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trict, troops, and a large concourse of citizens met the train, the band playing "Hail Columbia," and the citizens shouting "Viva los Ameri canos." A banquet was given at the "Hotel Americano," the headquarters of the officers of the Pensacola, that evening. Before dinner the officers of the Pensacola made an official call on the United States minister at his residence. At 10 o'clock a. m., on the 10th instant the officers of the Pensacola called at the "Casa Amarilla," the residence of the President of Venezuela, and were duly presented by the United States minister resident, to His Excellency, President Lopez.

On the 11th instant the President, his cabinet, the diplomatic corps, the officers of the Pensacola, all the public functionaries, and an immense concourse of citizens, proceeded to the statue of Washington, in Washington Square, and the President of the Republic of Venezuela decorated the statue of Washington with wreaths of immortelles.

In conclusion, I beg leave to state that every courtesy and hospitality was shown and extended to the officers of the Pensacola during their sojourn in Carácas by the Government and people of Venezuela.

Balls, banquets, and demonstrations of all kinds were gotten up in their honor, and they were emphatically the guests of this nation during their visit here; and in this connection I desire to say that the officers of the Pensacola conducted themselves in a manner to win golden opin. ions from all, and not an incident occurred to mar the pleasure of this memorable event. Too much praise can not be awarded to Captain Yates, of the Pensacola, for the manner in which he discharged his official duties, and he deserves the thanks of his Government for the credit he reflected upon it in representing it so well and faithfully, truly sustaining its honor and dignity

I have the honor, etc.,

CHARLES L. SCOTT.

No. 236.]

No. 1123.

Mr. Scott to Mr. Bayard.

[Extract.]

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,

Caracas, May 23, 1888. (Received June 4.) SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your No. 159, instructing this legation "to protest against the law of Venezuela requiring masters of vessels coming from foreign ports to deliver all the ship's papers to the customs' authorities of the port of entry." Your No. 159 has been carefully noted, and the statements cited in said dispatch will be duly examined into, and be brought before the Government of Venezuela in accordance with instructions contained in said dispatch.

But permit me to say that, in the opinion of this legation, it would be advisable to defer the presentation of this important matter to the Venezuelan Government until it has assumed a more responsible and reliable condition than it now possesses.

I have the honor, etc.,

CHARLES L. SCOTT.

No. 237.]

No. 1124.

Mr. Scott to Mr. Bayard.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Caracas, May 24, 1888. (Received June 4.)

SIR: I have the honor to transmit to you the inclosed letter from President Lopez, of Venezuela, to President Cleveland.

I have, etc.,

CHARLES L. SCOTT.

[Inclosure in No. 237.-Translation.]
President Lopez to President Cleveland.

FEDERAL PALACE OF THE CAPITOL,
Caracas, May 7, 1888..

GREAT AND GOOD FRIEND: I have, on this occasion, to perform one of the most pleasing duties of my public life, namely, to convey to you the expression of my gratitude, together with that of the Government and people of Venezuela, for the spontaneity with which your Excellency, the Congress, and the people of your Republic united in doing honor to the remains of Genéral José Antonio Paez, who devoted the best efforts of his life to the cause of freedom, as did the founders of the great American democracy, and who followed in the footsteps of George Washington, who was called first in peace, first in war, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." The republican and civic virtues, of which our hero was a model, found an echo in the bosom of the Federation of the North, which is so true a friend of real glory and always so prompt to render to it the homage of its admiration. Thus it is, most excellent sir, that whenever we shall think of the esteem in which Paez was held, while alive, in your country, and of the honor that was shown to his remains, we shall give you fresh evidence of our gratitude and of our high appreciation of such demonstrations of sympathy, which are calculated to draw still closer, if this were possible, the bonds of friendship which unite our two countries.

Accept my best wishes for the uninterrupted prosperity and the progress of the United States of America, for that of the citizens and corporations that took part in the solemnities above referred to, and for your own happiness and welfare.

Great and good friend, your good friend,

[L. S.]

[blocks in formation]

HERMOGENES LOPEZ.

Minister of Foreign Relations.

No. 166.]

No. 1125.

Mr. Bayard to Mr. Scott.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, June 5, 1888.

SIR: In your No. 236 of the 23d ultimo, replying to my No. 159 of April 13 last, instructing you to repeat our protest against the law of Venezuela requiring masters of vessels coming from foreign ports to deliver all the ship's papers to the customs authorities of the port of entry, you suggest the advisability of delaying this action until the Venezuelan Government assumes a more responsible and reliable condition than it now possesses.

