No. 500.
Mr. Bayard to Mr.
Taft.
Department
of State,
Washington, May 25,
1885.
No. 21.]
Sir: I inclose a copy of a letter from Hon. Felix
Campbell, M. C., and of the statement of Mr. Israel Müller, which he
transmits touching his arrest recently in Russia.
Mr. Müller, who is an American citizen, was professedly arrested because he
had abandoned Russian allegiance without permission, a penal offense, you
are aware, under Russian law.
It is probable, also, that he is a Jew, an£ his case may have been affected
by that circumstance, and in this connection you are referred to previous
correspondence in cases of that class, on the files of the legation.
I conclude that the matter was not brought at the time to the notice of the
legation. Please report in this regard, and state your conclusions as to
whether any way is open to obtain redress in this case, or to prevent the
recurrence of such cases.
I am, &c.,
[Inclosure in No. 21.]
Mr. Campbell to Mr.
Bayard.
Sir: I beg leave to ask your careful
consideration of the inclosed narrative of Israel Müller, in whose case
I feel deeply interested.
Will you please let me know at your convenience what steps you may decide
upon taking in this matter and oblige,
Yours, &c.,
[Page 659]
[Inclosure 1 in inclosure in No.
21.]
Mr. Müller to Mr.
Bayard.
Brooklyn, N. Y., May 2, 1885.
Sir: I inclose a sworn narrative of the
indignity and outrage put upon me by the Russian Government on a recent
visit to Russia armed with a passport of the United States. I ask you
respectfully to take such action in the premises as you shall deem
proper.
Any further information desired I will cheerfully furnish if
required.
Yours, &c.,
[Inclosure 2 in inclosure in No.
21.]
Affidavit of Israel Müller.
State of New York,
City of Brooklyn, County of Kings, ss:
Israel Müller, of the said city of Brooklyn, being duly sworn, says: I
now reside at No. 440 Fifth avenue, in the city of Brooklyn, county of
Kings and State of New York. I am a citizen of the United States, and
was naturalized in the city of Brooklyn aforesaid on the 4th day of
November, 1865, as will appear by the certificate thereof annexed
hereto. I am the Israel Müller therein named and described. I was born
in Pabianicie in the state of Prerkoff, in the Empire of Russia, on the
30th day of November, 1831. I emigrated from Russia, and came to reside
in the United States, in the city of Brooklyn aforesaid, and arrived at
the city of New York on October 22, 1859. I have since that time
continuously to the present time been a resident of the said city of
Brooklyn. A short time prior to January 8, 1885, I had determined on
again visiting my native land, and had, with a view thereto, applied for
and obtained a passport under the hand and seal of the Secretary of
State of the United States, dated on or about the said 8th day of
January, 1885. Having the same in my possession, I embarked at New York
City for Antwerp upon the steamship Westernland on the 24th day of
January, 1885. I arrived at Antwerp in eleven days, going thence from
Antwerp to Cologne, which I reached on the following day; thence to
Berlin and to Pabianicie, in Russia, aforesaid, in two days. I there
remained at my father’s house. My father’s home is at Pabianicie, and
his name is Isaac Müller.
On or about the 7th day of February, 1885, at said Pabianicie, at about 7
o’clock in the evening, I was summoned to appear at the office of the
mayor of Pabianicie, aforesaid, by an officer of police, with a warrant
for my arrest. Having reached the mayor’s office I demanded of the mayor
upon what charge I was arrested. Turning to a book, the mayor asked me
if I were Israel Müller, born at Pabianicie. I replied that I was. He
asked me if I had renounced my allegiance to Russia, and taken
allegiance to any other power. I replied that I had. He then directed an
officer to detain me over night at the city hall at said place.
Remonstrating, I said that I was an American citizen, produced my
passport, and demanded the cause of my arrest again. The mayor replied:
“It is because you are an American citizen that you are arrested.” He
refused to return my passport, nor have I ever recovered the same. I was
conducted to a room in said city hall and kept confined as a prisoner
for nineteen hours. On the following day I was taken to the county seat,
a place called “Lask,” before Judge Niekenstiek. The same charge was
made, but my remonstrances were without avail. I had offered bail for my
appearance at Pabianicie, but it was refused. At Lask, in consideration
of the payment of 300 rubles, I was permitted to furnish bail, my
brothers-in-law going upon my bond. Returning to Pabianicie I was at
once taken sick from shock, excitement and from rheumatism and
pneumonia, contracted during my confinement. I was attended daily by a
physician, and was subjected to police surveillance and inspection. I
made repeated requests to see the American consul, but was refused. At
the end of four weeks I had recovered, and effected my escape from
Russia by way of Germany. The manner of my escape and the persons who
aided me in making it I do not desire to disclose, except that it may be
necessary for the Department of State, as the publication would involve
those persons in trouble, arrest, and prosecution. I returned to the
United States on the 9th day of April, 1885. I was charged with no crime
or misconduct while in Russia, and during the whole time of arrest and
imprisonment I constantly protested that I had committed no crime or
done no wrong.
Sworn to before me this 1st day of May,
1885.
JOHN DETMAR,
Notary Public, Kings
County.
[Page 660]
[Inclosure 3 in inclosure in No.
21.]
County court, Kings County.
certificate of naturalization, united
states of america.
State of New York,
County of Kings, ss:
Be it remembered, that at a term of the county court of Kings County,
held in and for the county of Kings, at the court-house in the city of
Brooklyn, on the 4th day of November, in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, Israel Müller, residing within
the city of Brooklyn, in said county, appeared in his own proper person,
in the county court aforesaid (said court being a court of record,
having common-law jurisdiction and a seal and clerk), and applied to the
said court to be admitted to become a citizen of the United States of
America, pursuant to the provisions of the statutes of the United States
of America, and the said applicant having thereupon produced to the
court such evidence, made such declaration and renunciation, and taken
such oath as is by said statutes required, and the court being satisfied
that the said applicant was a proper person to be admitted to
citizenship, it was ordered by the said court that the said applicant be
admitted, and he was accordingly admitted by the said court to be a
citizen of the United States of America.
In testimony whereof, the seal of the said
court is hereunto affixed this 6th day of December, 1884, in the one
hundred and ninth year of the Independence of the United States
of America.
[
seal.]
RODNEY SHURSLEY, Clerk.
