Messrs. Corlies & Co. declined to deliver these bonds, unless Mr Romero would furnish them the gold necessary to pay the interest due on them the 1st of October, 1866, as they were public guarantors of the interest up to that date.

I proceeded to Washington and informed Mr. Romero of this refusal, and, afterwards, I was partially relieved from the embarrassment mentioned, by his order and written directions for the delivery of bonds. I succeeded, however, in making various contracts for munitions with other parties to a very large amount.

By the written instructions of Mr. Romero, above referred to, all contracts made thereafter were to be approved by Mr. Navarro, the Consul General of Mexico in New York, or by Mr. Romero, himself.

I accordingly referred the parties who had agreed to sell me arms and munitions of war for Mexican bonds, to that official for his approval.

Said Consul General, verbally approved the contracts I sent to him, stating to the parties interested that the contracts were all right, and that I had proper authority to make them. He declined, however, to put that approval in writing, for the reasons, as he stated, that it was not necessary, and that he was not instructed to sign his name to any contract.

Mr. Romero, in the meantime, unfortunately absented himself from Washington on a pleasure trip to the West with the President of the United States.

I endeavored to reach him by telegraph; yet it was not until the 4th of September that I could obtain any reply from him; and although he then instructed me by telegraph to go to the ConsulGeneral to obtain his approval, and that he would approve my contracts; and although I showed these telegrams, with letters, to the said Consul, he still declined to sign his name to the contracts in approval.

The utmost he would do was to verbally approve their correctness and validity, and he urged me not to wait, but to go ahead, as a written approval was a mere formality that would be settled on the return of Mr. Romero.

In my anxiety to serve the Mexican Government, believing that Mr. Romero on his return would fully approve my contracts in the manner I wished, I took upon myself the responsibility of guaranteeing the fulfillment of some of them.

In other instances, the amount being too large for me to become responsible for, knowing the immediate necessities of the Mexican Government, I urged the parties to fill their undertakings, at least

so far that my inspectors might do their duty, and generally prepare the articles purchased for shipment, so as to lose no time.

Some of the parties agreed to this proposition; others refused to have anything further to do with the Mexican business.

Upon the return of Mr. Romero to Washington, about the 10th of September, he informed me by letter that he had instructed Dr. Navarro, the Consul General in New York, to approve my contracts in writing; yet the Consul refused to do so when called upon by the proper parties, on the ground that he had not as yet received Mr. Romero's instructions officially; whereupon, these parties, although more than five thousand stands of arms, their equipments, &c., had been inspected, boxed and made ready for shipment, (the expense of which I had paid,) refused to have anything further to do with the Mexican government. In this way several contracts fell through, amounting in total to more than $1,687,290.00.

In spite of these difficulties, as is fully shown by the correspondence between Mr. Romero and myself, on file in this case, I persevered in my efforts, and succeeded in obtaining a much larger amount of war material and shipping it in various vessels to Mexico.

As no arrangement had been made by Mr. Romero, looking toward the payment of interest on the bonds, the financial agent declined to guaranty said payment further than October 1st, 1866, and to induce parties from whom I wanted to purchase goods for bonds, to take them in payment, it became several times necessary to convince them that others had confidence in the stability and good faith of the Mexican Government.

To do this effectually I advanced, when buying of them for bonds, money with them, sufficient to cover the interest due in April and October, 1867. These coupons were retained by me, expecting of course that the Mexican Government would cheerfully repay me the amount advanced on them. The amount so paid out, as I have repeatedly stated to Mr. Romero was $19,950.00 in currency, but as it was an operation belonging to the secret service, and as I held the coupons, I made no special mention of it in my report to Mr. Romero, he knowing all about the matter.

As the manufacturers of gunpowder in this country generally declined to trust the Mexican Government, owing to their experience in the past, I appealed to Messrs. Dupont de Nemours & Co., manufacturers at Wilmington, Delaware, from whom I had purchased large quantities of powder during the late war, for the State of Indiana, to furnish me needed powder, and take in payment therefor the bonds of the Mexican Government at 60 cents on the dollar.

B

Through the influence of Messrs. Cattell & Co., Wm. J. Taylor, and other prominent gentlemen of Philadelphia, I succeeded in making an arrangement with Messrs. Dupont de Nemours & Co., by which they engaged to furnish me a large quantity of powder for Mexican bonds, provided two drafts amounting to about $9,000, duly accepted by a former minister of the Mexican Governmeut at Washington, but remaining still unpaid, were also paid in the same manner.

As this proposition was so very fair, I at once accepted it, with the approval of Mr. Romero, who subsequently, in a letter, acknowledged the justness of the claim.

He stated, however, that he wished to inform his government of this transaction, assuring me at the same time, that it would certainly and gladly accept the proposal of Messrs. Dupont de Nemours & Co. The latter part of January, 1867, some four months after the conclusion of this agreement, and after nearly all the powder had been shipped to Mexico, and I had repeatedly urged Mr. Romero to take upon himself the responsibility (as he could not hear from his government) of paying in bonds for the two drafts as agreed, Messrs. Dupont de Nemours & Co. declined to deliver the balance of the powder then urgently needed in Mexico, unless their contract was first complied with. Aware of the necessity of having this powder in Mexico, and anxious to preserve the good name and credit of the Mexican government, I, myself, settled the demands, Messrs. Dupont de Nemours & Co. had on account of these drafts, in full as agreed.

