The sympathy of the American people has justly been offered to the ruler
and the people of Austria-Hungary by reason of the affliction that has
lately befallen them in the assassination of the Empress-Queen of that
historic realm.

On the 10th of September, 1897, a conflict took place at Lattimer, Pa.,
between a body of striking miners and the sheriff of Luzerne County and
his deputies, in which 22 miners were killed and 44 wounded, of whom
10 of the killed and 12 of the wounded were Austrian and Hungarian
subjects. This deplorable event naturally aroused the solicitude of the
Austro-Hungarian Government, which, on the assumption that the killing
and wounding involved the unjustifiable misuse of authority, claimed
reparation for the sufferers. Apart from the searching investigation and
peremptory action of the authorities of Pennsylvania, the Federal
Executive took appropriate steps to learn the merits of the case, in
order to be in a position to meet the urgent complaint of a friendly
power. The sheriff and his deputies, having been indicted for murder,
were tried, and acquitted, after protracted proceedings and the hearing
of hundreds of witnesses, on the ground that the killing was in the line
of their official duty to uphold law and preserve public order in the
State. A representative of the Department of Justice attended the trial
and reported its course fully. With all the facts in its possession,
this Government expects to reach a harmonious understanding on the
subject with that of Austria-Hungary, notwithstanding the renewed claim
of the latter, after learning the result of the trial, for indemnity for
its injured subjects.

Despite the brief time allotted for preparation, the exhibits of this
country at the Universal Exposition at Brussels in 1897 enjoyed the