No. 57.] Mr. Hay to the Duke de Arcos. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, December 9, 1899. SIR: I have the honor to advise you that the Government of the United States has carefully considered the request made in your interview with me of the 7th instant for an extension of the time granted by the treaty of peace to Spanish subjects to make their election of nationality in the islands formerly under the dominion of Spain. It is thought by this Government that the treaty having specified the date at which this power of election should cease, it is not in the power of the Executive of the United States to change this provision. I am, moreover, informed by the Secretary of War, that as this declaration of election can be made before any court of record, it is in the power of Spanish subjects to avail themselves of the privilege granted by the treaty at any time within the period prescribed. Accept, etc., The Duke de Arcos to Mr. Hay. [Translation.] JOHN HAY. LEGATION OF SPAIN, Washington, December 13, 1899. MR. SECRETARY: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note No. 57 of the 9th instant, whereby you were pleased to inform me that, after a careful examination by the United States Government of the request made by me in an interview with the honorable Secretary of State of the 7th instant relative to the propriety of extending the time allowed to Spanish residents of the islands which were formerly under the dominion of Spain to choose their nationality, that Government has decided that, inasmuch as the treaty of peace fixes the date when the time allowed for such option ends, he Executive power of the United States can not change that decision. I return to this matter, Mr. Secretary, because, having thus far discussed it merely by word of mouth in sundry conversations that I have had with you, I deem it proper and necessary that the opinion entertained concerning it by this legation should be stated in writing. I will state this opinion in a few words: The treaty of Paris of December 10, 1898, says in its ninth article that Spaniards "may retain their Spanish nationality by making at a registration office, within one year after the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty, a declaration of their purpose to retain said nationality." The clear and evident intention of the treaty is to allow to Spaniards one year's time to make said declaration. On the 11th of April next, if the registers are closed on that day, the Spaniards will not have had the year's time granted them by the treaty. In Cuba the governor-general issued an order, No. 107, on the 11th of July last, designating the town halls as registration offices and laying down rules for the enrollment. These offices were open on the 18th of the same month, and it is only since that day that the Spaniards have been able to enroll their names. In Porto Rico the corresponding order bears date of August 21, and it was not published in the Gazette of Porto Rico, the official organ, until the 13th of September following. The orders issued by the governor-general were, moreover, so tardily executed that I am informed that even in the course of the month of October the municipality of Ponce, the second town in the island, did not receive the declarations of Spaniards, and I do not know when they have finally been able to exercise their right. As the treaty did not determine which were the registration offices that it mentions, it was necessary to define them, and this was done by the American Government through the orders of the governorsgeneral; it was done, however, with the delay which I have mentioned. Before the issuance of those orders Spaniards could not enroll their names, for their declarations would nowhere have been received. They consequently will not have had-without any fault on their part-the full year to which, according to the treaty of Paris, they are entitled. Of But, while this state of things is a serious one, the case, in its connection with the Philippine Islands, is far more serious. On the 26th of August I was informed by the Department of State that orders similar to those issued in Cuba and Porto Rico had been sent to the Philippine Islands. It may be presumed that these orders did not reach their destination until after the beginning of October, and, when they had reached there, it was not possible to enforce them save in the few places that were occupied by the American troops. those places, with the exception of the capital, there were, doubtless, few in which the occupation was considered permanent enough for the establishment of a registration office. Still, even if this had been done, inasmuch as until recently the places occupied have been comparatively few, and as the Spanish population is very widely disseminated on the islands, it would have been impossible for the Spaniards to avail themselves of the right granted them by the treaty; and this, as in the Antilles, would have been due to no fault of theirs, but merely to the force of circumstances. In vain does the honorable Secretary of War say, as is stated in your note of the 9th instant, to which I have the honor to reply, that, since those declarations may be made before any court of record, the Spaniards have only to avail themselves of the privilege granted them by the treaty. Where are there any such courts of record in the Philippines? Outside of Manila and a very few other towns, no municipal government is prepared to receive such declarations. Consequently, the decision of the American Government, if it is to be upheld, is equivalent to the annulment of a provision of the treaty which distinctly says that one year shall be granted to Spaniards in which to make their declarations. I can not believe that such is the intention of the President of the United States. I can not believe that, in a matter in which an arrangement between the two contracting parties is so easy, the Spaniards are to be deprived of all the facilities granted them by the treaty for choosing their nationality, when the principles of modern law all tend to allow to every individual the privilege of choosing his nationality. I can but hope that the American Government will again take into consideration this matter, which may be summed up very briefly, to wit: The treaty of Paris designates one year in which the Spaniards may make their declaration, and I ask one year for them. I avail myself, etc., ARCOS. No. 65.1 Mr. Hay to the Duke de Arcos. