United States, in order that all American citizens shall have equal freedom of travel and sojourn in those countries, without regard to race, creed, or religious faith." This resolution was communicated to the Russian Government, with an expression of a desire for the putting an end to the discriminations there prevailing "between different classes of American citizens on account of their religious faith." Mr. Hay, Sec. of State, to Mr. McCormick, ambass. to Russia, No. 127, See Mr. McCormick t● Count Lamsdorff, Aug. 22, 1904, id. 791. Feb. 12, 1889, the Turkish minister at Washington informed the Department of State that the passports of travelers resorting to Turkey must be viséed by an Ottoman consular officer. This notification was published by the Department through the press and otherwise (Consular Reports, No. 103, March 1889). The Ottoman regulations then in force were understood to be satisfied by a visé in the country of last departure before entering the Turkish dominions. The Department hesitated to publish, lest it might seem thereby to sanction, a later notification that all passports of American travellers for Turkey were required to be viséed by the Turkish consul-general at New York. Mr. Blaine, Sec. of State, to Mavroyeni Bey, Turkish min., Feb. 18, 1890, In 1888 the German Government made a regulation requiring all foreigners entering Alsace-Lorraine from France to have their passports viséed by the German embassy in Paris. For. Rel. 1890, 316; Mr. Rives, Assist. Sec. of State, to Mr. Dirks, Jan. 14, 1889, 171, MS. Dom. Let. 319; Consular Reports, No. 94, June 1888, XXVI. 461. Complaint having been made by William Trauver, an American citizen, of the refusal of the Austrian consul at Breila, Roumania, to visé his passport, the matter was brought to the attention of the Imperial and Royal Government, whose explanations were accepted as satisfactory. It appeared among other things that one of the reasons why the consul refused to visé the passport was that under the Imperial and Royal regulations the visé was required only in cases of Russian and Turkish passports, and this because of reciprocal agreement. For. Rel. 1899, 52–60. W., a citizen of the United States, bearing a passport from the Department of State, was expelled from Prussian territory in March 1894, on the ground that he was attempting to gain recruits for the Mormon sect, and was thus carrying on an agitation which was "not in harmony with the laws of the country." At the time of his expulsion, the police authorities at Sorau made on his passport the following endorsement: "Expelled from Prussian territory by direction of the Royal Government president at Frankfort on the Oder, of March 27, 1894." Of the expulsion no complaint was made; but, on the ground that the endorsement had "so impaired the value of the passport, not only in other parts of Germany, but everywhere else," that W. was compelled to take out a new one, Mr. Runyon, the ambassador of the United States at Berlin, requested the foreign office to cause such directions to be given as to prevent in the future the making by any German official upon an American passport of any endorsement or statement except a visé." The foreign office replied: "Though the order of expulsion must procedure of the police authorities of Sorau a statement on the passport of Weiler, Authority for Prussian officials to make statements of such a natureon passports of foreigners who have been expelled does not exist; the police authorities have acted of their own accord on this point . The Royal Prussian minister of the interior has taken steps to prevent for the future the making of such unallowable statements on passports." 66 . . be maintained, the who have made can not be approved. Baron Rotenhan, to Mr. Runyon, Dec. 3, 1895, For. Rel. 1895, I. 541, replying to a note of Mr. Runyon of Sept. 2, 1895, id. 540. The United States having protested against the act of the Russian consul at Königsberg, in making on the passport of a naturalized American citizen the endorsement that "the visé of the passport is refused, in view of the fact that the bearer of it has been naturalized in the States of North America without the permission of the Government," the passport being thus defaced and its usefulness impaired, the Russian Government replied that the necessary steps had been taken "to prevent the recurrence of such cases in future." For. Rel. 1896, 517-519. By article 76 of the Portuguese consular code the captains of ships are obliged to present at the consulates or vice-consulates at the moment of their departure for Portuguese ports the necessary documents, as also the passports of passengers. If these latter are foreigners their passports must be viséed at the consulates or viceconsulates, but it is not required that all the passports should be made out by the consuls or vice-consuls. The visés for foreign passports amount to about 80 cents.” Viscount das Nogueiras, Portuguese min., to Mr. Bayard, Sec. of State, This was written in reply to a note of Mr. Bayard's of May 11, 1887, to the Portuguese minister, calling attention to the statement of a firm in Boston that passengers bound for the Azores were required by the Portuguese vice-consul to provide themselves, before sailing, with Portuguese passports, at a cost of $3.30 each. See, also, Mr. Bayard, Sec. of State, to Mr. Lewis, min. to Portugal, No. 52, May 13, 1887, For. Rel. 1887, 935. While the right of foreign governments to require passports is not disputed, yet with the exaction of heavy charges for visés may be a subject of international complaint. Mr. Frelinghuysen, Sec. of State, to Mr. Foster, min. to Spain, March 12, 1884. MS. Inst. Spain, XIX. 504. "In respect of the Spanish consular visé attached to a passport (in itself very onerous), it is noticeable that double the charge is made for the authentication of the passports of travelers from the United States than is imposed in the case of the optional visé of the passport of a traveler