(2) That the formality of a special permit (exequatur) is not always adhered to; and

(3) That the absence of such formal permit was practically cured in the present case by the certificate Kassas holds, recognizing his service as consular guard and exempting him from military duty in consequence thereof. T. F. BAYard.

I am,

[Inclosure in No. 104.]

Mr. Gillman to Mr. Rives.

No. 47.]

CONSULATE OF THE UNITED STATES,
Jerusalem, April 25, 1888.

SIR: In reply to your dispatch, No. 22, of the 16th ultimo, I have the honor to report that the real-estate suit in question, referred to in my No. 38, of February 2 last, was not pending at the time of Assad Kassas' entrance into the service of the consulate as a guard. The date of his nomination is April 1, 1875, and the date of approval April 3, 1875, while the commencement of suit was on October 5, 1886.

An examination of the records of this office fails to supply any written permit for him to take such service. But, I find, this formality is not always adhered to, nor is it usual that such a permit should contain any admission or reservation applicable to the case.

The said Kassas holds a certificate from the military authorities exempting him from military service in recognition of his service as consular guard.

A copy of this report is, as directed, transmitted to Mr. Straus through the consulate-general. I am, etc.,

No. 1087.

Mr. Bayard to Mr. Straus.

HENRY GILLMAN,

Consul.

No. 107.]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, June 5, 1888.

SIR: I desire to acknowledge the receipt of your No. 80, of the 19th ultimo, in regard to the restrictions of the Sublime Porte against foreign Jews resorting to Palestine, and to approve your presentation of the matter to the minister for foreign affairs.

I am, etc.,

T. F. BAYARD.

No. 86.]

No. 1088.

Mr. Straus to Mr. Bayard.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Constantinople, June 8, 1888. (Received July 9.)

SIR: I inclose for your consideration a copy of a note verbale, with inclosure of a regulation regarding joint-stock companies, received from the Sublime Porte; and likewise a copy of a note verbale identique, sent in reply by the different foreign missions, including this legation.

I have, etc.,

O. S. STRAUS.

Circular.]

[Inclosure 1 in No. 86.-Note verbale.-Translation.]

The ministry of foreign affairs to the legation of the United States.

SUBLIME PORTE, MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS,

March 13, 1888.

The ministry of foreign affairs has the honor to transmit herewith to the legation of the United States of America a copy of the regulation relating to the agencies of foreign joint-stock societies established within the Empire.

[Inclosure 2 in No. 86.-Translation.]

Regulation concerning the agents of anonymous societies; that is, joint-stock societies, which, being established in foreign countries, do business in the Ottoman dominion. ARTICLE 1. Joint-stock societies which have been established in foreign countries can not establish or appoint any agencies in the Ottoman dominions without having previously obtained a permit from the Ottoman authorities.

ART. 2. The joint-stock societies which wish to obtain the permit shall address their request to the ministry of commerce.

ART. 3. The request must be made by the administrative council of the society or by the board of trustees, or else by the person invested with that power according to its statutes; and it is necessary that a copy of the statutes of the society be annexed to the petition, legalized by the legation upon which the society is dependent.

ART. 4. The ministry of commerce will carefully examine the documents, and if in the statutes there is nothing contrary to the laws, the public interest, and the public morals, the petition of the society will be submitted to the Sublime Porte for instructions, and in accordance with the answer the permit will be granted.

ART. 5. In conformity with the conditions of the preceding article, no agent of any foreign joint-stock society is allowed to perform any business before having obtained the perimit.

ART. 6. In accordance with this regulation, the joint-stock societies which are about obtaining a permit for their agent to act in their behalf, in order to go through the formalities, are bound to elect their domicile in the Ottoman dominions.

ART. 7. The agencies of joint-stock societies which have heretofore been recognized by the Ottoman authorities are exempt from making a request within the time specified in the present regulation to obtain the requisite permit; but their representatives, with their capacity and number and their domicile, must be recorded in the books which will be kept at the ministry of commerce.

ART. 8. The ministry of commerce, if it finds that the constitution of the society is contrary to the laws, public interest, and public morals, and that the permit will not be granted, must communicate the fact to the petitioner within three months from the date of petition.

ART. 9. If any changes are to be introduced in the statutes or regulations of a foreign joint-stock company, or if the agent is disposed to act outside of the regulations of the society, he must notify within three weeks the ministry of commerce; and if in those changes there is anything contrary to the laws of the Government, or the public interest and morals, the said ministry can within three months refuse to give the permit.

ART. 10. If any joint-stock society, before having obtained the permit from the ministry of commerce, appoints an agent or representative, he will be at once forbidden from acting.

ART. 11. If any society refuses to submit to the execution of judgments rendered against it, and on which there is no appeal, its permit will be withdrawn, and the execution of the judgment will take place in the usual form.

