No. 936.
Baron d’Almeirim to Mr. Bayard.

[Translation.]

Mr. Secretary of State: The fact has come to the knowledge of my Government that a Portuguese criminal, whose real name is Maria da Luz Baptista, is now living in Boston, Massachusetts, under the name of Mrs. Botelho. This person was sentenced to banishment to Africa for life for the crime of poisoning her husband; she made her escape, however, some time since from the prison in St. Michael, Azores. My Government has consequently instructed me to apply to you for her extradition. So far as I am aware, there is no extradition treaty between my country and yours upon which I can base my application; yet the measures recently adopted by the American authorities to exclude from the territory of the Republic the swarms of criminals who arrive daily from all quarters of the globe, and the numerous instances in which extradition has lately been granted by the United States Government to other powers, lead me to hope that you will be pleased to grant the request which I hereby address to you.

I therefore trust, Mr. Secretary of State, that you will issue orders for the immediate arrest of this convict, to the end that she may be surrendered to the authorities of her native land, and be made to suffer the penalty to which she has been sentenced. I trust that you will do this not only out of regard to the principle of reciprocity, since my Government has always readily acceded to all requests of this kind made by the United States Government, but also because it is so highly important to all countries that such horrible crimes should not remain unpunished.

The so-called Mrs. Botelho now resides at No. 18 Sidney street, East Cambridge, Boston, Massachusetts.

I avail, etc.,

Baron d’Almeirim,
Consul in Charge of the Legation.