The Department is of opinion that it will be equally advisable to present the question to the existing Government. It raises no impor

tant question of international policy, but simply revives aud continues a pending discussion of a matter of administrative regulation, the solu tion to which should not be far to seek.

I am, etc.,

T. F. BAYARD.

No. 255.]

No. 1126.

Mr. Scott to Mr. Bayard.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,

Carúcas, July 31, 1888. (Received August 15.)

SIR: In compliance with instructions contained in your No. 166, dated Washington, June 5, 1888, in relation to the depositing of the ship's papers of United States vessels with the custom-house authorities of Venezuela instead of the United States consuls, I addressed note No. 148, embraced in inclosure No. 1, hereto attached, to Dr. Isturiz, minister of foreign relations. Hoping that note No. 148 will meet with your approval, I have, etc.,

[Inclosure in No. 255.]

Mr. Scott to Dr. Isturiz.

CHARLES L. SCOTT.

No. 148.]

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,
Caracas, July 21, 1888.

SIR: I desire to inform your excellency that I have recently received instructions from my Government to renew the protest against the law of Venezuela requiring masters of vessels coming from foreign ports to deliver all the ship's papers to the custom-house authorities (the papers being then retained by the custom-house until the clearance of the vessel) and to ask that certain changes be made by the Venezuelan Government in said law that will place your Republic on the same basis and footing that other Governments and countries occupy in this matter.

I desire to call your excellency's attention to section 41 of the law of Venezuela requiring masters of foreign vessels to deliver up all and every one of the ship's papers to be kept by the administrator of the custom-house until the vessel leaves the port, and it is the earnest desire and wish of my Government that this law be so changed or amended that the ship's papers shall be delivered to the consul at the port of entry instead of the custom-house authorities as now provided by law.

This is not the first time that the right and justice of permitting the United States consul to retain the ship's papers instead of the custom-house authorities when a vessel enters a port of Venezuela has been presented to the consideration of your excellency's Government, for on the 10th of May, 1883, my predecessor, Mr. Baker, in a memorandum respecting the matter of the custody of foreign ship's papers while in the ports of Venezuela elaborately argued this question and submitted his views representing the sentiments and wishes of my Government, and which are embraced in said memorandum dated May 10, 1883, and ought to be on file in the foreign office of Venezuela, and to which I now respectfully call the attention of your excellency, making it a part of the argument of this legation in favor of the repeal or alterations of the law referred to. If your excellency is unable to find the memorandum of Mr. Baker among the files of your office it will afford this legation pleasure to furnish you a copy from its records.

This question, whether the ship's papers of a foreign vessel shall be placed into the hands of the custom-house authorities or those of the United States consul, has been the occasion of repeated discussions and remonstrance with various nations of South America for more than fifty years, and the United States Government has ever maintained that it is in strict consonance with the practice of nations and commercial interests that consular instead of custom-house authorities should have charge of the ship's papers of their respective countries, and I call the attention of your excellency

to the action of your sister Republic, Colombia, in 1876, on the subject. In 1876 a general movement of the foreign representatives at Bogota was made to secure the abrogation of a law which required the delivery of the papers of foreign vessels to the local port authorities. An arrangement thus concluded diplomatically set the matter at rest by recognizing the right of the consul of the ship's nationality to have the custody of the ship's papers of their national vessels, and the law has since been repealed.

As it has been stated by an American authority who stands most high in questions of international law, "the existing rule in Venezuela is deemed to be in contravention of the spirit of perfect equality and reciprocity of commerce and navigation between the two countries as stipulated in the abrogated treaty of 1836, and as pervading the existing treaty of 1860."

I would further state to your excellency that the law of the United States, following the usages of the most civilized countries, "provides that the custody of the papers of foreign ships shall rest with the consuls of their nations, and this because such custody is deemed essential to that consular control over national vessels which is stipulated in all our treaties."

Again, Venezuela ought not to expect or to ask the United States to yield to the authorities of a foreign state the control of our vessels whilst in her ports, for if this legation is not misinformed Venezuela has a law requiring her consuls to take charge of her ships' papers whilst in foreign ports, and if this be the case, your Government is strangely inconsistent in requiring Venezuelan consuls abroad to take charge of the papers of the vessels of their nation whilst denying a reciprocal right to foreign consuls in Venezuela. This fact alone should induce Venezuela to repeal the present existing law, for I am satisfied that your Government is in favor of the golden rule of "doing unto others as it would be done by." And besides this, your excellency, how can a United States consul exhibit the register and crew roll of an American vessel, under the twenty-sixth article of the treaty of 1860, in proceedings for the arrest of deserters, when he is not permitted under the law of Venezuela to have possession of those papers?

