Raymond H. Perry On San Domingo

To the Kdilor of the Sun : - Sir - Our prosa i fi'led with the üfiinioiia ut' various individuáis iü regard to the ptoposed aunexation of 8&u l)ouiiugo, and in all probability these opin(nis are t'Xpressed by pcrsuiis who iu reality know but very iitlle of the matter n uiiy of ita ngpects. I have read these articles, as wel! as the reporta froiri Washington, and oan do lunger re fmiu froin ftting a few fucts in regnrd to the motives of ome of the parlies who at present are 10 stronglj ndvocating that mensure, even at the risk of be ing coneidercd egotiwtical or accueed of personal feelniL. [ write this letter from a seuse of duty to tho pubüo, aüd ffieütiir of indigr.ation that thciuterested motives of a certain ring of polilicul ppeculators i-hould be so carefully concculed fnim publio obscrvati.m, and the real truih of matter so l'.ttle koown Tbc anncxa'iou of San Domingo as uow manipulaied nould be a buge swiudle upoo the Uuitcd States frovennuent, cnriching a few frieuds of the adniiniKtratioo Hnd taxing our goven.nieiit millions of treasuru. I told an oiBcer attached to the Executive mansiou that General Babcouk was a uiifcrable tooi in the baods of a set of tricksters, such as Baez, Cazncau, Fabenp, and otber parties whi'ii) I raigbt natne, ibat were leadiog the President, Teis official told me lie knew it, and thut it was my duty to inform the President. TLe deparlment of State at Washington altso infornied me that General Babcock had acied very wrotigly in this matter, and thut tbe departmeot had frequently cüutioned bim agaiust these men (Cazneau, Fubens & Co.) as wcll as others conneeted with the San Domingo aiFairs aud that all the correspoudeuce, &c, &c, relating to the aunexation schenie had been carried on direotly between the President, througb General Babcock, and thete vt-ry partios, -and oot througb the State Department, the only proper aud li'i'imato channel. Wh'lo residing at San Domingo City I bad frcqucu'.ly writtcu to the State Department at Washington, tss wjII as the President' private secretary (General Babcock) vruruing thetn agaiust the above-natnad parties, vvhohad frequently told ui o tl. at they held President Baez between their thuxb ard fiuger, owiug to the grants aud concessioos of landa they hold on the ielaiid that Bacz hiiiis-. 11 luid made (o them for their mutual benefit. I have uo-.v in my possession copies of nomo of thoso grantg aud couecs-ions, which are alinost fabuioos in tbeir extent, nomo haviug been given seeretly since the signing of the treaty. Tbesc I opposed, as tbey uto in direot violation of srtie'.o fcix of the treaty, wiiicti I wim coinmiasioned by President Grant to umke aud siu on bühalf oí the United States; whieh being done, I was frequently requented by Messrs. Baez, Babcook, &-., to keep secret until a naval fort-e arrivcd at the island to proteot BaPZ aud his Cabinet, whiuh lorce, Bïbeock assured Baez, was ready to all for San Domingo as soon as the reaty was signed, which assertion was n a few daye verifiad by the arrival of he United States steainors Nantaskat and Swatara, thereby enabl:ng Mr. Baeï 'or the tirst time to annouuoe to his eople tbat be had s-'ld tbem and their country to the United Statea. Baei did not tniike this announoemeut until bis ïeadqu&rters were wcll covered by the junsofthe TTnitod States meu-of-war, and he had quietly imprieooed or banshed mauy iufluential pcople from the gland who he thought would opptme his schemes It hati been aeserted that theso vessels were to proteot him (Baez) 'rom forsign interveotion ; but marines and sailors were offored to President liaez in my presecoe by a commanáing oftieer to proteot him against the oppos ere of auucxation and Cabral's forces, who were Dominicana. The prisons wero so filled with this clans of people .Lat Bacz aud Cazneau anked me to use my inflnenoe with Admiral Poor to havo these prisoners sent to Samaría, which )ad just been leascd to thu United States, and tbere cooSned under the guns of oar meu-of war. Tho Admira! replied lo Baez that the United States govornmeut would not approve of this (tbs Admiral's) mukiug a "Fernando . o" ol Samaiia. Senator Morton, ainong olher erroneous assertions, slatos that "Cabral bas had no foren whcrcwuh to threaten Baez," while Baez bas frequently reported to me large forces of Cabral's in different parU