No. 20.
Baron Lederer to Mr. Fish.

[Translation.]

The Secretary of State:

I hastened to transmit to the imperial royal government the note which you were kind enough to address me about the nationality of one Francois A. Heinrich, and by which you informed me that, in accordance with the Constitution of the United States and the laws in force here, every individual born on their territory is considered their citizen.

The imperial royal minister of the interior, to whom this communication was submitted, has just declared that the principle stated above cannot be applied by the imperial royal government to the case of Francois A. Heinrich, who, being legally an Austrian subject, has consequently been called upon to fulfill his military duties.

The imperial royal minister of foreign affairs has approved this decision for the following reasons:

Francois A, Heinrich was born in New York in 1850, where his parents were temporarily established, as is shown, Mr. Secretary, by a passage in the note which you did me the honor to send me, and which states expressly that Francois A. Heinrich is “a person born in New York of persons who were foreign subjects.”

The parents of the said Francois were not naturalized during their stay in the United States; they therefore wanted the necessary conditions to entitle them to consideration as citizens of this republic, as was stipulated in Article 1 of the treaty of naturalization, signed on the 20th September, 1870, between Austria, Hungary, and the United States.

It results that their son, Francois A. Heinrich, who by his birth should be of the nationality of his parents, in conformity to Articles 4 and 28 of the Austrian civil code, and to the general principles of personal law, is an Austrian citizen. For Francois A. Heinrich returned to Austria as a minor of about two or three years of age, where he has remained for twenty years without having fulfilled any of the duties of the nationality of which he now desires the protection in order to evade his military service in Austria.

On the contrary, during this time he has enjoyed the rights of an Austrian citizen. In 1866 and 1867 he was furnished with passports with which he traveled under the protection of the imperial and royal authorities in his quality of Austrian subject.

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The isolated fact, that once he found the means to have a passport delivered to him by the consul of the United States at Stuttgart in Wurtemberg, should not be a reason to prejudice the question of his nationality.

In accordance with the order of my government, I make you acquainted, Mr. Secretary, with the above-mentioned reasons which have led it to consider Francois A. Heinrich as an Austrian subject, and I avail myself of the present occasion, &c.

LEDERER.