Gresham. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Constantinople, February 8, 1894. (Received February 26.) SIR! I inclose copy of letter from Rev. Mr. McDowell at Mosul, dated January 29, 1894. I have about exhausted my resources in forwarding the prosecution of Miss Melton's assailants. Much telegraphing was necessary to let the Porte know that our Government expected the criminals to be punished. I send on the overleaf a copy of one just sent. I have, etc., [Inclosure 1 in No. 182-Telegram.] A. W. TERRELL. Mr. Terrell to Mr. McDowell. The vali admits the guilt of Abdulaziz Agha and of Mustafa Effendi has been established. If they are not punished in ten days telegraph me. Be prudent, and still have faith in the justice of the grand vizier. TERRELL. [Inclosure 2 in No. 182.] Mr. McDowell to Mr. Terrell. MOSUL, January 19, 1894. DEAR SIR: On the 13th instant (Saturday evening) I received your telegram: "Has any one been punished for beating Miss Melton? Answer immediately." On Monday morning I sent the telegram to the vali, asking him what answer I should send you. He called the prosecuting attorney and asked him what was being done. His answer was, the two men, Abdulaziz Agha and Mustafa Effendi, were in prison, their guilt having been established; two others, Mustafa Effendi and Sadullah, were still under bail for further investigation; four others, three Kurds and a Syrian, had just been brought from Amadia and were being examined, but as these last were incriminating others (the two under bail and others in Amadia), they were waiting to secure these parties, also the two Havinka men, who had fled. The vali censured the prosecuting attorney for delaying the matter, and sent the above to me as his answer. As no one had yet been sentenced, I sent you a telegram Monday, the 15th: "No one has been punished yet." Abdullah Pasha, with other strong men, were sent to Amadia to sift the matter to the bottom and (by the vali's word to me) to bring all found guilty. He spent considerable time there, and brought back a report which both he and the vali said disclosed the whole matter. The names of the parties who went to the tent and those who planned the affair were given, most of whom were in prison. The only two at large were the men of Havinka, who were in Abdullah Pasha's hands while he was in Amadia. He was under orders to bring all parties implicated (so the vali told me), but these two men were left, who improved the opportunity and fled out of reach. As I wrote you, only two of the men reported by Abdullah Pasha were retained in prison; the others were released. Judgment on these two, whom the Government acknowl edge are guilty, was stayed "until the two Havinka should be arrested." After several weeks' further delay three Kurds and a Syrian were brought in, but not the Havinka men. These last four may be guilty and may not be; I do not know. One of them is a servant of Abdulaziz, and was the one who seized the gate of the city after the arrest of the Amadians, with the purpose of securing their release. He has also been under arrest twice in Amadia on this business before the arrest of the chief men, and both times was released by the Government arbitrarily. You can judge for yourself what the Government intends to do. There is this encouragement-that those in prison are now beginning to implicate each other. Possibly positive testimony may thus be secured against the chief men in the affair. I am hoping daily now to hear that peremptory orders have come for the immediate punishment of the two whose guilt the vizier accepts and a limit set for the punishment of the others reported by Abdullah Pasha as guilty. Very respectfully, yours, Mr. Uhl to Mr. Terrell. E. MCDOWELL, No. 151.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I have received your No. 182 of 8th instant, in further reference to the case of Miss Melton. It is inferred from the letter of Mr. McDowell, a copy of which you inclose, that while the authorities are moving slowly, they are pursuing this deliberate course with a design to secure such of the guilty parties as are still at large and in the hope of arriving at as complete a knowledge of the facts as practicable. The high reputation of the vali encourages the belief that punishment will eventually fall on those whose guilt is established by reliable evidence. I am, etc., EDWIN F. UHL, Acting Secretary. No. 221.] Mr. Terrell to Mr. Gresham. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Constantinople, April 2, 1894. (Received April 21.) SIR: I have the honor to inform you that the court for the correction of errors at Bagdad has found that the evidence taken in the case pending lately at Mosul, for the assault on Miss Melton, was sufficient to justify the conviction of eight of the twelve men found guilty by the trial court, and not suflicient for the conviction of the other four. |