27 years of age, and finding Catechi's name inserted in the catalogue of the local government, he was called upon and brought by military escort from his island to enter the military service. As soon as informed by him of this fact, I addressed a dispatch to the prefect, dated 14-26 December, 1885, in which I inclosed Catechi's passport and copy of the act of naturalization, by which I requested his exoneration from the military service. The prefect sent the said documents to Athens, and, assuring himself of the true, naturalization, issued instructions to the competent military authorities, and said Catechi was released; but, having omitted to withdraw Catechi's name from the catalogue, in 1886 he was again required to enter the military service. I had to protest a second time, and he was again released. Catechi then, in order to avoid any repetition of the annoyance, formally petitioned that his name should be erased from the catalogue, he being an American subject, and it was found necessary that the case should be brought before the judicial courts in consequence of his having at the time changed citizenship without first obtaining the permission from the Greek Government, as prescribed by the Greek law. For this infringement of the law the court, taking into consideration that when Catechi left for America he was quite young and that at California there was no Greek consul to inform him of the laws of this country, sentenced Catechi to the lowest penalty of 8 days' imprisonment and to the payment of the costs, as results from the sentence No. 201 of the year 1886 and from the payment voucher of costs No. 95. Since that time Catechi remained unmolested up to 1890, when in May of this year he was arrested, brought before the military authorities, and there forced to enter the service, although he protested, not being allowed to see or inform his consul. As soon as I was informed of the occurrence, I immediately made my representation to the prefect and sent him (a) Copy of Catechi's birth certificate, by which it was evident that he was born in 1858, and consequently in 1879, when he obtained the American citizenship, he had completed his 21 years of age. (b) Certificate from the mayor of Merlera, by which it was proved that when Catechi left Greece for America he was 14 years of age. (c) Copy of the sentence No. 201. (d) A certificate from his mayor, obtained in this last occasion, declaring that he was recognized by him as a naturalized American citizen, and that his name was withdrawn from the catalogue of Merlera. The prefect, as president of the conscription committee, informed the military committee that Emmanuel C. Catechi was a naturalized American citizen, but the latter authority, finding that in the old catalogue, which they had in their office, unfortunately Catechi's name existed, and as they were in search of another Emmanuel A. Catechi, of the same place (while the American subject is Emmanuel C. Catechi), they sent the documents to the war office at Athens. The prefect, Count A. P. Metaxa, immediately telegraphed to Athens, wrote several times on the subject, and clearly declared that Emmanuel C. Catechi was illegally kept as a soldier, but from what I can make out the Government at Athens is under some wrong impression regarding this affair. Now, notwithstanding that the authorities have in hand all the documents relative to the American citizenship of Emmanuel C. Catechi, still they keep him unreasonably in the military ranks to the great disadvantage of his interests. I therefore have the honor to beg of you to take the needful measures, through the United States legation at Athens, that said Catechi be exonerated from the military service once for all, as the man's name is already erased from the original catalogue of his district. I have, etc., Mr. Wharton to Mr. Snowden. THOS. WOODLEY. No. 41.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, September 19, 1890. SIR: In connection with my instruction No. 40 of the 18th instant, relative to the case of Mr. Emmanuel C. Catechi, I have now to request that you will make discreet investigation of the circumstances of his residence in Greece, whether pointing to permanency of abode there or indicating his purpose to return within a reasonable period to the United States and discharge the duties of citizenship. FR 90-33 This instruction is, of course, to be regarded as independent of my No. 40, which concerns Mr. Catechi as a naturalized citizen of the United States and treats of his rights as such. But as a measure of precaution for its future guidance, if needs be, the Department deems it desirable to possess all attainable facts touching the residence of a citizen of this country who contemplates a sojourn in that of his former allegiance. I am, etc., WILLIAM F. WHARTON, Acting Secretary. No. 60.] Mr. Snowden to Mr. Blaine. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Athens, October 18, 1890. (Received November 4.) SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your two dispatches, Nos. 40 and 41, referring to the conscription and detention in the Greek military service of Emmanuel C. Catechi, a naturalized citizen of the United States, and to inform you that, probably owing to the absence of United States Consul Hancock from Patras, I was not promptly advised, as I should have been, of the facts in this case. The first information I had on the subject was from a statement made by one A. J. Anagnostopoulus, a friend of Catechi, and transmitted to me through the United States consul at Athens, and which I now find, from Mr. Thomas Woodley's report, contains several unimportant errors as to dates, etc. Immediately on receipt of this statement, which reached me on the 18th day of September, I addressed a communication to the Hellenic minister of foreign affairs, presenting all the facts then in my posses sion tending to sustain the claim of Catechi to the privileges of American citizenship, and upon these requested his speedy release from military service. To this communication, a copy of which is herewith inclosed, I have received no reply. I also wrote on the same day to Mr. Thomas Woodley, United States consular agent at Corfu, requesting to be furnished with full information on this case. His reply, inclosing a copy of his