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, December 28, 1899. SIR: I duly referred for consideration by my colleague the Secreretary of War your note of December 13, instant, in which you reverted to the question of the extension of time for the registration of Spanish subjects in Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippine Islands under the provisions of the ninth article of the treaty of Paris of December 10, 1898, and modified your position so as to ask, not an extension of time, but for a full year from the time when the arrangements for registration should be made in the respective ceded and relinquished territories, which you take to be the intendment of the treaty. I am now in receipt of the reply of the Secretary of War, the substance of which I have the honor to communicate to you herewith as the views of my Government in the matter. So far as Cuba and Porto Rico are concerned, there seems to be no substantial allegation of deprivation of right by any peninsular Spanish subject within the purview of the treaty stipulation, or of want of full opportunity to register; neither is there any suggestion that the courts of record of both those islands have not always been open, or that any Spaniard has sought to register his citizenship and been unable to find opportunity, or that any request for any further facility has been refused or ignored. The treaty of Paris does not impose a specific duty upon the Government of the United States or upon the administration of either of the islands, in the way of imposing a special machinery or designating particular courts of record for the making of the prescribed declarations of Spanish citizenship. Its language is: "In case they remain in the territory they may preserve their allegiance to the Crown of Spain by making before a court of record within a year from the date of the exchange of ratifications of this treaty a declaration of their decision to preserve such allegiance." This provision created a privilege in favor of such peninsular Spanish residents as might desire to establish an exceptional status for themselves while continuing to reside in the islands, any court of record being open to them for that purpose. The furnishing of special machinery, and the designation of particular courts of record for the making of declarations of Spanish citizenship has, however, been done by the United States authorities, ex gratia, in order to facilitate the resident Spaniards in the exercise of their treaty right, and it has been done in both Cuba and Porto Rico at such time and in such manner as to afford the fullest opportunity therefor. There is not now, nor has there been since last July, the least difficulty in the way of every Spaniard in Cuba going at his leisure and convenience, to one of the offices designated, and making his declaration. Indeed, considering the comparatively small proportion which the natives of the Peninsula residing in that island bear to the total native insular population, the throwing open of the alcaldias of every town and hamlet for the purposes of the permitted declaration, instead of limiting the registration to courts of record, may be deemed a particularly considerate favor. It avoids even a short journey by a declarant to the nearest court town, and furnishes him with the desired facility almost at his door. In the much more compact and evenly settled island of Porto Rico the municipal courts have been in like manner designated and open since September last. When the process has thus been made so simple and convenient for the persons interested, there seems to be no occasion whatever for giving more time in Cuba and Porto Rico to do a thing for the doing of which there is already abundant time. It may rationally be assumed that the real purpose of allowing a full year for the doing of an act which in itself requires but a few minutes, or, at most, a few hours, is not that a year is required to do the act, but that a year is allowed within which to acquire information and to consider and determine whether the act shall be done or not. For this purpose a full year will have been enjoyed in Cuba and Porto Rico on the 11th of April next-that is, counting from the date of the exchange of ratifications of the treaty of peace. As regards the Philippine Islands, however, the Secretary of War thinks that there is in that quarter a different state of affairs, which may properly be taken into account, and that it would be but just and fair to extend the period allowed by the treaty, unless it shall prove that before the 11th of April, 1900, all the peninsular Spaniards, residents in those islands, have, in fact, had a full opportunity to make the optional declaration for which the treaty allows. In this opinion I cordially concur. I shall, therefore, under the President's direction, be pleased to confer with you at your convenience, with a view to agreeing upon and signing a supplementary convention or protocol extending, within the Philippine Islands, for six months from April 11, 1900, the opportunity for registration provided by article 9 of the treaty of peace. It will be necessary to give the agreement a form no less authoritative and binding than the treaty which it amends in so important a particular. Accept, etc., JOHN HAY. SWEDEN AND NORWAY. INSPECTION CERTIFICATES FOR MEATS IMPORTED INTO SWEDEN AND NORWAY. No. 51.] Mr. Hay to Mr. Thomas. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, March 27, 1899. SIR: I inclose copy of a letter from the Secretary of Agriculture, stating that he had been advised that either the Norwegian health department or that of Christiania would execute a much more rigid control of imported beef, pork, sausage, etc., than heretofore, and would require all certificates of inspection signed by the United States Government inspectors to be identified and certified by the Norwegian consul. You will make appropriate representations in the line suggested by the Secretary of Agriculture, doing so by corresponding with the consul at Christiania, should the regulations be found to have been made by the local municipality. I am, etc., JOHN HAY. [Inclosure.] Mr. Wilson to Mr. Hay. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, SIR: I am informed by Messrs. Swift & Co., of Chicago, that their representative at Christiania, Norway, informs them that after March 16, 1899, the health department (presumably of Christiania) will execute a much more rigid control of imported beef, pork, sausage, etc., than heretofore, and that it will be necessary for all certificates of inspection signed by Government inspectors to be identified and certified by the Norwegian consul. This representative of Messrs. Swift & Co. requests that the inspectors forward their signatures, with a certificate that they are authorized inspectors, and that this will be placed on file with the health department for identifiction of the certificates, and that, this being done, it will not be necessary to have each certificate certified by the consul. Will you kindly request the American minister, or, if more convenient, the consul at Christiania, to look into this matter and see if any attempt is being made in Norway to discredit the certificates issued by this Government of the inspection of meat products. This Department takes the ground that these certificates are Government certificates; that they bear the signature of the Secretary of Agriculture, and that the signature of the acting inspector at each place is countersigned for the protection of this Department and not for the information of foreign governments. It is inconsistent with the dignity of this Government to permit any questioning of these certificates or to assist in any plan of such governments to demand identification of the signatures of the inspectors. These certificates, as Government certificates, should be accepted without question. Further, the plan of identifying the signatures of the inspectors at various points is entirely impracticable, because these inspectors are changed from place to place; FR 9946 721 |