naturalization between the United States and Austria-Hungary of September 20, 1870, to any prosecution for non-fulfillment of military duty. There would thus appear to have been no ground for the action taken against him.

You are instructed to bring the case to the attention of the AustroHungarian Government and ask that it be investigated. The proceedings of the authorities at Wolfurt seem to have been hasty and unwarrantable, and to have been taken without any examination into the facts of the case. Without any other ground than the mere fact that Mr. Fisher had been an Austrian subject it was not permissible to assume that because he had not performed military service he had violated the military laws. Before arresting him upon such an assumption care should have been taken to ascertain whether the suspicion had any foundation, and his imprisonment under the circumstances appears to have been unwarrantable.

SIR: I have the honor to herewith inclose, at his request, an affidavit of Mr. Frank Xavier Fisher, setting forth the circumstances of his arrest and imprisonment by the authorities at Wolfurt, district of Bregenz, Austria, and which will explain itself. Mr. Fisher returns to America within probably a month, and seems anxious to hear from the Department at his address as given at the foot of his statement.

I am, etc.,

W. HENRY ROBERTSON.

[Inclosure 2 in No. 21.]

ST. GALLE, SWITZERLAND, August 24, 1889.

I, Frank Xavier Fisher, living at San Francisco, and now temporarily in Europe, being duly sworn, do hereby depose as follows:

I was born at Wolfurt, district of Bregenz, Austria, on the 9th day of Angust, 1849. I resided at Wolfurt until nineteen years of age, when, on the 9th day of November, 1868, I left for the United States of America, of which I subsequently became a naturalized citizen, in proof of which fact I am now the holder of passport No. 8339, issued on the 26th day of July, 1889, and signed by James G. Blaine, now Secretary of State of the United States.

I left the United States on the 3d of August, 1889, per steamer Gellert, sailing from New York for Hamburg, and arrived at Wolfurt, Austria, on the 19th day of August, instant, where, on the afternoon of the 21st, I was arrested by the municipal gens d'arme and thrown into prison. I was asked by said officer why I had not pre sented myself for military duty at the time fixed by my conscription, which took place after my emigration from Austria, and while I was in the United States, and a knowledge of which conscription I did not have until five or six years after it was made. I replied that I was a citizen of the United States, bearing a formal passport, which I offered to show, but which the authorities declined to examine. Without further ceremony I was carried off to prison, and there kept, under circumstances of great hardship and discomfort, until the following morning, when I was brought before the authorities and my papers examined. I was then released with the permission to either leave or remain on condition of good behavior.

I do now further depose that I regard this treatment of me by the authorities of Austria as wholly unwarrantable, unjust, and unusually harsh, and as a violation of treaty obligations towards the United States and of the principles of international harmony and usage. Having emigrated from Austria before attaining the age at which I was liable for military duty, I deny my liability thereto upon my voluntary return to the country of my birth.

I did not emigrate therefrom after having been drafted at the time of conscription, and had not become enrolled as a recruit for service in the standing army, nor did I emigrate while standing in service under the flag, or during a leave of absence for a limited time, nor under a leave of absence for an unlimited time; or belonging to the reserve or to the militia, did I emigrate after having received a call into service, or after a public proclamation requiring my appearance, or after a war had broken out. I therefore hold, in accordance with existing treaties between the United States and Austria, that having transgressed none of the legal provisions on military duty referred to in Article II, clauses 1, 2, 3, of the convention of 1870, concerning naturalization, and ratified by the Governments of the United States and AustriaHungary on July 14, 1871, and proclaimed August 1, 1871, that on my return to the latter country I could not be held subsequently to military service nor remain liable to trial and punishment for the non-fulfillment of my military duty.

