No. 533.
Mr. Bayard to Mr.
Foster.
Department
of State,
Washington, May 6,
1885.
No. 336.]
Sir: I inclose for your attention a letter dated
April 30, 1885, from Mr. H. B. Plant, the president of the Savannah, Florida
and Western Railway Company, complaining of the great annoyance and
discouragement to the commercial and passenger traffic of the railways
leading to the ports on the Gulf of Mexico caused by the system now enforced
in Cuba requiring passports to be visaed by a Spanish
consul from all persons arriving at a Cuban port. Many of those proceeding
there for the first time are ignorant of the necessity of providing
themselves with a visaed passport, and discover it
only on arriving at the port of embarkation, and often too late to obtain
one from Washington. They are, perhaps, also further deterred from pursuing
their journey by the heavy fee of $4 exacted for the visé in addition to the first cost of the passport.
The passport system having been found a serious obstacle to the modern mode
of universal and rapid travel, is now practically and tacitly abolished in
Europe, except where a military state of siege requires every traveler to be
identified and vouched for. It is believed by this Government that our
relations with Cuba are so peaceful and intimate that this restriction to
trade and travel might now be removed without detriment to the interests of
either nation and in fact to their mutual advantage. You are therefore
requested to take an early opportunity to lay these views before the
minister of foreign affairs, and to propose and urge that a clause should be
inserted in the commercial treaty now pending between the United States and
Spain abolishing the present system of passports, except possibly at such
times when a state of siege or military operations for the national defense
might require a more rigorous inspection of travelers arriving at Spanish
ports. Should this suggestion be favorably received, you can forward at once
to the Department the text of such a clause as drawn up either by yourself
or at the Spanish foreign office, with a view, if necessary, to consultation
here with the Spanish minister.
I am, &c.,
[Inclosure in No. 336.]
Mr. H. B. Plant to
Mr. Bayard.
Savannah, Florida and Western Railway Company,
New York, April 30, 1885.
Sir: In response to your request that I address
you a letter on the subject of the passport system, which, although now
generally abandoned by the nations of the world, is still rigidly
enforced by the Government of Spain, whereby citizens of the [Page 712] United States visiting Cuba
are compelled to obtain such from the State Department at Washington, I
would respectfully represent that such custom does prevail, and its
practical operation causes great inconvenience, particularly to the
citizens of the West and South who desire to visit Cuba, either upon
business or pleasure.
You are probably aware that the citizens of the western and southern
portions of the country, other than at the sea-coast cities, are, as a
rule, unfamiliar with the restraints which have in the past been put
upon travel by some foreign governments, and which are continued by
Spain.
Within a short time several railways, leading to the ports in Florida
situated upon the Gulf, have been opened for public use, and lines of
steamers have been established, running therefrom to Havana, thereby
opening a route direct to Cuba, other than via New York, which was
formerly practically the only route of passenger communication between
the two countries.
The attention of the people of the South and West having been called to
this short line, they have naturally sought it upon trips of pleasure or
business, and, in some instances, have been compelled on arrival at Key
West to abandon the trips and return home, in consequence of their not
having provided themselves with passports and being unable to spare the
time necessary to procure them from Washington. Besides the delay
necessary to obtaining the passport before starting on the journey, it
is attended with very considerable expense, the fee being in the first
place $5, and that of the agent who obtains it generally about the same;
to this add the fee of the Spanish consul at the port of departure, and
it makes it a very considerable tax upon the traveler, whether on
pleasure or business.
It is understood that the respective Governments of the United States and
Spain are contemplating a new treaty of commerce, and the present seems
to me to be a fitting time when an effort should be made on the part of
the representatives of the United States for the abrogation of the old
custom, requiring that all citizens of the United States be furnished
with passports, which, in the hope of improved business relations
between the two countries, should be regarded as an unnecessary and
obnoxious exaction. Under the existing rules, persons without passports
properly visaed are not permitted to land at
Havana or depart therefrom. In my judgment, this onerous system proves
itself a great inconvenience, and I believe it could be properly
abolished without detriment to the Spanish authorities or impairment of
the police regulations.
I have, &c.,