of bis territory, and on one occasion lm (Baez) told me that (Jul-ral was marebing on San Domingo City with a large body of troops, and unles a United Statea shio could be obtained ie and bis staff must leavu the ixluud Chis report was generally bclieved, und Viiioricau uitizeDS made arrangeiuents o come to my house in case the city ras attacked. The forcea were then en;aged at Azua, two or three day'a raarch rom the capital. Havine received intruetious from GeDoral Babcoclf that he men-of-war were for the proteotion ind support of Mr. Baez, I wrote desmtches to Captain Bunoe, of tho Nanssket, requesling bim to come iraraediitely to San Domingo City, which he tomplied with. On tbu, as on all other )cc!iHÍons, Baez udviied with Cazneau tod Fabens, frequently mentioning to no as hie reason for go doing that tbey were the special agenta of President jrrnnt, and knew all his wishes uud jlans, being iu direot corrospondence ■vit.li bim. About tbis time these men, not concnt with thir already immense grants, ippiied to íaoz for a concebston of two aundrcd thousaod (200,000) aores of land, and the Doniinican Senate were ioBtrucled direcily by Baez to grant Ibis DonoesBÍoo to thein. Tbis was to have been accomplished in secret aession Some of the Senators, friends of aunoxa tion, oalled upon me at my house, uuiouj them a brotherTol President Baez, anc wiahed me to nppoio this couocssion o grant, as they thuught this, hh well a othcr matturo I have not yot alluded to a ülnmeful violation of the treaty. wrote and oalled upon both Presiden Baez and Cazueau in re!ation to thi matter. They denied all kuowledge o it ut first ; but wheu conviucod I knew ui! about it, they iuforuied me thatsuc mattere were uot wilbin the sphere of my dutiee, and that I wub working aguiDst uiy owu frieuds ; that Geacrals Babcook and Ingalls ktiew all about it, and were ii.tereatod in it. On bij return to the United State, General Babcook told me I luid do ribt to oppose grants and ooneengious of lands, nud that I had injured the chaoceB of annex ntion by po doing. I ;i-k h ii y fricnd of aunexatiou to poicit out one exaggerated or false etuteuicnt in any of my correspondenoe. I simply wiebed the truth known. I found greti difficulty ou my return from San Do rniugo to induce any advocate of snnexation to lieten tu it. I soon discovered that tlie annexution of 8an Domingo was to bo rushed through by fiiir roeans or foul. The authorities would not lipton to the truth themselves ; much lees would they allow the public to be enlightcned. lf n cotumisaion appointed by the United Stutes governuieot goea to San Domingo, it wiil take a inuc;h loneer lime tliau three nr four weeks to proper ly iuquire into the true stute of affairg. Let tho United States guns bs withdrawn ; lot tho people of the sland have u freo Tote, uniotimidated by the bayonets of Baez's troops supplied from the Unitod States arnenal, paid out of the fundü extracted from the United State9 Treasury, and handed o?er to the President of Sun Domingo by the private Becretary of the President of the Uüited StateB; niinul the grants and concessions ' giveo ; let Dominicans be sent to ' ington to represeut the wishes of their people ; and then iinnczatiou wou'td be more fairly oonsidered. There are raany intelligent, uprigbt, and influenti:.! j DomiuicauH who npnak our language and ; who could represent their uouutryuioro j truthfully and favorably than the man who styles himself Plenipotentiary and Minitter Extraordinary of the Douiinicau Republic, now in Washington - a mn agaiust whoin our Sate Department cautioned President Grant, through :ib secretary Ndtwithstanding thi.s, jieneral Babcock r queets Mr Baez to ppoint Colotiel Fabeus to the above amed position. I wcut to San Domiuo prejudictd in favor of annexation, nor id I chauge my viewe until I had podiive evidence of the corrupt and 6hamecss jiracticos rsot ted to by the wire)ullera of tbis San Domingo ring. Id conclusión, I would respectfully uggest to the gentlemen oomposing the ommisíion now about btarting, thutuuess they ara perfectly familiar with the Spauish lunguage, they secure the sericeg of an interpteter in the United Statea, 10 as not to depend entirely upon he kind ofnoes cf Mr. Baez'a Yankee riends. The reaaon is obvious. I remain jours very respectfully, Uatmond II. Pkrky. Ex-Unlted States Commercial Agent, au Domingo.