In view of this arbitrary and severe treatment of myself by the authorities of Bregenz, resulting in the most serious embarrassment, discomfort, and delay to me, I would most earnestly and respectfully hereby petition she Government of the United States to effect through the proper channels a thorough investigation of the facts connected with so grave an outrage against the rights and person of myself, an American citizen, and to demand from the Government of Austria-Hungary a guaranty against the repetition of such acts in future, and a full and practical reparation for the grievous injury committed in my individual case. All of which I do honestly and truly depose under oath and respectfully submit.

In care of P. N. Kuss,

409 Thirteenth street, Oakland, California.

FRANK XAVier Fisher.

Sworn to before me this 24th day of August, 1889, at the consulate of the United States at St. Galle, Switzerland.

[L. S.]

W. HENRY ROBERTSON,

Consul.

Mr. Blaine to Mr. Grant.

No. 25.]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, October 8, 1889.

SIR: I have to inclose herewith, under date of August 17, 1889, copy of a petition presented to this Department by Hugo Klamer, a naturalized citizen of the United States, born in Austria, who has lately been expelled from that country.

This case forms the subject of the dispatches of your predecessor, Nos. 121 and 128, of the 2d of March and 13th of April last, respectively.

I also inclose for your information a copy of dispatch No. 301, of the 4th of February last, from Mr. Jussen, consul-general of the United States at Vienna, in relation to the same case.

It appears that Mr. Klamer was born in Vienna on the 12th of November, 1859, and emigrated to the United States in October, 1873, being then not quite fourteen years of age. In his nineteenth year, being still a resident of the city of New York, he received a citation to appear for examination as a recruit for the Austrian army. Pursuant to this citation he presented himself at the Austrian consulate in the city of New York, when he was informed that if he intended to remain in the United States he should appear before a notary public, and in the presence of two witnesses declare his intention to become an Amer ican citizen. This Mr. Klamer did, and took the document when completed to the Austrian consulate, and there also signed a request to the Austrian Government, which was drawn up by the secretary of the

consulate, to have his name crossed off the list of Austrian subjects liable to military duty. After this Mr. Klamer heard no more of the subject of service in the Austrian army.

On August 20, 1883, being then nearly twenty-four years of age, and having resided in the United States for nearly ten years, he was naturalized as a citizen of the United States.

In 1885, in consequence of the advanced age of his father, Mr. Klamer returned to Austria and proceeded to Vienna. On the third day after his arrival in that city he was called before a police commissioner and informed that he was charged with being a fugitive from military service. This charge appears to have been discontinued. Several months afterwards Mr. Klamer was again called upon to appear before an officer of the military conscription department, but upon exhibition of his certificate of naturalization he was allowed to go. In 1887 his father died. Mr. Klamer and his brother, the only male members of the family, then undertook the settlement of the business of their deceased parent. In January, 1889, that task not having been concluded, Klamer received from the imperial royal police directory a notice of expulsion, which was to take effect on or before the 27th of that month. Upon the intervention of Mr. Jussen the execution of this decree was suspended, and the matter was brought to the attention of the legation, whose correspondence with the Austrian Government you have in your possession. The grounds stated for the decree of expulsion are that Klamer had emigrated to the United States for the sole purpose of evading military duty as an Austrian subject, and that such conduct might give rise to public scandal; and, notwithstanding the representations of the legation, the decree of expulsion was finally executed.

This proceeding on the part of the Austrian Government appears to have been in derogation of the rights to which Mr. Klamer as a naturalized citizen of the United States of Austrian origin was entitled under the treaty of September 20, 1870. By Article I of that treaty it is provided that

Citizens of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy who have resided in the United States of America uninterruptedly at least five years, and during such residence have become naturalized citizens of the United States, shall be held by the Government of Austria and Hungary to be American citizens, and shall be treated as such.

The second article of the treaty provides that

A naturalized citizen of the one party, on return to the territory of the other party, remains liable to trial and punishment for an action punishable by the laws of his original country, committed before his emigration, saving always the limitation established by the laws of his original country, and any other remission of liability to punishment.