ART. 12. Every agent of a joint-stock society will be, by a decision of the ministry of commerce, forbidden from acting and his place of business closed if in the course of three months from the publication of the present regulation he has not, according to article 2, presented his petition.

ART. 13. In accordance with this regulation, the ministry of commerce is charged with seeing whether the agents of the joint-stock companies are acting according to their statutes or not.

ART. 14. The ministry of commerce is charged with the execution of the present regulation.

NOVEMBER 27, 1887.

[Inclosure 3 in No. 86.]

The legation of the United States to the ministry of foreign affairs.

Note verbale.]

UNITED STATES LEGATION, June 5, 1888. The legation of the United States has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the note of the ministry of foreign affairs, dated March 13, 1888, in regard to a regulation of the joint-stock companies established or to be established in future in Turkey. The legation, though acknowledging the usefulness of such a regulation, regrets to learn that it rests on an entirely inadmissible ground; that is to say, the previous authorization required by the Government. In the opinion of this legation, this clause constitutes an encroachment on the liberty of commerce guarantied by treaties. Consequently this legation regrets not to be able to give its assistance to the enforcement against its citizens of the regulation in question before the Sublime Porte has come to an understanding on this subject with the United States legation.

No. 87.]

No. 1089.

Mr. Straus to Mr. Bayard.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Constantinople, June 8, 1888. (Received June 25.) SIR: Some time since the Turkish Government, without consulting the foreign missions here, promulgated a new law regarding printing offices, of which I inclose a copy.

As it conflicts seriously with the rights of foreigners to exercise their trade or profession in the Ottoman Empire, the matter was taken into consideration by the different embassies and legations here, including our own, and a note verbale identique has been sent to the Porte, of which I inclose a copy.

This law is another evidence of the jealousy of the imperial authorities respecting all foreign influences, and of their persistent efforts to restrict and abridge established rights and ancient privileges.

I have, etc.,

[Inclosure 1 in No. 87.-Translation.]

Law concerning printing offices.

O. S. STRAUS.

CHAPTER I.-GENERAL PROVISIONS.

ART. 1. The establishment of printing offices in Turkey and the printing of all kinds of books, pamphlets, and writings are free, when in conformity to the provisions of the present law.

ART. 2. Foreign subjects who shall furnish a written pledge, in conformity with the obligations prescribed in article 5 of the present law, shall have the right to establish printing offices in the same manner as Ottoman subjects.

ART. 3. The opening of a printing office is absolutely subordinated to the obtainment of an official authorization. Those persons who shall open a printing office without official authorization, and who shall therein print books, pamphlets, and other writings, will, in pursuance of article 137 of the penal code, have their printing office closed, and shall be liable to a fine of 50 pounds, Turkish.

ART. 4. Ottoman subjects and foreigners who desire to establish a printing office must make an application and annex thereto a declaration setting forth their names and occupations, a sketch of their lives, and shall state in what quarter and street the printing office is to be established, their residence, and the languages in which their publications are to be printed.

This application is to be presented, in Constantinople, to the ministry of the interior, and in the provinces to the governors-general.

ART. 5. The applications of persons desiring to establish a printing office are referred, in Constantinople, to the prefect of police, and in the provinces to the local police. After the status of the applicants shall have been shown and they shall have furnished a written pledge declaring that they will abstain from printing any writing invasive of the sacred rights of his Imperial Majesty, the Sultan, and the interests of the Empire, the official permit shall be delivered to them, in Constantinople, by the ministry of the interior, and in the provinces by the governors-general, upon the official authorization of the ministry of the interior.

A foreigner shall not, however, be permitted to open a printing office except he shall furnish a declaration, legalized by the embassy or legation of his nation, by the terms of which he is never, in the exercise of his profession, to avail himself of the privileges and immunities attaching to foreigners; that is to say, that he accepts, the case arising, the same procedure towards himself and his printing office as is followed towards Ottoman subjects.

ART. 6. After the delivery of the permit, a copy of the declaration annexed to the application of the party shall be sent to the prefect of police, at Constantinople, in order that it may be communicated to the superintendent of police of the district in which the printing office is situated, and in the provinces to the governor-general, to be communicated to the local police.

ART. 7. The proprietors or managing editors of newspapers may open a printing office without special authorization, but on condition that it shall serve exclusively for printing their paper. But if, besides their paper, they shall desire to print any other writings, they shall be obliged, like other proprietors of printing offices, to obtain an official authorization to that end, conformably to the provisions of the present law.

ART. 8. Printing offices opened in virtue of an official authorization may be conveyed by their proprietors to third parties, but the new proprietor must fulfill the formalities prescribed by articles 4 and 5. Printing offices in respect of which these formalities have not been complied with, shall forthwith be closed.

ART. 9. Upon the delivery of the permit for the establishment of a printing office, there shall be collected, at Constantinople, a tax of 3 pounds Turkish, and of 2 pounds, Turkish, in the provinces. For every transfer of a printing office, one-half of the aforesaid taxes shall be collected.

