No. 118.
Mr. Nicholas
Fish to Mr. Evarts.
Berlin, July 24, 1877. (Received August 9.)
Sir: Mr. Davis, in presenting me to Mr. von Philipsborn, as chargé d’affaires ad interim, had some conversation with him in regard to the working of the treaties of naturalization, of which he has placed a memorandum on file, and of which I inclose a copy. I gathered from their conversation that both of them were well pleased with the manner kr-which the treaties are now working, and that both of them considered that an extension of the treaty of 22d February, 1868, to the whole empire, would simplify matters. Since that conversation there has been no case arising under the treaty requiring the intervention of the legation. If my observation of the working of the treaties is of any value I can say from practical experience that for the past six years there has been no period at which so few cases calling for the intervention of the legation have arisen. In the past six months, i. e., January 24 to July 24, there have been but four new cases presented to the consideration of the foreign office. Of these, three have been decided in accordance with the request of the legation, while the fourth, a case of fine (Philip Wills’s case), is still pending.
In the corresponding periods of the previous years of my connection with the legation the number of new cases presented to the foreign office has been:
| 1871. | 1872. | 1873. | 1874. | 1875. | 1876. | 1877. |
| 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 11 | 4 |
In addition to the falling off in the number of cases calling for diplomatic intervention, there has been a marked diminution in the number of complaints by our naturalized citizens that the local authorities failed to respect their certificates of naturalization.
I gather from the above facts that the local authorities are now better informed as to the rights of our naturalized citizens, and that they have learned, by experience in some cases, that those rights must be respected. I am confident that the present satisfactory working of the treaty is in a large measure due to the determination of the German foreign office to decide in our favor every case where bona fides was apparent in the naturalization of the applicant, as mentioned by Mr. Von Büllow to me me on the 16th November, 1874. (See Foreign Relations, 1875, vol. 1, page 487.) I take pleasure in saying that, so far as the foreign office has been concerned, I believe that it has in every case acted on the assurance that Mr. Yon Bülow then gave me. In so doing it has had to contend with the other departments of the government (and no doubt that contest accounts in a measure for the large number of cases arising in the first six months of 1875, and in 1876); but it appears to have been successful in establishing a more uniform respect for the rights of our citizens under the treaty of 22d February, 1868, than had previously been accorded them by the local authorities.
That the emigrant liable to military duty is looked upon with a jealous eye in a country with so large a standing army is not unnatural; and the reported determination to prevent natives of North Schleswig, who [Page 258] shall have emigrated to Denmark before completing their seventeenth year for the purpose of avoiding military duty in Prussia, from sojourning in Schleswig-Holstein without permission, shows that Prussia is not yet fully reconciled to free emigration in its broadest sense. The large number of Germans who emigrated in 1871 and 1872 to the United States doubtless added to the inborn jealousy of the local officials, and led to the rigorous enforcement of the treaty in 1875 and 1876, and in many cases appears to have led them to undue zeal in their endeavors. We over here have not yet had time to see how they will treat the emigrants of those years when they return after naturalization and a five years’ uninterrupted residence in the United States; but, judging from the cases which are now brought to the notice of the legation, I fully believe that the naturalized American of German birth who has been naturalized in good faith, with bona fide intention of remaining a citizen of the United States, and not merely for the purpose of avoiding military duty in his native country, will have nothing to fear on returning for a visit to his native place. In some cases he may be subjected to delays in procuring a recognition of his rights, but so long as the men who now direct the affairs of Germany remain in power, the ultimate recognition of his rights is sure.
I inclose copies of the memorandum of the conversation between Mr. Davis and Mr. von Philipsborn, and an extract from the Voss’sche Zeitung of this morning, concerning the Schleswig emigration to Denmark.
I have, &c.,