In regard, however, to prosecutions for the evasion of military service the provisions of the article are explicit. The conditions under which a former citizen of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy who is to be held as an American citizen under the treaty is liable to trial and punishment according to the laws of Austro-Hungary for nonfulfilment of military duty are especially stated, as follows:

First. If he has emigrated after having been drafted, at the time of conscription, and thus having become enrolled as a recruit for service in the standing army. Second. If he has emigrated whilst be stood in service under the flag or had a leave of absence only for a limited time.

Third. If, having a leave of absence for an unlimited time, or belonging to the reserve or to the militia, he has emigrated after having received a call into the service or after a public proclamation requiring his appearance, or after war has broken out. On the other hand, a former citizen of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, naturalized in the United States, who, by or after his emigration, has transgressed the legal pro

visions on military duty by any acts or omissions other than those above enumerated. in the clauses numbered one, two, and three, can, on his return to his original country, neither be held subsequently to military service nor remain liable to trial and punishment for the noufulfillment of his military duty.

It is evident that Mr. Klamer had violated none of the provisions of Austrian law relating to military service, as above defined, and consequently that by the terms of the treaty he was exempt from liability to such prosecution.

In view of this fact, and of all the circumstances of the case-his early emigration to the United States, his long residence here, the object of his return to Austria, and of his residence in that country-it seems to the Department that neither the ground alleged for Mr. Klamer's expulsion nor the oppressive proceedings to which he was subjected were warranted by the facts.

You are instructed to bring this subject to the attention of the imperial royal ministry for foreign affairs in the sense of this instruction.

I am, etc.,

JAMES G. BLAINE.

[Inclosure 1 in No. 25.]

Mr. Klamer to Mr. Blaine.

39. FOURTH PLACE, BROOKLYN, N. Y., August 17, 1889.

HONORABLE SIR: In the following lines I beg leave to bring to your notice in concise form a case of flagrant violation of the rights of an American citizen, and also a violation of the treaty between Austria and the United States of America:

Born in Vienna, Austria, on the 12th of November, 1859, I emigrated to the United States in October, 1873, landing in New York, New York State, being at the time barely fourteen years of age, having an Austrian passport of three years duration. When nineteen years of age I appeared at the Austrian consulate of New York, having been cited there by an order to be examined as to my bodily ability to be enlisted into the Austrian army.

I thereupon asked the only person present there at the time what was to be done. Mr. Meyer, the secretary of the Austrian consulate, told me I should appear before a notary public and in the presence of two witnesses declare my intention to become an American citizen. This done, I brought him the document, and after having signed a request to the Austrian Government, drawn up by Mr. Meyer, asking the aforesaid Government to cross my name off the list of citizens Austrian born, and as a consequence from the military list, he told me that he would forward the two documents to the competent Austrian authorities, and that nothing more was necessary. And while in the United States I never again was notified from the Austrian consulate to appear before it. I then passed my examination at the New York College of Pharmacy, well knowing that I could not practice pharmacy in Austria with an American diploma; but since I never intended to go back it made no difference to me.

In 1885 my father, then seventy-eight years of age, called me back, he no longer feeling able to attend to his business of a cotton goods manufacturer, a business which was the support of the family, and, feeling his end draw near, wanted to settle up his affairs, and insisted on my return to help him. In consequence I sailed in October, 1885, and really found plenty to do. On the third day after my arrival I was called before a police commissioner and was told I was wanted as a military fugitive, and on my asking was told that the Government had refused to cross me off their list as a citizen born in Austria, and therefore my name was carried forward year by year as a fugitive from my military duty. I then went to Mr. Jussen, the consulgeneral in Vienna at the time, and he placed me under his protection. I told this gentleman that I was able to swear that I was never notified of this refusal of the Austrian Government, or else I should certainly have undertaken the proper steps to save me the humiliation that was in store for me.

