receipt I have made, both verbally and by letter, renewed efforts in this direction, resulting, however, I regret to say, in a reply from the minister of foreign affairs which, I suppose, must be regarded as final, and of which I beg to inclose a translation. I have, etc., [Inclosure.-Translation.] J. H. THIERIOT. Mr. Arroyo to Mr. Thieriot. FOREIGN OFFICE, February 1, 1901. In reply to your excellency's note of January 28 last, accompanied by a letter addressed to you by the Ayer Company, I have to apprise your excellency that the proper department, to which the said documents were made known, informs me that the decision come to with respect to the preparations Cherry Pectoral and Sarsaparilla was based upon the opinion of technical experts, and in harmony with the provisions of the decree of the 10th of May, 1899, which regulates the sale of medicines of secret composition, in which category the medicines referred to are comprised, for, according to the terms of the minister's order of the 17th of March, 1865, all medicines are to be considered secret which are not to be found mentioned and sanctioned in the legal pharmacopoeia of the Kingdom. I embrace this opportunity to renew, etc., JOAO M. ARROYO. LIABILITY OF NATURALIZED CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES UNDER MILITARY AND EXPATRIATION LAWS OF THEIR NATIVE COUNTRY." DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, February 11, 1901. NOTICE TO AMERICAN CITIZENS FORMER SUBJECTS OF PORTUGAL WHO CONTEMPLATE RETURNING TO THAT COUNTRY. The information given below is believed to be correct, yet is not to be considered as official, as it relates to the laws and regulations of a foreign country. Military service is obligatory upon Portuguese male subjects, but by becoming naturalized in a foreign country a Portuguese loses his qualifications as such. On returning to the Kingdom with the intention of residing in it he may reacquire Portuguese subjection by requesting it from the municipal authorities of the place he selects for his residence. Not making this declaration he remains an alien and is not subject to military duty. If a Portuguese leaves Portugal without having performed the military duty to which he was liable and becomes naturalized in a foreign country, his property is subject to seizure, and that of the person who may have become security for him when he left the Kingdom is equally liable. There is no treaty between the United States and Portugal defining the status of former Portuguese subjects who have become naturalized American citizens. Passports are not required to enter Portuguese dominions. Travelers are, however, required to establish their nationality when they depart, and for this purpose a passport is the most effective document. a See Instruction to Belgium, December 10, 1900, page 16. CONDOLENCES ON ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT M'KINLEY. The King of Portugal to the Vice-President of the United States. [Telegram.] LISBON, September 15, 1901. KING OF PORTUGAL. I share with the American people in the mourning that so sorely afflicts them. Mr. Hay to the minister for foreign affairs of Portugal. [Telegram.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, September 17, 1901. In the names of Mrs. McKinley and of President Roosevelt I am directed to ask your excellency to convey to His Majesty sincere appreciation felt by the President and the American nation for His Majesty's messages of condolence. JOHN HAY. ROUMANIA. LIABILITY OF NATURALIZED CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES UNDER MILITARY AND EXPATRIATION LAWS OF THEIR NATIVE COUNTRY." DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, February 20, 1901. NOTICE TO AMERICAN CITIZENS FORMERLY SUBJECTS OF ROUMANIA WHO CONTEMPLATE RETURNING TO THAT COUNTRY. The information given below is believed to be correct, yet is not to be considered as official, as it relates to the laws and regulations of a foreign country. All male inhabitants of Roumania except those under foreign protection are liable to military duty between the ages of 21 and 30 years. American citizens formerly Roumanian subjects are not molested upon their return to Roumania, unless they infringed Roumanian law before emigrating. One who did not complete his military service in Roumania, and can not prove that he performed military service in the United States, is subject to arrest, or fine, or both, for evasion of military duty. There is no treaty between the United States and Roumania defining the status of naturalized Americans of Roumanian birth returning to Roumania. Passports are absolutely necessary in Roumania, and must be viséed by a Roumanian consul. If they are not so viséed the holder may be sent back from the frontier to the nearest place where there is a Roumanian consul. An American who intends to remain in Roumania for a longer period than eight days must have his passport viséed by the United States consul at Bucharest and obtain a permit of residence, valid for one year, from the prefecture of police. CONDOLENCES ON ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT M'KINLEY. Mr. Stourdza, president of the Council of Roumania, to Mr. Hay. [Telegram.-Translation.] BUCHAREST, September 15, 1901. It is not without keen emotion that the Royal Government of Roumania has received the news of the tragic death of President McKinley. Please receive the most sincere condolences of the president of the Council. D. STOURDZA. Mr. Hay to Mr. Stourdza. [Telegram.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, September 16, 1901. Pray accept on behalf of the American Government and people grateful thanks for Roumanian sympathy in their deep affliction. JOHN HAY. See instruction to Belgium, December 10, 1900, page 16. 