OCR Text |
Show FOBMAL PROTEST IF , CASTRO iilbl Says Action of France Seems ' Inconceivable for People Who Love Liberty. FORT DE FRANCE, Martinique, April 11. Prior to being taken forcibly forci-bly aboard thc steamer Versailles for deportation to Franco, ex-President Castro prepared a protest against the action of the French government. It follows: "T hercbv protest against the ac-; ac-; lion of tho "French authorities of Martinique Mar-tinique in having nicpiit by force on board au outgoing vessel: "First, because I was ill at the time, and because the act imperiled my life; second, because I have committed no offense against tho government of France and the authorities of Martinique: Mar-tinique: and. fiuallv, because tho do- I croo. of expulsion 'which orders my deportation de-portation out of French territory compels com-pels me to take passage aboard a ves- j sel which will again land me on French i territory. "The wise constitutes a breach of international law and a denial of thc rights of individuals. Thar, such a ; thing should have come to pass in tho laud which saw the birth of Josephine anrl from which came thc inspiration and pressago of liberty, aud at the htiuds of a people who shed their blood by torrents hardly a century ago to maintain unimpaired the rights and prerogatives pre-rogatives of men, is inconceivable. ' I'astro said that if he was at lib-erlv lib-erlv when ho arrived at SI. Na.aire, ho would immediately proceed to Spain in order to take passage for Santa Cruz, Teneriffc. Friends Much Surprised. Thc Versailles will slop at Dasuo Terro and Point-a-Pitrc. Guadeloupe. Hardly had tho steamer left port when a partv of Castro's friends arrived on tho steamer, Goclotle from Saint Lusia. They woro very much surprised that he had been expelled. Thc removal of Castro to the steamer was not without ils jiitiful aspect, Im-mediatelv Im-mediatelv on the announcement by a medical "commission that ho was capable capa-ble of making the voyage, the commis-sarv commis-sarv of police with an escort of gendarmes gend-armes invaded tho hotel. They found Castro Iving in bed, anil, although ho still proicstcd that he could not move, they carried him downstairs, tho patient pa-tient all the while moaning dismally, on a mattress, and placed him on a stretcher. Officers from the United States cruiser cruis-er North Carolina, in civilian dress, helped to make him as comfortable as pnsHiblo and then the stretcher wns picked up by four negroes aud taken to tho steamer dock. Gendnrmes guarded guard-ed it on either side and fully 2000 people peo-ple followed the procession. Tho entraneo to thc French lino.p'sers was guarded by police and no ono wns permitted to enter except thoso dircct-Iv dircct-Iv concerned. " Some difficulty was experienced in hoisting tho litter aboard aud for a moment Castro was in peril of frilling out. The stretcher wns set down in one of tho cabins, nnd Castro at once declared that tho room was too small and demanded thnt he bo transferred to another cabin. Ko was promised that a chango would bo made. |