original statement to Consul Hancock, has just been received from England, where he has been sojourning for some time on account of ill health. As I am advised by Mr. Hancock that, acting under your instructions, he has presented to the Greek foreign office a full statement of the facts establishing Catechi's claim to American citizenship, and has also in this communication embodied the views of the Department as contained in dispatch No. 40, and has reiterated my request of September 18 for the immediate release of Catechi from military service, I do not deem it advisable to again communicate with the Greek Government on this subject until my return to Athens, which will be within a week or 10 days from date. Immediately on my return to Athens, if Catechi is still held to service, I shall in person present your views and demand his prompt release. As requested in dispatch No. 41, I shall make careful investigation into the circumstances of Catechi's residence in Greece, whether pointing to a permanent abode there or otherwise, and communicate the same to the Department. I have, etc., A. LOUDON SNOWDEN. [Inclosure in No. 60.] Mr. Snowden to Mr. Dragoumis. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I am this moment in receipt of information to the effect that one Emmanuel C. Catechi, claiming to be a naturalized citizen of the United States of America, has been drafted into the Greek military service, and is at present detained at one of your military barracks. It is claimed that Catechi was born in Corfu about the year 1859, and, at the age of 13, emigrated to the United States; that he resided therein for a period of about 15 years, was duly and lawfully naturalized as a citizen of the United States at San Francisco, Cal., and that on his return to Greece, some 3 years since, was duly registered as such at the United States consular agency at Corfu. It is further claimed that on being drafted into your military service the papers establishing his rights as an American citizen were forwarded to the proper department of your Government, and that an assurance was given of his speedy release. Owing to some cause not explained, he has been permitted to remain in military duress for a period exceeding 3 months. I have therefore the honor, in submitting this statement, to request that Your Excellency will give early attention to this case, and as a result that the war department may very shortly issue an order restoring Catechi to his liberty. My absence from Athens on official duty elsewhere renders it impossible for me to give to this case the personal attention which its importance demands. In this temporary absence from your capital may I not confidently rely upon your recognition of the justice of the claim I have presented by the prompt release of Catechi from your military service? This I shall esteem as a renewed manifestation of the reciprocal feeling of good will that has so long existed between our respective Governments. I seize this occasion, etc., A. LOUDON SNOWDEN. No. 67.] Mr. Snowden to Mr. Blaine. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Athens November 17, 1890. (Received December 20.) SIR: In compliance with the request contained in your dispatch No. 41, I have made personal investigation of the circumstances of Emmanuel C. Catechi's residence in Greece. That the examination might be intelligently and discreetly made I visited Corfu, where I remained for 4 days. I learned that Catechi returned to Greece from the United States in 1885 for the purpose of visiting his parents. He was persuaded to remain with them a much longer period than was contemplated. In 1888 he married, and now has a son 14 months old. Within the last 3 years he has kept a public coffee-house, more, as he avers, for occupation than for any profit derived from the business. His father and mother are both living; the former is 65 years of age and the latter 54. Catechi has taken no part in local or other elections, conducting himself in all respects as an alien. He avers that it is his intention to return to the United States with his wife and child within a reasonable period to discharge his duties as an American citizen. I may add that from all the information at my disposal Catechi so conducts himself as to command the respect of his neighbors. United States Consular Agent Woodley speaks of him as a man of excellent character. I have, etc., A. LOUDON SNOWDEN. No. 68.] Mr. Snowden to Mr. Blaine. [Extract.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Athens, November 26, 1890. (Received December 20.) SIR: I have the honor to inform you that a few days after my return to Greece I received a communication from M. Dragoumis, late minister of foreign affairs, refusing to release Emmanuel C. Catechi from the military service of Greece. The reasons assigned are given in his communication, a copy of which is herewith inclosed (No. 1). From this you will observe that he meets none of the arguments and facts submitted for his consideration, including the substance of your dispatch No. 40, which had been communicated, but contents himself with the statement that "according to existing laws in Greece the above-named (Catechi) could not change his nationality before his majority and his obtaining the authority of the Royal Government." In addition to my note of September 18, I wrote and telegraphed to the late prime minister (Trecoupi) urging the prompt release of Catechi, to which I received no reply. The whole matter, so far as I can learn, was practically handed over to the military council, whose conclusions were accepted without further examination. As soon as it was possible after the organization of the new Government I presented the case most fully to the new minister of foreign affairs, M. Deligeorges, and also to the prime minister, M. Deliyanni, who is minister of war. With both these I have had protracted interviews, as well as with the minister of finance, with whom I have long been on terms of personal intimacy. As is perhaps natural, the new cabinet has some hesitation in taking up a question which was decided by its predecessor, although manifesting entire willingness to discuss the merits of the case. On the occasion of my last interview but one with the minister of foreign affairs, when pressing upon his