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initiative "legislative dynamite," contending that both, in the hands of the clericals, are made the obstacles to progress.

Lavelaye, commenting on the practical results of the referendum in Switzerland, says that it has disappointed the hopes of its partisans and the fears of its adversaries. It was demanded by the radicals and opposed by the conservatives. It has shown itself hostile to centralization, to large expenditures. The suffrage which persists in electing radicals rejects everything which they propose. It is economical and antirevolutionary. Elections obey a mot d'orde; the referendum is a result of personal judgments.

Signorel, in his study on the referendum, concludes that the frequency of popular votes in Switzerland has not produced popular indifference; that the referendum has not proved a revolutionary instrument; that more than any other country Switzerland possesses the necessary conditions for good democratic government, and therefore that conclusions founded upon Swiss experience can not be applied else where; that in view of the large number of abstentions, voting, like jury duty. should be made obligatory; that the relative frequency with which the people have voted in the negative shows that the body of electors and the representative body are not in accord, hence the movement in favor of proportional representation; that the referendum has favored economy in public expenditures; that complete liberty of action should be secured by not including several propositions under one vote, this practice having led to the adoption of unwise with wise measures; that by repeatedly presenting the same law, as the law establishing a tax for exemption from military service, the people finally yield through lassitude; that after twenty-five years' experience, taking good and bad results together, no real progress has been made, and that only by modifying the representative system through compulsory voting and proportional representation can the decisions of the people reach conformity with those of its councils, and that this would probably lead to a more or less complete abandonment of the referendum.

ARTHUR S. HARDY.

No. 40.]

Mr. Hay to Mr. Hardy.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, July 2, 1902.

SIR: Your No. 62, of the 10th ultimo, transmitting, in compliance. with the request made in the Department's instruction No. 32, of May 6 last, a report on the initiative and referendum in Switzerland, has been received.

The Department desires to commend the conscientious care shown in the preparation of the report.

I am, etc.,

JOHN HAY.

EXECUTION IN SWITZERLAND OF JUDGMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS COURT DENIED BY SWISS AUTHORITIES BECAUSE OF REFUSAL OF UNITED STATES TO GUARANTEE RECIPROCAL ACTION IN

SIMILAR CASES.

Mr. Hardy to Mr. Hay.

No. 70.]

UNITED STATES LEGATION,
Berne, August 22, 1902.

SIR: I have the honor to inclose herewith translation of a letter from Dr. Sidney Schopfer, a lawyer of Lausanne, from which it appears that one Mrs. Dupré, who was granted a decree of divorce in the State of Massachusetts, with alimony to the amount of $3,000, desires to bring suit against her former husband for payment of the same, and has applied to the authorities of the Canton of Vaud for the recog nition of the decree of the Massachusetts court. The Vaudois author

ities are, it appears, disposed to grant the necessary exequatur, but, in the absence of a treaty, only on condition of a declaration of reciprocity, for which Dr. Schopfer applies to this legation. I await your instructions in the matter. It appears from the documents accompanying the inclosed letter that Mrs. Dupré is by marriage an American citizen, her former husband having been naturalized before the supreme court, common pleas division, of the State of Rhode Island, in Providence, December 28, 1895.

I am, etc.

ARTHUR S. HARDY.

[Inclosure.-Translation.]

Mr. Schopfer to Mr. Hardy.

LAUSANNE, August 20, 1902.

MR. MINISTER: I have the honor to solicit your good offices under the following circumstances:

I am consulted by an American lady named Dupré, now in Paris, 11 Rue Scribe, who was granted a decree of divorce October 2, 1901, which decree was made absolute by a decision of the supreme court at Boston of May 10, 1902.

As you will perceive from the accompanying documents, the said Dupré has due to her from her former husband the sum of 15,000 francs, or, more exactly, $3,000. Mr. Dupré resides in France and possesses real estate in Moudon, Switzerland. He has never paid anything to Madam Dupré and appears to have no intention whatever to do so.

