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No. 16.]

MEXICO.

EXTRADITION OF MRS. MATTIE D. RICH.

Señor Aspiroz to Mr. Hay.

MEXICAN EMBASSY, Washington, May 18, 1899.

SIR: Mattie Rich wounded her husband, John B. Rich, at Ciudad Juarez, in the State of Chihuahua, Mexico, several days since, and thereupon the couple, both of whom, as it appears, are American citizens, proceeded to El Paso, Tex., where Rich died of his wounds. The authorities of that place have imprisoned the aforesaid Mattie Rich, and the Mexican consul at El Paso has made application for her preliminary arrest.

As this is a case of homicide, for which provision is made in Article II of the convention concluded by the United States of Mexico with the United States of America for the extradition of criminals, which is now in force, I have the honor, in pursuance of instructions received from my Government, to inform you that the competent judge of my country has issued a warrant for the arrest of the aforesaid Mattie Rich, who is charged with the above-mentioned crime, and to promise you that the surrender of Mrs. Rich will soon be asked for by this embassy, which will present the warrant of arrest and a copy of the testimony, duly authenticated, on which the complaint is based.

I therefore beg you to be pleased to issue orders to the end that Mattie Rich may be apprehended and kept in safe custody for such time as may be necessary, until this embassy shall exhibit to your Department, with a formal demand for extradition, the documents. required by the convention in question, which it will do within the forty days fixed in Article X of that convention.

I reiterate, etc.,

M. DE ASPÍROZ.

No. 12.]

Mr. Hay to Señor Aspiroz.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, May 20, 1899. EXCELLENCY: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 18th instant, requesting that Mattie Rich, who is charged in Mexico with the killing of her husband, John B. Rich, and who has since fled to the United States, be arrested and held in custody, pending the receipt from your Government of a formal demand for her extradition.

In reply I beg to inform you that when the forms of law applicable to the case shall have been complied with, your request will be given due consideration.

FR 99-32

497

The evidence in support of the request for the extradition of the accused should be presented to the extradition magistrate to whom application is made for the preliminary arrest, in pursuance of our law.

Accept, etc.,

JOHN HAY.

Señor Aspiroz to Mr. Hay.

.

No. 23.]

MEXICAN EMBASSY, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass., July 6, 1899.

MOST EXCELLENT SIR: The consul of Mexico at El Paso, Tex., informed me yesterday by telegraph that the United States commissioner in that city, before whom the proper legal proceedings had been instituted, according to the laws of this country, for the extradition of Mattie Rich, an American citizen, charged in Mexico with the murder of her husband, John B. Rich, had on that day decided that there was sufficient ground for said extradition, and had sent the necessary papers to the Department of State.

The legal formalities in this case having thus been complied with, it is time for you (as you promised in your note No. 12 of the 20th of May last) to take into due consideration the formal demand which, in the name of the Government of the United States of Mexico, I have the honor to make for the extradition of Mattie Rich, in virtue of the power which Article IV of the convention for the extradition of criminals, signed in the City of Mexico February 22, 1899, confers upon the Executive of the United States of America, as one of the contracting parties, to surrender American citizens if in his discretion he shall think proper to do so.

I therefore beg you, most excellent sir, to have the kindness to acquaint me, as speedily as possible, with the decision reached on the subject of this demand.

I reiterate, etc.,

M. DE ASPÍROZ.

Mr. Hay to Señor Aspiroz.

No. 18.]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, July 11, 1899. EXCELLENCY: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 6th instant, making formal request for the extradition of Mattie Rich, charged with the murder of her husband in Mexico.

In reply I beg to inform you that the papers in the case have just come to the Department, which will give them prompt and attentive consideration; and that as soon as a decision is reached in the matter it will be communicated to you.

Accept, etc.,

JOHN HAY.

Mr. Hay to Señor Aspiroz.

No. 19.]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, July 15, 1899.

EXCELLENCY: Referring to the correspondence which has passed between your embassy and this Department with respect to the case

of Mattie D. Rich, charged with the murder of her husband, John D. Rich, in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, and especially to your note of the 6th instant making formal request for her extradition, I have the honor to inform you that the President has decided to extradite the fugitive as requested.

A formal warrant for her surrender to such person as may be authorized to receive her on behalf of the Mexican Government is therefore inclosed.

Accept, etc.,

JOHN HAY.

Mr. Hay to Mr. Clayton.

No. 178.]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, July 19, 1899.

SIR: This Government, at the request of the Mexican Government, has granted the extradition of an American citizen, Mrs. Mattie D. Rich, wife of John D. Rich, deceased, on the charge of the murder of her husband, alleged to have been committed in Mexico. The President felt that the case came fairly within the letter and spirit of the new treaty authorizing the extradition of citizens in the discretion of the Executive. With a view to the efficient operation of this clause of the treaty, it is thought desirable to avert, as far as possible, any occasion for popular agitation and arousing a sentiment hostile to the execution of this clause of the treaty in all proper cases. For this reason attention is called to the fact that strong pressure was brought to bear on the President in order to prevent the surrender of Mrs. Rich. Among the grounds of this opposition were (1) the fact that she is an American and ought not to be delivered to the justice of the Republic of Mexico; (2) her own written statement that she is enceinte; (3) her temporary insanity and mental irresponsibility since the commission of the crime, asserted by several physicians. None of these considerations were brought forward on the hearing before the extradition magistrate.