After the lapse of some months I had to appear before an officer of the military conscription department, but, after showing my citizen paper, dated the 20th of Angust, 1883, superior court of New York, I was again allowed to go. I intended to go back to New York in the spring of 1888, and accordingly went to the legation of the United States and procured a passport, signed A. R. Lawton and dated the 16th

of February, 1888, and to obtain this I swore that in all probability I should sail during the spring of that year.

My aged father died eighty years of age on the 17th day of December, 1887. The only male members of the family, my brother and myself, then took charge of the business under the old name of the firm, but according to Austrian law we had to register our own names, on account of the business taxes. We thought we could arrange the inheritance among ourselves, being my mother, two sisters, my brother and myself, all being of age, but it transpired that father had in his will given the part of my oldest sister to her children, and, in consequence, there were minors in the transaction, and the court took the whole affair into hand. I therefore could not leave, but had to wait until the court should have divided the inheritance. But 1888 went by, and in the spring of 1889 the court had not arranged yet. In April, 1889, I was again called before an officer of the city council of Vienna, and after taking down a protocol wherein I stated all the foregoing, I could go. But a few days after, I got notice from the president of the police of Vienna to leave the city within fortyeight hours. I thereupon went again to Mr. Jussen, who protested against the expulsion, claiming a violation of the treaty.

The grounds and reasons handed down to the police from the department of the interior upon which I was to be expelled, were:

"It being evident that the said Hugo Klamer having emigrated to the United States with the sole purpose to evade his military duty as an Austrian citizen, and furthermore, since this might give rise to public scandal, he is, therefore, for all time to come, expelled from Austria."

The order of expulsion only says that I am expelled forever, because I am found to be a person "endangering public order."

Now, I was never arrested, was highly respected by everybody, and never talked about my American citizenship, much less bragged about it. Mr. Edmund Jussen claimed that a man like myself, having so much of the most vital importance at stake, and having to conduct the business, the largest portion of the wealth and means to live for the whole bereaved family, was under the circumstances ninetynine times out of a hundred, compelled under such a pressure, to renounce his American citizenship and become again an Austrian.

But, I think it is Article VIII of the treaty says: "That no attempt shall be made by either party to bring or force a citizen of the other part upon his return to his native country to renounce the acquired citizenship." The endeavors of Mr. Edmund Jussen, consul-general, and Mr. A. R. Lawton, minister plenipotentiary, but more particularly those of my lawyer, Mr. Johann Letschke, of Vienna, only bad the effect to postpone my expulsion up to the 1st of September, 1889. So I am expelled from Austria forever like a criminal, and that for no just reason.

I hope to have convinced your honor that the reasons for my expulsion can not be called reasons at all.

I have at the present time no business interest in Austria, having sold out to my brother, and intend to live in the United States; but my mother living, I might at some time again have to look to my interests, and could not go on account of being expelled.

There are plenty of Austrians that are not citizens, doing business and making money here without ever being molested; then why should an American citizen that has been in this country since his early youth not go over to Austria on a visit, when Austrians as before said live and do business in the United States, and then go back and enjoy their gain in Austria? I am not envious of them, but why should there not be equal right on both sides?

I hope your honor will take notice of this, my appeal to you, to take the shame of being expelled like a criminal from me as an American, law-abiding, and orderly citizen, and give me the hope that I might at least have the right to go over there again when my duties to my mother or my interests demand it.

Hoping to receive your esteemed reply. I take the liberty to annex my address, and beg to remain,

Yours, very respectfully,

HUGO KLAMER.

Inclosure 2 in No. 25.]
Mr. Jussen to Mr. Rives.

No. 301.]

UNITED STATES CONSULATE-GENERAL,
Vienna, February 4, 1889.

SIR: I have the honor to report that on the 18th day of January ultimo Mr. Hugo Klamer, a naturalized American citizen, applied to this consulate-general for protection against a decree of expulsion issued against him by the imperial royal police directory of this city.