Consequently Madam Dupré wishes to bring suit against her former husband, and, if necessary, to attach his property to the amount of what he owes her. But to defeat the opposition of the husband it is necessary to obtain beforehand the exequatur of the American judgment in the Canton of Vaud. In the absence of a treaty the conseil d'etat of Vaud, through its department of justice and police, has informed me that it is disposed to accord the exequatur required, on condition, however, that I produce an official declaration of reciprocity from your legation or some other competent authority.

I therefore take the liberty, Mr. Minister, to ask you in the name of your countrywoman Dupré to be so good as to furnish, on payment of costs, a declaration of reciprocity stating that a similar judgment of a Vaudois court could be executed in the United States.

Accept, etc.,

SIDNEY SCHOPFER.

Mr. Adee to Mr. Hardy.

No. 44.]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, September 8, 1902.

SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatch No. 70, of the 22d ultimo, with inclosure, from which it appears that one Mrs. Dupré, who was granted a divorce in the State of Massachusetts, with alimony to the amount of $3,000, desires to bring suit against her former husband for payment of the same, and has applied to the authorities of the Canton of Vaud for the recognition of the decree of the Massachusetts court. It is stated that the Vaudois authorities are disposed to grant the necessary recognition provided the legation will furnish an official declaration of reciprocity, stating that a similar judgment of a Vaudois court could be executed in the United States.

In reply I have to say that the general doctrine maintained in the American courts in relation to foreign judgments is that they are prima facie evidence only and not conclusive of the merits of the controversy between the parties. As the judgment in this case was

obtained in a Massachusetts court, and as the question presented seems to be whether a similar judgment obtained in the Canton of Vaud would be executed in Massachusetts, the opinion of the supreme court of that State in the leading case of Bissell v. Briggs (Massachusetts Reports, 462) is pertinent. In that case the court said:

A foreign judgment may be produced here by a party to it, either to justify himself by the execution of that judgment in the country in which it was rendered or to obtain the execution of it from our courts. * * * If the foreign court rendering the judgment had jurisdiction of the cause, yet the courts here will not execute the judgment without first allowing an inquiry into the merits.

It is impossible to furnish the declaration of reciprocity which is requested. ALVEY A. ADEE, Acting Secretary.

I am, etc.,

TURKEY.

ABDUCTION BY BRIGANDS, RANSOM, AND RELEASE OF MISS ELLEN M. STONE, AN AMERICAN MISSIONARY.

Mr. Leishman to Mr. Hay.

[Telegram.-Paraphrase.]

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,
Constantinople, September 5, 1901.

(Mr. Leishman reports that the United States consular agent at Salonica has advised him by telegraph that Miss Stone, an American missionary, has been carried off by brigands while traveling from Raslog to Djumabala with a lady companion, and that the matter has been actively taken up with the Porte by Mr. Leishman.)

No. 73.]

Mr. Leishman to Mr. Hay.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Constantinople, September 13, 1901. SIR: I beg to inclose you copy of correspondence from the consulgeneral which will give you all the information I have been able to obtain so far in regard to the abduction of Miss Stone by brigands in the vilayet of Salonica.

Although it is about ten days since the outrage was committed, no demand for ransom has yet been made. It is quite within the range of probabilities that the brigands are Bulgarians, not Turks, as the place where they were stopped is quite close to the Bulgarian frontier; but at this writing it is impossible to make any positive statement.

Although the delay must be terrible to the family and friends of Miss Stone, I am quite of the same opinion as the consul-general and consular agent at Salonica that any great activity on the part of the Turkish troops would only force the brigands deeper into the mountains, and if pressed too closely they might kill Miss Stone rather than allow her to be rescued. As soon as the brigands feel safe they will in all probability send the native woman who is with Miss Stone back with a demand for ransom, and in case I am unable to induce the Ottoman Government to pay same, I have notified Mr. Peet, the secretary of the Bible House Society, that he should be ready for emergencies, and that the question of getting the money back will have to be left for future consideration, as I could make no guaranty or take official action in regard to ransom without first receiving instructions from the Department. Mr. Peet assured me that he was prepared to act promptly. JOHN G. A. LEISHMAN.