going to Cuba from Europe, and providing himself with that means of establishing his identity and right to courteous treatment. And still another discrimination appears, for certain foreigners, Germans in particular, going from our ports to Cuba, are favored by the collection of a lower fee for the visé of the Spanish consuls in the United States than American citizens are compelled to pay for the same service. Unreasonable and only applicable to a part of the foreign travel with Cuba, the passport system there is thus made an engine of an unfriendly discrimination." Mr. Bayard, Sec. of State, to Mr. Muruaga, Span. min., May 19, 1886, MS. See, also, Mr. Bayard, Sec. of State, to Mr. Foster, min. to Spain, No. 336, The Spanish minister, in an interview on June 11, stated that his government would "relieve citizens of the United States of the present unequal and discriminating charge of $4 for the consular visé, as against the $2 fee for the visé of German and other passports." Mr. Bayard, Sec. of State, to Mr. Curry, min. to Spain, June 14, 1886, MS. June 10, 1887, the Spanish minister stated that he had instructed Spanish consuls in the United States to furnish a visé to American citizens going to Cuba at a cost of $1. Mr. Muruaga, Span. mia. to Mr. Bayard, Sec. of State, June 10, 1887, For. 3. FALSE USE. § 527. A passport fraudulently obtained will be treated by the Department of State as a nullity. Mr. Marcy, Sec. of State, to Mr. Jackson, Jan. 10, 1854, MS. Inst. Austria, As to the procedure on impeachment of a passport by a foreign govern- Where a passport is gravely impeached, it should be supported, in order to be efficacious, by an adequate certificate of naturalization. Mr. Frelinghuysen, Sec. of State, to Mr. Cramer, March 26, 1883, MS. By article 977, of the Russian Penal Code," whoever falsely transfers his passport to another, that the latter may live under its protection or that the latter may pass the frontier, and also whoever passes from one place to another by means of such a modified or falsified passport, is subject to imprisonment from two to four months or to arrest from (3) three weeks to (3) three months." Mr. Smith, min. to Russia, to Mr. Blaine, Sec. of State, No. 20, July 5, 1890, 41 MS. Desp. from Russia. The Turkish passport regulations, as well as the Ottoman Penal Code (art. 155), provide for the punishment of persons who obtain passports under a false name, or aid as witnesses in the procurement of such a document. Mr. Frelinghuysen, Sec. of State, to Mr. Wallace, min. to Turkey, No. 193, May 20, 1884, MS. Inst. Turkey, IV. 138. "Should a case of disputed identity be presented raising doubt as to whether the actual possessor of the passport issued to Friedrich Hillebrandt is the person therein mentioned, a case of fraudulent impersonation of the rightful owner of a genuine passport would arise, which this Government would be happy to assist in investigating through its legation in Austria-Hungary and in regard to which it would adopt such course as the facts developed would warrant. "It is submitted, however, that your note of the 1st instant does not present such a case for consideration, and seems to admit of no other response than that already made, namely, that the passport No. 3897, issued to Frederick Hillebrandt, is what it purports to be, a genuine certification of the citizenship of the person to whom it was lawfully issued." Mr. Uhl. Act. Sec. of State, to Mr. Hengelmüller, Aust.-Hung. min., May 22, 1895, MS. Notes to Aust. Leg. IX. 217. The legation of the United States at Vienna in 1899 cancelled a passport which had been found to have been obtained by false swearing. Subsequently, the individual who had obtained it and who had a criminal record in Austria was arrested in that country, and the Austrian authorities, who desired to prosecute him for having had in his possession for use a document fraudulently obtained, applied to the legation for the false papers on which the passport was issued. The legation having applied for instruction, the Department of State replied that if a foreign court, in its endeavor to convict a person of the offense of possessing a passport said to have been obtained by fraud could" adjudge whether the passport was rightly or fraudulently obtained, it could, in like manner, assume to pass upon the legality of an act of naturalization, an assumption that we have always strenuously contested," and that consequently the turning over of the papers to the Austrian authorities could not be authorized. Mr. Hay, Sec. of State, to Mr. Harris, min. to Austria-Hungary, Nov. 7, 1899, For. Rel. 1899, 78. Where a foreign-born person, who claimed to have been naturalized in the United States, fraudulently obtained a passport as a native citizen, and when questioned on the subject in Germany was unable to exhibit a certificate of naturalization, the embassy in Berlin was instructed to notify the proper authorities in Germany that he was not a citizen of the United States and that his passport had been withdrawn. For. Rel. 1904, 315-316. VIII. SPECIAL PASSPORTS. § 528. Special passports, stating the official position or the occupation of the holder, and omitting his physical description, have from time to time been issued by the Secretary of State to citizens of the United States. Aug. 19, 1874, Mr. Fish, as Secretary of State, made it a rule to issue such passports "only to prominent officials about to visit foreign countries on public business" and to officers not below the rank of major in the Army and relative rank in the Navy. This limitation was, after Mr. Fish's time, disregarded. In May, 1897, the rule was established of granting special passports to officers of the Army and the Navy, for whom the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy, respectively, might request them, with the understanding that they would not be solicited for purposes of purely private and personal convenience. In all cases the statutory fee of a dollar is required. |