Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 8, 1885

No. 613.

Mr. Cramer to Mr. Frelinghuysen.

Legation of the United States,
Berne, February 20, 1885. (Received March 6.)

No. 204.]

Sir: On or about the 5th of this month Mr. Henry Theodore Christian Emeis, M. D., called at this legation and made the following statements, namely:

(1) That he is a naturalized citizen of the United States, and that his health having broken down while practicing medicine near Dayton, Ohio, he came abroad, and especially to Switzerland, for the purpose of regaining his health.

(2) That while he temporarily sojourned at La Chaux-de-fonds, canton of Neuchâtel, he was, on the 1st instant, expelled from the territory of that canton by its police authorities without any valid reasons.

Having given a detailed (verbal) account of this matter, he then requested me to lay his case before the Swiss Frederal Council and request that the decree of his expulsion be revoked. I requested him to furnish evidences of his American citizenship. He showed me the following documents:

(1) A duplicate certificate of naturalization issued by the court of common pleas for the city and county of New York, on the 22d of March, 1879, showing that he was admitted to become a citizen of the United States on the 13th of April, 1871.

(2) Passport No. 13,271, issued to Henry Theodore Christian Emeis by the Department of State on the 20th of June, 1879, and bearing the signature of William M. Evarts as Secretary of State. The description therein given of Mr. Emeis is as follows:

Age, 40 years; stature, 5 feet 7¾ inches, English; forehead, high; eyes, blue; nose, medium; mouth, small; chin beard; hair, brown; complexion, medium; face, oval.

It is needless to say that both these documents appeared to me to be genuine and correct, proving Mr. Emeis to be a naturalized citizen of the United States. He also showed me other documents, letters, &c., which proved to me his identity.

In this connection I may be permitted to say that, to judge from repeated interviews I have had with him, he appears to me to be a gentleman of culture and refinement, to say nothing of his professional education and practice, incapable of intrigue and illegal acts.

Under these circumstances I did not feel at liberty to ignore his case. Hence I requested him to draw up a statement thereof in writing (in duplicate) addressed to this legation, which he did on the 7th instant, though he did not deliver it here until several days afterwards.

Under date of the 19th instant I addressed a note to the President of the Swiss Confederation relative to this case (before that date I was unable to write on account of illness), and inclosed therein Mr. Emeis’s letter. A copy of this note is herewith inclosed. In said note I stated that it appeared from said letter that Mr. Emeis’s expulsion was the result (1) of a misunderstanding between himself and the police authorities of La Chaux-de-fonds respecting the kind of documents required to identify himself for the purpose of obtaining a permit of residence; and (2) of an unfounded suspicion entertained against him by some ill-disposed person in that town that he was either a spy or somehow connected with anarchists, who had caused it to be made known in some way to said authorities. I further stated that I considered Mr. Emeis a man of good character, against whom no evidences had been produced tending to prove him guilty of having violated the laws of the canton of Neuchâtel or of Switzerland, or to be a spy, or connected with anarchists, and that therefore his expulsion appears to have been a hasty matter. I then requested the High Federal Council to cause the authorities of Neuchâtel to revoke the order of expulsion as an act of simple justice due alike to Mr. Emeis and to the country of which he is a citizen, and thus to relieve him from a stigma that would otherwise attach to his character through life.

I trust the Department will approve my action in this case.

I have, &c.,

M. J. CRAMER.

[Inclosure in No. 204.]

Mr. Cramer to the President of the Swiss Confederation.

Legation of the United States,
Berne, February 19, 1885.

Sir: The undersigned, minister resident of the United States of America near the Swiss Confederation, has the honor to transmit to your Excellency, herewith inclosed, a letter dated February 7, addressed to him officially by Mr. Henry Theodore Christian Emeis, a citizen of the United States, in which he narrates the circumstances under which, though an innocent man, he was, on the 1st of this month, expelled from the territory of the canton of Neuchâtel, and in which he appeals to this legation to see to it that justice may be done him in this matter.

The undersigned begs to state that Mr. Emeis has submitted to this legation sufficient proofs that he is a duly naturalized citizen of the United States. It appears from the inclosed letter that his expulsion is the result (1) of a misunderstanding between himself and the police authorities of La Chaux-de-fonds respecting the kind of documents required to identify (legitimate) himself for the purpose of obtaining a permit of residence; and (2) of an unfounded suspicion entertained against him by some ill-disposed person in that town that he was either a spy or somehow connected with anarchists, who had caused it to be made known in some way to said authorities.

Judging from Mr. Emeis’s statement contained in the inclosed letter, as well as from the personal interviews the undersigned has repeatedly had with him, it appears that he is a harmless traveler, guilty of no improper, illegal, or even suspicious act. He came to Switzerland for the sole purpose of having his health restored by the Swiss mountain air. Nor have the police authorities of La Chaux-de-fonds, or of Neuchâtel been able to produce any evidences whatever, which tend to prove that he has been guilty of having violated the laws of that canton, or of Switzerland. He honors and respects the laws, the Government, and the people of Switzerland. He never had, nor has he now, any connection whatever with anarchists, nihilists, or socialists. He detests their beliefs and practices as much as all right-minded men do. Neither is he a spy either of the German or of the French Government, as some ill-disposed person imagined. There really is no valid reason for his sudden and immediate expulsion, and so far as the undersigned is aware, no valid reason has been assigned on the part of the authorities of Neuchâtel for their action in this matter. It appears to have been altogether too hasty.

The undersigned cannot but think that it is hard that a man who appears to be entirely innocent, a man who is a citizen of a friendly power, should be thus harshly dealt with; that he should thus be unjustly deprived of his good name, and be obliged to go through the remainder of his life with such a stigma upon his character. The undersigned, therefore, takes the liberty to ask, through your Excellency, the High Federal Council to request the authorities of the canton of Neuchâtel, as an act of simple justice to Mr. Emeis, to revoke the decree of his expulsion from the territory of that canton. This act of justice is due to that gentleman, as well as to the country of which he is a citizen. It is to be sincerely hoped that the authorities of that canton will the more gladly make this reparation to his character, as his expulsion appears to be the result both of a misunderstanding and of an unfounded suspicion against him by some ill-disposed person.

The undersigned embraces, &c.,

M. J. CRAMER.