I have, etc.,

No. 556.]

[Inclosure 1.]

Mr. Lazzaro to Mr. Dickinson.

UNITED STATES CONSULAR AGENCY,
Salonica, Turkey, September 5, 1901.

SIR: Last night at 1 a. m. Dr. House, an American missionary to the Bulgarians residing here, came to me with a telegram from Mr. Sedloeff, his correspondent at Razlog (vilayet of Salonica), stating that Miss Ellen Stone, also a missionary with headquarters in Salonica, but residing for the last couple of weeks at Razlog, had been carried off by brigands on the previous day while on her way to Djumabala. She was at the time traveling with three or four lady companions, Bulgarian teachers. Some of these ladies were presumably not molested, but allowed to return to Razlog, where they brought the news of the outrage. One, however, of Miss Stone's companions, named Mrs. Tsilka, was also carried off. The place where the outrage occurred is called the great rocks, and the brigands escaped with their prisoners to the mountains near by.

On hearing this news I immediately wired you last night as follows:

"Have been just informed that Miss Ellen Stone, American missionary here, on her way from Razlog to Djumabala, September 3, was carried off with lady companion by brigands. No details. Shall interview vali early morning."

This morning I obtained an interview from the vali in his private dwelling and brought the matter before him, especially drawing his attention to the necessity not to send troops after the brigands at present. The fact is that in every case when troops were sent after the brigands before the release of the prisioners the latter were put to death. The object of the brigands is indubitably to obtain a ransom, and if hard pressed by troops before the release of the prisoners the lives of the latter are certainly jeopardized. I further pointed out to the vali that the calamity would be much greater if loss of life occurred, and that the Government ought to do everything in its power not to incur further responsibilities. The vali promised to do everything I asked him, and wired in my presence to the mutessarif of Serres requesting him to have troops dispatched toward the neighborhood of the outrage, and that said troops were not to molest the brigands, but keep a watchful eye on their movements, and only interfere in case they could help the prisoners without endangering their lives. In similar cases, when a foreign subject was carried off by brigands, and these cases have been quite frequent in our region, the Turkish Government has always paid the ransom; but owing to the penury of the treasury the foreign governments have generally advanced the money in order to avoid delay. I would strongly recommend this course, and shall wire you as soon as I hear that you come to an understanding with the Government in Washington, so that you may be able to dispose of a certain sum should this prove necessary. I further suggest that you also insist with the Porte on the nonadvisability of sending at present troops after the brigands.

I am inclined to think that the brigands have kept Mrs. Tsilka in order to transmit through her their demands and that this lady will be shortly released for the above purpose.

I shall wire you as soon as I have anything new to communicate.

I understand Dr. House has wired to the secretary of the Evangelical Society in Boston, to which both he and Miss Stone belong.

I have, etc.,

P. H. LAZZARO, United States Consular Agent.

[Inclosure 2.]

Mr. Baird to Mr. Dickinson.

SAMAKOV, September 7, 1901.

SIR: We were greatly pained yesterday at noon to learn from a telegram from Dr. House (Salonica) that Miss Stone and Mrs. Tsilka, the wife of the Albanian preacher, were captured and carried off by a band of brigands on September 3, about 4 p. m., while on their way with quite a company of friends from Banska to Djumabala. Í went to the government here and informed them so that they might be on the lookout for these outlaws should they attempt to bring their captives into Bulgaria.

Just before sunset September 7 two of our students from Bansko arrived. They were with Miss Stone when the brigands captured the party. From their accounts, by the aid of questions, I got the following:

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