To L. M. DENT, Esq., Marshal of said Court. SIR: In the name of the United States forthwith commit George W. Lake, of Nagasaki, to jail for twenty-four hours, and collect of him $50 fine, for his contempt of this court and of the United States, committed to-day, by refusing to obey the order of this court to deliver up, on demand, the keys of the flour mill situated on his premises, in order that said mill be removed in compliance with the judgment pronounced in this court, on the 12th instant, in the case of H. Schiff, representing Messrs. Adrian & Co. v. George W. Lake. And if George W. Lake does not, on demand, pay said fine and the costs taxed at $15.50, with your legal fees, you will imprison him for thirty (30) days more, for all which this shall be your sufficient warrant. Given under my hand and seal of the United States consulate this 13th day of May, 1869. [U. S. CONSULAR SEAL.] WILLIE P. MANGUM, United States Consul, Acting Judicially. [Inclosure No. 20.] UNITED STATES CONSULAR COURT, To L. M. DENT, Marshal of said Court. SIR: You are hereby commanded to attach the body of George W. Lake, if found within this consular jurisdiction, and bring him before this court to answer a contempt by him committed in not obeying the order of this court to deliver up, on demand, the keys of the flour mill situated on his premises, in order that said mill be removed in compliance with the judgment pronounced in this court on the 12th instant, in the case of H. Schiff, representing Messrs. Adrian & Co., v. George W. Lake; and of this writ make due return. [U. S. CONSULAR SEAL.] WILLIE P. MANGUM, United States Consul, Acting Judicially. UNITED STATES v. GEORGE W. LAKE. [Inclosure No. 21.] UNITED STATES CONSULAR COURT, Charged with committing contempt out of court by refusing Before Willie P. Mangum, United States consul, acting judicially. Summary proceedings. SIR: The prisoner was arrested and arraigned upon affidavit of Ferdinand Plate, to the effect that he (the prisoner) had refused to give up to him, when he demanded them, the keys of the flour mill situated on prisoner's premises. in accordance with the judgment of this court, in the case of H. Schiff, representing Messrs. Adrian & Co., v. George W. Lake, delivered in this consular court on the 12th instant, although he (the prisoner) well knew that said Ferdinand Plate came in the name and by the order of plaintiff in the above-mentioned case to take possession of a right granted by the judgment of this United States consular court above referred to. Prisoner was sentenced for this contempt of court and of the Government of the United States to be imprisoned twenty-four hours in jail and pay a fine of $50, together with costs, and if, on demand, he should refuse to pay such fine and costs, to be committed for thirty days more. WILLIE P. MANGUM, United States Consul, Acting Judicially. [Inclosure No. 22.] UNITED STATES CONSULAR COURT, Ferdinand Plate, being duly sworn, says that he was ordered this morning by Mr. Schiff, of Messrs. Adrian & Co., to call on George W. Lake and demand of him the keys of the flour mill situated on his premises, in order that he might proceed to have said mili removed, in compliance with the judgment delivered in the United States consular court on the 12th instant, in the case of H. Schiff, representing Adrian & Co.. v. George W. Lake; that said George W. Lake refused to deliver said keys when he asked for them, saying that he would wait until the United States admiral should arrive; that the court was not regular that tried the case. Signed and sworn to before me this 13th day of May, 1869. [U. S. CONSULAR SEAL.] FERD. PLATE. WILLIE P. MANGUM, United States Consul, Acting Judicially. [Inclosure No. 23.] UNITED STATES CONSULAR COURT, To L. M. DENT, Marshal of Said Court. SIR: You are hereby commanded to proceed to the residence of George W. Lake and make diligent search for the key of the flour mills situated on the premises of said George W. Lake, and, when found, to deliver said key to the agent of the plaintiff in the case of H. Schiff, representing Messrs. Adrian & Co., v. George W. Lake, which was heard and decided in this court on the 12th instant in favor of the plaintiff. If the key is not found at the residence search the body of said George W. Lake; and of this writ make due return. [U. S. CONSULAR SEAL.] WILLIE P. MANGUM, United States Consul, Acting