441 RUSSIA. PASSPORT APPLICATION OF MRS. LOUISA LASSONNE, WIDOW OF A NATURALIZED UNITED STATES CITIZEN, RESIDING WITHOUT THE UNITED STATES. No. 489.] Mr. Breckinridge to Mr. Olney. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, St. Petersburg, February 23, 1897. SIR: I have the honor to inclose herewith copy of a letter, without date, from Mrs. Louisa Lassonne, who wishes a renewal of her passport, and to request the ruling of the Department upon the case. This is a case where the lady, the widow of a naturalized American citizen, confesses to having no identity with the United States or purpose of going there. Upon the other hand, she pleads inability to go, from poverty and the infirmities of age; but it does not appear that the necessity of her stay abroad has arisen from any vocation such as the Department usually accepts as sufficient ground for protracted absence. The case is a sympathetic one, but I feel that I can not accede to her application without special authority to do so. I have, etc., CLIFTON R. BRECKINRIDGE. [Inclosure.] Mrs. Lassonne to Mr. Breckinridge. SIR: I heard from Mr. Billhardt, the American consul at Moscow, that you refuse to give me a new passport on the plea that you wish to know a little more about me. Well, I, Mrs. Louisa Lassonne, a native of Switzerland, born in Vevey, Canton de Vaud, was married in the year 1874, on the 9th of May, to Mr. Charles Lassonne, a naturalized citizen of the United States of America, at St. Petersburg, at the United States legation, by R. I. Hall, in the presence of Marshal Jewell, then ambassador of the said legation. I am an old woman, weak and sickly, a widow; I earn my bread by teaching; in the winter I give lessons, in the summer I travel about with families at whom I engage as governess. I never was in America, and can not go there if I wished, having no means; and what should I do there, I being a stranger, rather to say, foreign to the country; in which way could I get my existence; and should I say it frankly, I thought that I had a right to the aid and protection from the country I became a citizen by legal rights, and instead of that I am refused a passport. I ask for it lawfully, by appellation, as I have been told to do by Mr. Billhardt. I will hope, sir, that after this explanation you will not refuse to issue me a passport; if in a contrary case, please teach me what I have to do in future. With high respect, etc., L. LASSONNE. No. 379.] Mr. Sherman to Mr. Breckinridge. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, D. C., March 15, 1897. SIR: Your No. 489, of the 23d ultimo, in relation to the application of Mrs. Louisa Lassonne for a passport, has been received. From the statement of your dispatch and Mrs. Lassonne's letter it appears that the applicant, being a native of Switzerland, was married in St. Petersburg in 1874 to Mr. Charles Lassonne, stated to be a naturalized citizen of the United States. She is now a widow. She has never been in the United States and has no apparent intention of coming hither. No question appears to be raised as to the nationality of the applicant's late husband, and it is presumed that you have satisfied yourself that he was a duly naturalized citizen. The only question for the Department to consider is whether, under the circumstances, Mrs. Lassonne is entitled to protection as a citizen of the United States. Mrs. Lassonne's claim can, of course, be no better than her husband's would be were he alive; and it would seem that at some time in or prior to 1874 he virtually abandoned his American residence for a European domicile. The widow's case is even weaker, for, during nearly a quarter of a century since her marriage, she has never enjoyed an American domicile. Moreover, a somewhat peculiar aspect exists in this case. By our statute an alien wife of an American citizen shares his citizenship. By the usual rules of continental private international law a woman marrying an alien shares his status, certainly during his life; but thereafter on widowhood reverts to her original status unless she abandons the country of her origin and returns to that of her late husband. Were Mrs. Lassonne now sojourning in Switzerland, it would probably be claimed that she had on widowhood reverted to her character as a Switzer; and the converse claim that she had become a citizen of the United States by operation of the laws of the United States, without ever having been within their jurisdiction, would probably be contested by Switzerland. As the lady, however, is not in her native country, but in a third state, this point is not material to the question whether she is or is not entitled to protection as an American citizen. It is merely mentioned by way of suggestion that, as she is certainly not a Russian so far as appears and is not entitled to protection as an American citizen, her Swiss character may be found to remain intact, entitling her to a Swiss passport. The Department's conclusion is that it can not authorize you to grant Mrs. Lassonne a passport upon the facts as stated by you. Respectfully, yours, JOHN SHERMAN. Mr. Tower to Mr. Hay. No. 499.] EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES, St. Petersburg, November 20, 1901. SIR: I beg leave to inclose to you herewith a copy of a letter, dated at Moscow the 21st of October, 1901, from Mrs. Louisa Lassonne, who seeks an American passport for identification and protection in Russia. It appears that Mrs. Lassonne was born in Switzerland, in the Canton de Vaud, and that she is now a widow. She was married in 1874 |