ART. 10. On the death of the proprietor of a printing office which has been authorized in virtue of an official permit, one of the typographers of the establishment shall be provisionally charged with the direction of the printing office; but the heirs of the deceased are obliged to present, within a month and in conformity with the conditions mentioned in articles 4 and 5, a responsible business manager. If, at the expiration of this time, this formality be not fulfilled, the printing office is to be closed until such responsible business manager shall be presented and officially accepted. ART. 11. Those who remove their printing office to another locality, or change their domicile, or transfer their printing office to another person, are obliged to make the fact known in writing, within five days, at Constantinople, to the ministry of the interior, and in the provinces to the local authority. Printers not conforming to this requirement are liable to a fine of from 5 to 15 pounds, Turkish.

ART. 12. Those who secretly print, in their houses, or in unknown localities, books, pamphlets, and other writings, shall have their printing material confiscated and shall be liable to a fine of from 5 to 20 pounds, Turkish, without prejudice to the penalties prescribed by the law.

ART. 13. Every proprietor of a printing office must publish, at the foot of each book, pamphlet, circular, or other writings, his name, the ward, street, and number of his printing office. If he give not his name or the locality of his printing office, or if he give other names and addresses, he shall be liable to a fine of from 5 to 15 pounds, Turkish, without prejudice to the penalties prescribed by the law.

ART. 14. Type founders and those engaged in making and selling type and other printing materials must present a declaration setting forth their names and surnames, their nationality, the name of the quarter and of the street where their warehouses or workshops are situated. They shall receive the teskéré of permission, at Constantinople, from the prefect of the city, and in the provinces from the local municipal office. Those not having such permit, and those who shall not have notified the competent authority of a change in the locality of their warehouses or workshops, shall be liable to a fine of from 1 to 5 pounds, Turkish.

ART. 15. Every printing office shall have in front a sign in Turkish and in the diverse languages employed in the work thereof.

The doors of the rooms where the compositors and the other workmen of the printng office are at work must be closed, at the hour of work, by a latch.

If there be shops and other buildings on the two sides of a printing office, there 'shall not be any doors, windows, or other openings giving access to such buildings. The printing offices which may not conform to these conditions must be altered accordingly, under penalty of a fine of from 1 to 5 pounds, Turkish.

[Inclosure 3 in No. 86.]

The legation of the United States to the ministry of foreign affairs.

Note verbale.]

UNITED STATES LEGATION, June 5, 1888. The legation of the United States has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the note of the ministry of foreign affairs, dated March 13, 1888, in regard to a regulation of the joint-stock companies established or to be established in future in Turkey. The legation, though acknowledging the usefulness of such a regulation, regrets to learn that it rests on an entirely inadmissible ground; that is to say, the previous authorization required by the Government. In the opinion of this legation, this clause constitutes an encroachment on the liberty of commerce guarantied by treaties. Consequently this legation regrets not to be able to give its assistance to the enforcement against its citizens of the regulation in question before the Sublime Porte has come to an understanding on this subject with the United States legation.

No. 87.]

No. 1089.

Mr. Straus to Mr. Bayard.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Constantinople, June 8, 1888. (Received June 25.) SIR: Some time since the Turkish Government, without consulting the foreign missions here, promulgated a new law regarding printing offices, of which I inclose a copy.

As it conflicts seriously with the rights of foreigners to exercise their trade or profession in the Ottoman Empire, the matter was taken into consideration by the different embassies and legations here, including our own, and a note verbale identique has been sent to the Porte, of which I inclose a copy.

This law is another evidence of the jealousy of the imperial authorities respecting all foreign influences, and of their persistent efforts to restrict and abridge established rights and ancient privileges.

I have, etc.,

O. S. STRAUS.

[Inclosure 1 in No. 87.-Translation.]

Law concerning printing offices.

CHAPTER I.-GENERAL PROVISIONS.

ART. 1. The establishment of printing offices in Turkey and the printing of all kinds of books, pamphlets, and writings are free, when in conformity to the provisions of the present law.

ART. 2. Foreign subjects who shall furnish a written pledge, in conformity with the obligations prescribed in article 5 of the present law, shall have the right to establish printing offices in the same manner as Ottoman subjects.

ART. 3. The opening of a printing office is absolutely subordinated to the obtainment of an official authorization. Those persons who shall open a printing office without official authorization, and who shall therein print books, pamphlets, and other writings, will, in pursuance of article 137 of the penal code, have their printing office closed, and shall be liable to a fine of 50 pounds, Turkish.

ART. 4. Ottoman subjects and foreigners who desire to establish a printing office must make an application and annex thereto a declaration setting forth their names and occupations, a sketch of their lives, and shall state in what quarter and street the printing office is to be established, their residence, and the languages in which their publications are to be printed.

This application is to be presented, in Constantinople, to the ministry of the interior, and in the provinces to the governors-general.