Judicially. [Inclosure No. 24.] NAGASAKI, June 15, 1869. DEAR SIR: I beg to remind you that I have applied to Messrs. Adrian & Co. for the payment of the sum of money due me by the decision of the arbitrators between myself and R. J. McCaslin for the owners of the flour mill. You mentioned before the court, on the 12th of April, that the security (H. Schiff's letter and R. J. McCaslin's letter) was good and sufficient security. Will you please let me know who is to pay the interest on this money? Am I to look to you individually, or to Adrian & Co.? If you do not intend that I shall be allowed to receive the money honestly due me, please inform me, and you will greatly oblige. Yours, respectfully, W. P. MANGUM, Esq., G. W. LAKE. Received from Edward Lake, for G. W. Lake, the sum of four hundred dollars (Mexican), amount of damages against said G. W. Lake in a suit, H. Schiff, representing Messrs. Adrian & Co., v. G. W. Lake, for refusal to deliver a certain flour mill according to agreement. Nagasaki, May 14, 1869. L. M. DENT, United States Marshal. $84.55.] Received from Edward Lake, for G. W. Lake, the sum of eighty-four dollars (Mexican) and fifty-five cents, being amount of costs of court in above case of H. Schiff, representing Messrs. Adrian & Co., v. G. W. Lake. L. M. DENT, United States Marshal. Received, Nagasaki, May 15, 1869, from Edward Lake, for George W. Lake, the sum of sixty-nine dollars and fifty cents, being amount of fine and costs for a second contempt of court in a suit, H. Schiff, for Adrian & Co., v. G. W. Lake. L. M. DENT, United States Marshal. Received from Edward Lake, for G. W. Lake, the sum of sixty-five dollars (Mexican) and fifty cents, being amount of fine and costs for contempt of court in George W. Lake refusing to obey order of the United States consular court, in a suit of H. Schiff, representing Messrs. Adrian & Co., for damages in refusing to deliver a certain flour mill. L. M. DENT, United States Marshal. [Inclosure No. 28.] No. 51.] CONSULATE OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatch No. 43, of May 20, 1870, with its inclosure containing a note from the Hon. Benjamin F. Butler, a letter from certain parties" selectmen" of Topsfield, and two letters from the brothers George W. Lake and Edward Lake, setting forth certain wrongs that they complain of having received at my hands in Nagasaki. In reply I have to say in the first place that these two letters of the brothers Lake are most villainous perversions of the truth, and beg to submit the following explanation, to wit: In the spring of last year a suit was instituted in this consulate against George W. Lake by Messrs. Adrian & Co., a Belgian firm in Nagasaki, to recover damages for the nonfulfillment of a contract and to compel fulfillment of the same. This contract was to the effect that Messrs. Adrian & Co. should sell on commission for the sum of $5,500, and remove the same, a certain "flour mill," situated on the premises of G. W. Lake and owned by him and one R. J. McCaslin, of Shanghai, and retain this money in their hands until the dispute between Lake and McCaslin as to the amount each was entitled to receive of the proceeds of this sale should be decided by arbitration. In compliance with this Messrs. Adrian & Co. effected the sale of the mill to certain Japanese residing at Osaka, and proceeded to remove it to be transported to Osaka. At this juncture Lake, in defiance of his contract, stepped in and stopped the removal by taking the key from the agent in charge and locking up the mill. Hence the suit. The case was tried before me, with the requisite assessors, on the 12th of May, 1869, and judgment given for the plaintiffs. The defendant contumaciously refused to comply with the judgment and obey the orders of the court. For this contempt he was summarily punished by a fine of $50 and imprisoned for twentyfour hours. He repeated his contempt after his release, and was again summarily punished in the same way. The judgment of the court was enforced; the mill was removed and transported to Osaka, to be delivered to the purchasers. In due time the arbitrators who were to decide upon the respective claims of Lake and McCaslin made their award, and the price of the mill, which was stipulated to be paid on its delivery at Osaka, was received by Messrs. Adrian & Co. In the meantime a third party appeared, Messrs. H. Fogg & Co., of Shanghai, by