attention the facts of the case, with the arguments based thereon and the Hellenic law as applied thereto, he requested that I do him the kindness of restating the case and presenting therewith the arguments I had advanced in urging the release of Catechi. This statement I presented in person to-day, and after a protracted interview left the minister under the impression that the decision of the late Government will be overruled and Catechi released. I desire, however, the instructions of the Department for guidance in the event of the refusal to release Catechi. I have, etc., A. LOUDON SNOWDEN. [Inclosure 1 in No. 68-Translation.] MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, SIR: I received the note you did me the honor to address me from Belgrade on the 18th of last September relative to Emmanuel C. Catechi, for whom you claim exemption from military service on the ground that he is an American citizen. Since then I have received a letter from the United States consul at Patras, in which, whilst referring to your above-mentioned note, he asserts that the identity of Emmanuel C. Catechi has been mistaken for that of a certain Emanuel A. Catechi. I forwarded your note to the minister of war, and the reasons given by that department are so peremptory that in all justice you will see that it is impossible for me to accede to your request to exempt said Catechi from military service. According to the existing laws in Greece, the above mentioned could not change his nationality before attaining his majority and obtaining the authorization of the Royal Government; any naturalization obtained outside of these conditions could not absolve him of the legal obligation he is under to the Hellenic laws and principally towards military service. As to the question of mistaken identity, I have also referred the matter to the ministry of war and shall inform you of the result of the investigation. I have, etc., [Inclosure 2 in No. 68.] E. DRAGOUMIS. Mr. Snowden to Mr. Deligeorges. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I cheerfully comply with your suggestion for a restatement of the facts and arguments heretofore presented to the late Government, and those which I have had the honor on several occasions to submit to Your Excellency and to the prime minister, in relation to the case of Emmanuel C. Catechi, a citizen of the United States, conscripted and now held in the military service of Greece. The facts in the case can be briefly stated. Emmanuel C. Catechi was born in the island of Merlera, Corfu, on the 15th day of March, 1858, and emigrated to the United States in 1872, when 14 years of age. After residing therein for a period of about 7 years, he became, in accordance with the laws, a naturalized citizen of the United States on the 16th day of April, 1879, being then over 21 years of age. He continued to reside in the United States until the year 1885, when he returned to Corfu to visit his parents. On his arrival in Greece, bearing his naturalization papers and a passport issued by the Department of State at Washington, he was duly registered as a citizen at our consular agency at Corfu. Shortly after his return to Corfu he was conscripted for your military service, but on the establishment of his claim to American citizenship was promptly released. In 1886 he was again conscripted, his name not having been removed from the conscription list. Again he was released on the application of our consular agent at Corfu, who again established his claim to foreign citizenship. To avoid future annoyance on this score, and acting on the advice of the Numark of Corfu and United States Consular Agent Woodley, he petitioned the court to have his name removed from the conscription list. Judicial proceedings were had before your courts, which resulted in the imposition of the minimum penalty in fine and imprisonment allowed under your laws where a subject of Greece changes his allegiance without permission of your Government. In accordance with the decree of your court, he paid the fine and suffered the imprisonment, and it was clearly understood his (Catechi's) name would be stricken from the list of those subject to military conscription, and the United States consular agent at Corfu asserts that his name was, in fact, removed from the original catalogue of his district. Be that as it may, the fact remains that he was again conscripted during the month of May last and forced into the military service, where he still remains in spite of the most earnest remonstrances on the part of the representative of my Government. On the last conscription of Catechi, as on the two previous ones, the United States consular agent at Corfu submitted to your authorities the proof of his American cit izenship, and in addition a copy of the proceedings of your courts, through which Catechi had purged himself of the only offense charged against him under your laws. The local authorities, however, continued and still continue to hold Catechi in military duress in disregard of his rights as an American citizen, in disregard of the precedents established in his own case, and of the fact that if he had committed an offense in changing his allegiance without permission-a doctrine against which my Government is ever disposed to expostulate-he had, by suffering the judicial penalty imposed by your court, purged himself and stood before your law as if permission to change his allegiance had been granted previous to his becoming an American citizen. On learning of the conscription of Catechi, although absent from your capital on official duty elsewhere, I immediately addressed a communication to your predecessor, setting forth the facts as communicated to me, and on them requested the release of Catechi from your military service. My communication was supplemented by one from the United States consul at Patras, who in my absence, acting under direct instructions from my Government, presented in detail all the facts in the case and upon them requested the release of Catechi. To my communication of September 18, and to that of the United States consul at Patras of October 6, no reply was received until there arrived by mail at Patras on the 5th of November a communication from His Excellency the late minister of foreign affairs, dated October 19. |