It has been well said that "a vessel under a civilized flag, on the high seas or in a foreign port, possesses a national life, of which its papers are the strongest evidence. They are to all intent a part of the vessel itself. To assume that by the act of entering a friendly port a vessel is to be stripped of that which is in a large measure essentia! to the proof of its nationality, and to await the pleasure of a local foreign officer before such part of its life can be restored to it, is inconsistent with international principle and usage," and violates the comity between nations by inciting a painful feeling and spirit of suspicion and distrust.

In addition to the foregoing reasons why Venezuela should repeal this obnoxious law, so hurtful to the commercial interest of my country, is the fact that its operations and workings are not only annoying and vexatious, but productive of harm and injury by the loss of important ships' papers whilst in the custody of the custom-house authorities of Venezuela, for I am informed that at the port of Maracaibo "ships' papers of several American vessels have been lost by the custom-house officials; the vessels have been compelled to leave without them," provided with a certificate from the United States consul at that port. And the United States consul at that port represents to his Government that "if the law is not changed it will be impossible for consular officers to do their duty strictly, and serious inconvenience may happen to vessels in case the ship's register should be lost, which would not happen if the ship's papers were duly deposited at the consulate."

In view of the foregoing presentation of this matter to your excellency, I would respectfully ask that the present administration of the Government of Venezuela tako under consideration and advisement this renewal of the protest on the part of my Government in its application to have this law giving your custom-house authorities charge of United States ships' papers repealed, and pass a law, as its substitute, in conformity to the law, custom, and usage of other nations on the subject.

Assuring your excellency that such an act on the part of Venezuela would be very gratifying to my Government as an evidence of her desire to expedite and facilitate commercial relations between our two countries, I am, your excellency, with renewed assurance, etc.,

CHARLES L. SCOTT.

To

CIRCULARS.

No. 1127.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington,

18-.

SIR: In reply to your letter of -, relating to the return of naturalized citizens of the United States to their native country, I send you the following circular, which contains all the information the Department is competent to give in regard to the subject of your inquiry. I am, sir, your obedient servant,

[Circular.]

Citizenship and naturalization.

Treaties regulating the rights of persons who have emigrated from the territory of one of the contracting parties and have been naturalized in that of the other party have been concluded between the United States and the following powers: AustriaHungary, Baden, Bavaria, Belgium, Denmark, Ecuador, Great Britain, Hesse Darmstadt, the North German Union, Sweden and Norway, and Wurtemburg.

The treaties with Austria-Hungary, Baden, Bavaria, Hesse Darmstadt, the North German Union, and Wurtemberg provide that citizens or subjects of these powers who have become naturalized citizens of the United States, and have resided therein "uninterruptedly" for five years, shall be held to be citizens of the United States, and shall be treated as such. The treaty with Sweden and Norway provides for similar treatment of subjects who have resided in the United States "for a continuous period of at least five years, and during such residence have become naturalized citizens of the United States."

The treaties with Belgium, Denmark, Ecuador, and Great Britain recognize citizenship whenever acquired under our laws.

The exceptions to the requisition of five years' residence under our statutes are: 1. Soldiers who have been honorably discharged from the armies of the United States. Such persons, being of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, may be naturalized without any previous declaration of intention to become citizens, and without being required to prove more than one year's residence in the United States previous to their application (see section 21 of act of Congress of July 17, 1862, 12 Statutes at Large, p. 597). An erroneous notion has to some extent prevailed that the mere facts of service and discharge are equivalent to naturalization, whereas they are only part of the evidence on which naturalization may be granted.

2. Seamen who have declared their intention to become citizens, and who, subsequently to such declaration, have served three years on board of a merchant vessel of the United States, may be admitted to citizenship.

"And every seaman * * shall, after his declaration of intention to become a citizen, and after he shall have served such three years, be deemed a citizen of the United States for the purpose of manning and serving on board any merchant vessel of the United States *; but such seaman shall, for all purposes of protection as an American citizen, be deemed such after the filing of his declaration of intention." (Act of June 7, 1872; Rev. Stats., sec. 2174.)

*

3. The children of persons duly naturalized, being under twenty-one years of age at the time of their parents being so naturalized, are, if dwelling within the United States, considered as citizens. (Act of April 14, 1802; Rev. Stats., sec. 2172.)

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