J. F. Twombly, claiming an interest in this mill property as part owner, and holding certain charges against it to the amount of some 1,200 taels, equal to about $1,600, for auction expenses, storage, etc., in Shanghai, whence Lake had brought the mill. The arbitration showed that Lake had expended a large sum of money in erecting the mill and running it, for which he had been only partially refunded by the proceeds of the sale of the flour, leaving the sum of $2,971.57 actually paid out of his own pocket. This amount the arbitrators awarded to him, and the residue of the $5,500, to wit, $2,528.43, to be equally divided between him and McCaslin. The award was made on the 27th of May, and the money for the mill received by Messrs. Adrian & Co. from the Japanese purchasers on the 15th of July following. They immediately informed me of its reception, and I forthwith instructed them to pay over to Lake the $2,971.57, and to retain the residue, $2,528.43, pending the investigation of the claim of Messrs. H. Fogg & Co. Before this money was received by Messrs. Adrian & Co., G. W. Lake went away from Nagasaki, leaving his brother, Edward Lake, in charge of his business. Finally McCaslin settled the matter as far as he was concerned with Messrs. H. Fogg & Co., in Shanghai, by an amicable compromise, and it then became narrowed down to a claim against Lake for about $800, and this was eventually settled by Edward Lake paying to Drummond Hay, agent appointed by Messrs. H. Fogg & Co. to attend to this business, $400. I had advised both parties to settle this matter amicably out of court, but at no time made mention of any sum that I considered fair to offer or receive. The proposal by Lake to pay $400 was entirely voluntary on his part. Hay at first refused to accept this amount, and only after considerable delay and with much reluctance did he finally assent to it. When Lake first told me that he had proposed to compromise by paying $400, but that Hay had refused to accept this sum, he not only expressed his willingness to settle the matter in this way, but appeared anxious to have it done, and at no time did he ever express an objection, as far as I am aware, to paying this amount after his first proposal to do so. Under such circumstances, the idea that Lake was compelled by me to "sacrifice" $400 is so glaringly preposterous that it could only have originated in the distempered imagination of such a creature as Edward Lake or his brother. In the above-mentioned case of Messrs. Adrian & Co. v. G. W. Lake the assessors unanimously assented to the consul's decision; consequently the decision was final. (Vide section 10, act of Congress, June 22, 1860, giving judicial powers to ministers, consuls, etc.) The law on this point was fully explained to Lake, and he well knew that he was not entitled to an appeal. The Capt. E. Tolman, mentioned in the letter of G. W. Lake and whose punishment by imprisonment and subsequent deportation has aroused so much indignation in his bosom, was one of the most violent and desperate of all the foreign population of Nagasaki, and a man of whom the natives stood in great dread. He had several times been arraigned before the consular court and punished, and, on the occasion referred to, the offense which Lake styled "a simple assault and battery" was the beating an inoffensive Japanese boatman in the most brutal manner and injuring him to such an extent that he was unable to walk about for sev eral days. When Tolman was arrested for this offense he threatened to shoot the marshal, and at the trial carried into the court room concealed upon his person a loaded revolver, which was taken from him and found to contain five ball cartridges. This man Tolman and the Lakes were intimate friends and companions, and among such characters here the Lakes appeared to find their most congenial associates, all of them "birds of the same feather," men of low instincts and associations, ignorant, suspicious, headstrong, and lawless, frequently getting into difficulties and never hesitating to pervert the truth to suit their purposes. G. W. Lake, by his lawlessness, forfeited several years ago his right to reside in Japan, and only by sufferance did he remain here. The forbearance that has been extended to him in not having the law enforced, and allowing him to remain in the country in consideration of his youth, with the hope that more