In this connection I may here state, that although the Mexican government, in this way, obtained one of the most necessary materials of war, it never did instruct its minister to comply with the agreement made with Messrs. Dupont de Nemours & Co.

About the commencement of the month of December, 1866, I informed Mr. Romero of the fact, that I had agreed to purchase for Mexican bonds a large quantity of arms and munitions from Mr. James T. Ames, of Massachusets, and other prominent and influential dealers in arms of the United States.

The affairs of his government having become more encouraging, Mr. Romero anticipated orders to discontinue such purchases in this country, and requested me, at an interview I had with him, and subsequently wrote me to the same effect, to select of the different contracting parties a few whose engagements he desired me to fulfill, and make some arrangements with the others by which, without prejudicing the interest of the government, it would not be required

to take the articles. This was accomplished after considerable difficulty.

In the interview mentioned, Mr. Romero suggested, that if I could arrange it so that they or myself would send them to Mexico with a view of selling them on private account, he would give every facility to dispose of them, inasmuch as the goods were needed and would be paid for in cash by the Liberal authorities.

I accepted the suggestion, and entered into an arrangement with several prominent dealers in arms and their associates to send a large amount of munitions of war to Mexico on private account. As the Mexican government, some time in the month of February, 1867, had sent a commissioner, Col. E. A. Mexia, here, for the purpose of obtaining more supplies to be sent to Tampico, I chartered a steamer on my own account, and proposed to Mr. Romero to take to Mexico, free of charge, the said Commissioner and several Mexican officers who desired to return home, together with some sixty tons of munitions belonging to that government; provided the said government would give me every facility to dispose of such materials of war as I might send on private account, and require of me no duties or other charges on my cargo or the proceeds thereof.

This proposition, after being fully discussed by Mr. Romero, was gladly accepted by him. He promised to assist me in every way possible.

On the 31st of March, 1867, according to this programme, I dispatched the steamer General McCallum, with a large cargo of munitions of war furnished to me on the faith of my personal credit, and to account for which I am held directly responsible, and also a large quantity of military goods belonging to the Mexican government. At the same time Colonel Mexia and a number of Mexican officers took passage.

The vessel was under the charge of Colonel Stocking, formerly private secretary of General Carvajal, and my brother, R. C. Sturm.

Mr. Romero gave Mr. Stocking a letter of introduction, in Spanish, to General A. Gomez, the commandant of the Liberal forces at Tampico.

The steamer arrived at that port about the 15th of April, 1867. No sooner had she anchored than General Gomez sent an officer of the customs on board and held her in the port, refusing to allow the discharge of the cargo free of duty.

Several of the Mexican officers whom I had sent home in this vessel, as I learned subsequently, turned enemies and joined Gomez in his endeavors to defraud me and my friends.

Through the intervention of Captain Maxwell, of the United States steamer Yantic, the vessel was temporarily released; but was forced to proceed some seventy or eighty miles up the Panuco river, there to discharge the portion of the cargo belonging to the Mexican government.

Whilst on this compulsory trip, the steamer, owing to the tortuous course of the river, which was swift and narrow, was run ashore and sustained serious damages, for which I have settled and paid the owner the sum of $10,000.00.

For the delay in the return of the McCallum to New York and for expenses, caused by the interference of the Mexican authorities at Tampico, I have been sued in the United States Court, at Brooklyn, New York, and a judgment has been recovered against me for $11,888.67, which with costs and interest added amounts to $12,101.35. This judgment I have secured to the satisfaction of the plaintiffs in the case. (See copy of the record in this case and the affidavit of Norman L. Latson, marked Exhibit No. 409.)

On the return of the steamer to Tampico, Mr. Stocking and my brother desired to proceed to Alvarado, Mexico, as advised by Mr. Romero, for the purpose of selling the arms there; but General Gomez would not allow it, and forced the arms to be discharged at Tampico; allowing them, however, finally to be deposited in a store house under the protection of the United States Consul.

The powder, percussion caps, shot, and shell, he compelled Mr. Stocking and my brother to deposit in the casamata at Tampico.

General Gomez utterly denied them any privileges or facilities; he even pointed to Mr. Romero's letter of introduction to him, carried out by Mr. Stocking, as a reason for doing so. This letter is on file, marked No. 284.

He also stated that the vessel had cleared for Tampico, and that the government, and especially the port of Tampico, was entitled to all the duties thereon; that he had no guaranty that Mr. Stocking would go to any other Mexican port after he had gone to sea.

Subsequent to this last shipment, at the request of Mr. Romero, I sent in different vessels, the balance of the goods in my charge belonging to the Mexican government.

I also sent a large quantity of other munitions of war, which I had previously contracted for, on private account.

In every way possible, I assisted said government, until the invaders had left and it was in full possession of the whole country.

While thus engaged, I repeatedly called Mr. Romero's attention to