In overruling all of these objections, the view taken by the President was that she would receive a fair trial in Mexico; that if at the time the case is called for trial she is in such critical physical or mental condition as to disable her from attendance at the trial or to make full preparation for her defense, such reasonable delay of the trial would be granted as would enable her to do so; and that if she should be tried and condemned to capital punishment, the execution of the sentence would, in any event, be delayed until after the birth of the child, if she is shown to be enceinte; and as to the claim of insanity, that such steps would be judicially pursued as are suggested by the humane but firm administration of justice. Inasmuch as the evidence of her guilt is only circumstantial, the President would be pleased, if she shall be found guilty, if the extreme penalty of death should not be visited upon her; or, if pronounced, that it might be commuted to imprisonment. The President feels sure in advance that every opportunity will be accorded her to make full defense, to have the benefit of the attendance of such witnesses, in person or by deposition, as she may desire, and the employment of and consultation with counsel.

You will therefore informally bring these matters to the attention of the Mexican Government and request the use of its good offices for

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SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your instruction No. 178, of the 19th instant, concerning the case of Mrs. Mattie D. Rich, an American citizen, wife of John D. Rich, an American, lately surrendered to the Mexican authorities, charged with the crime of murder, under the provisions of the treaty between the two Governments for the extradition of criminals, in which I am instructed to bring informally to the attention of the Mexican Government the motives that actuated the President in granting the surrender of Mrs. Rich and his views concerning her trial in Mexico.

Having been informed by Mr. Mariscal prior to the receipt of your aforesaid instruction that under the laws of Chihuahua the crime charged against Mrs. Rich is made punishable by imprisonment onlyin other words, females in that State are not subjected to capital punishment for the crime of murder-in view of this fact, in quoting your instructions in my note to Mr. Mariscal, above referred to, I deemed it proper to eliminate that portion relating to the contingency of her condemnation to capital punishment and the execution of such sentence.

In conversation with Mr. Mariscal on the 27th instant he informed me that they had already taken precautions to give Mrs. Rich a room by herself where she would have better accommodations than are usually afforded prisoners and more liberty of action.

I feel confident that her imprisonment and trial will be of such a character as will leave no just cause of complaint on the part of any fair-minded person.

I inclose herewith a clipping 1 from the Mexican Herald of yesterday concerning her preliminary examination and the action of the judge in subjecting the chief of police to discipline on account of entering her cell, and referring to the fact that the United States has provided no lawyer for Mrs. Rich, that the American consul has not visited her since she was surrendered, and that she was not represented by an attorney in court.

Under the Mexican law this preliminary examination corresponds somewhat to our grand-jury investigations, and at such stage lawyers for the defense are not allowed, nor have spectators the right, to be present. I presume at the time referred to she was "incommunicado." I have, etc.,

No. 300.]

Mr. Clayton to Mr. Hay.

POWELL CLAYTON.

EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES,
Mexico, August 24, 1899.

SIR: Referring to my No. 255, of the 29th ultimo, stating that I had communicated in a note to the Mexican Government the instruc

1 Not printed.

tions contained in your No. 178, of the 19th ultimo, I have the honor to inclose herewith a copy and translation of Mr. Mariscal's reply stating that he has transmitted my note to the governor of Chihuahua that he may communicate it to the judge who is trying Mrs. Rich's case, with the necessary recommendations that the indications therein contained may be properly regarded.

I have, etc.,

POWELL CLAYTON.

[Inclosure. Translation.]

Mr. Mariscal to Mr. Clayton.

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS,
Mexico, August 17, 1899.

Mr. AMBASSADOR: In due time I received your note of the 27th ultimo, relative to the delivery of Mrs. Mattie D. Rich, whose extradition was granted by the Government of the United States.

In reply I have the honor to say to your excellency that I have transmitted your said note to the governor of the State of Chihuahua, that he may communicate it to the judge who is trying Mrs. Rich's case, with the necessary recommendations that the indications therein contained may be properly regarded.

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SIR: I have the honor to inclose herewith copy and translation of the decree promulgating the convention between Mexico and Guatemala, extending for two years from May 5, 1899, the period fixed for the completion of the work of the boundary commission.

This convention was signed on May 17, 1898, ratified by the President of Mexico on May 24, 1898, ratified by the President of Guatemala on April 7, 1899, and the ratifications were exchanged in this city on May 8, 1899.

I have, etc.,

POWELL CLAYTON.

[Inclosure.]

[From Diario Oficial.-Translation.]

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS,
Mexico, May 9, 1899.

The President of the Republic has seen fit to transmit to me the following decree:

"Porfirio Díaz, President of the United Mexican States, to the inhabitants thereof, know ye:

"That on the seventeenth day of May, one thousand eight hundred and ninetyeight, there was concluded and signed in this city of Mexico, by the plenipotentiaries duly authorized for the purpose, a convention between the United Mexican States and the Republic of Guatemala which prorogues the period fixed for the completion of the work of the commissions charged with drawing the boundary line between the two countries in the form and of the tenor following:

"The Government of the United Mexican States and the Government of the Republic of Guatemala considering that the period of two years fixed by article

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