age and experience would teach him to correct his evil propensities, he has proved himself unworthy of and utterly incapable of appreciating. If strict justice had been dispensed to him he would have been deported long ago. The consciousness of this fact, with perhaps an uneasy feeling that if he should return to Japan he might not be allowed to continue in the country may have something to do with his extreme anxiety about my remaining at Nagasaki. I quote from the court records of this consulate the following offenses for which he has received judicial punishment, to wit: June 16, 1863, charge of assault and battery on the person of Levi N. Burdick; fined $25 and costs. August 31, 1865, charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon upon a Japanese; com plaint lodged by the native authorities. As this case was especially of a heinous character, I quote the decision of the court in full, marked inclosure No. 1. September 28, 1866, charge against both George W. and Edward Lake of assault and battery on one John Brown; convicted, but under extenuating circumstances, and fined $1 each with costs. July 10, 1867, charge of unlawfully detaining and wounding a Japanese officer, sentenced to a fine of $25 and imprisonment ten days, and again warned that he had forfeited his right to reside in the country. On the way to jail under this sentence he escaped from the marshal by drawing a revolver and threatening to shoot him; was concealed some days in the vicinity of Nagasaki by his friend, the aforesaid Capt. Elias Tolman, and then smuggled by him on board a steamer bound for Yokohama. He stayed awhile at Yokohama, thence proceeded to China, and after skulking about for several weeks returned to Nagasaki, was rearrested and imprisoned for his allotted term. He was also implicated in smuggling at an unopened port in the spring of 1867, on the ship Anne Kimball, of which he was the charterer. The case was heard June 5, 1867, and the ship fined $1,000. (Vide treaty.) G. W. Lake was registered at this consulate September 12, 1860, and Edward Lake September 10, 1862. They were both boys at the time of their arrival. Their occupation has been that of butchers, compradores, and general traders. The latter still resides here, and the former up to the summer of last year (1869), when he left for Yokohama, and thence proceeded to the United States, where he arrived, I suppose, some time in the autumn. So he must have been absent from Topsfield nearly ten years, living all that time, with the exception of the few months spent in the voyages from and back again to America, in a foreign land some 12,000 miles away. I beg to place these facts together with the court records by the side of the letter of the selectmen" of Topsfield, who so confidently vouch for the good character of George W. Lake, they "having known him from his earliest days." I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant, Hon. J. C. B. DAVIS, Acting Secretary of State, Washington. WILLIE P. MANGUM, [Inclosure No. 29.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, September, 3, 1870. SIR: Referring to the letter addressed to you from this Department on May 20 ultimo, I have the honor now to inclose a copy of a dispatch, No. 15, dated July 7 last, from the United States consul at Nagasaki, Japan, and of its inclosures, in reply to the charges preferred against him by G. W. Lake, and by you laid before this Department. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. BENJ. F. BUTLER, Lowell, Mass. J. C. B. DAVIS, List of inclosures: Dispatch No. 51, dated July 7, 1870, from the United States consul at Nagasaki, Japan. [Inclosure No. 30.] COPY OF EVIDENCE. W. P. Mangum, called and sworn, testifies as follows: I am United States consul at Nagasaki. Have been acting as such since September 27, 1865. During 1867 and to the 19th of April, 1868, I was in Shanghai, acting United States vice-consul-general, leaving Mr. Moore in charge of the Nagasaki consulate as vice-consul. In 1869 I was acting as consul at Nagasaki. Mr. Dent was acting marshal. I know defendant. He then resided there. He was registered there, I think, in September, 1860, and resided there until in July, 1869, when he visited the United States, as I understood. He was again there last spring. His house is there, G. W. Lake & Co., and has been constantly going on, and that place is in fact his residence. |