No. 515.
Mr. Frelinghuysen to Mr. Cramer.
Washington, February 15, 1883.
Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatch No. 33, diplomatic series, of the 23d ultimo, in relation to the alleged assisted emigration from Woelflinswyl, in Aargau; of Conrad Hort, said to be a pauper, a drunkard, and weak-minded.
The reply of the Federal Council to your representations on the subject declares positively that Hort is not weak-minded, but has gained his living for ten or twelve years past. It is admitted, however, that the commercial authorities assisted his emigration by giving him 200 francs, from which it is only to be inferred that he was an undesirable member of the community.
While it may not be advisable, in view of the explicit declarations of the Federal Council, to insist further on the punishment of the agent who effected the emigration of Hort, you should let it be distinctly known that such assisted emigration of undesirable characters for the purpose [Page 808] of ridding the local community of the burden of their presence is regarded with disfavor.
The Government of the United States has pressed this view upon that of Switzerland for several years past. It was hoped that the new regulations of 1880, forbidding such practices, would have remedied the evil, and it is still confidently trusted that the strict enforcement of those regulations, and the exemplary rebuke and punishment of all who may be concerned in violating them, will remove all further grounds for complaint on this score.
I am, &c.,