No. 159.
Mr. Pendleton to Mr. Bayard.
Legation of
the United States,
Berlin, April 16, 1886.
(Received May 3.)
No. 244.]Sir: On the morning of the 15th instant I received
from the imperial foreign office the note in relation to the case of C. H.
G. J. F. Burmeister, of which I send you herewith a copy and translation.
To-day I replied by a note, of which I also inclose a copy.
It seems to me proper at present to take somewhat similar notice of every
refusal, if any more shall occur, to suspend the orders of expulsion issued
under like circumstances, in the hope that the German Government will be
brought to appreciate the importance which the Government of the United
States attaches to every case of the kind, a point on which I think it now
falls very short.
I have, &c.,
[Inclosure 1 in No.
244.—Translation.]
Count Bismarck to
Mr. Pendleton.
Foreign
Office, Berlin, April 14,
1886.
The undersigned has the honor to inform the Envoy Extraordinary and
Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of America, Mr. George H.
Pendleton, that the request for the suspension of the order of expulsion
against Carl Hans Gerd Johannes Friedrich Burmeister has been subjected
to a closer examination, at the same time that he sends back the
inclosures of the note of the 8th February of this year (foreign,
office, No. 169).
The result of the investigations which have been had leaves no doubt that
the same observations apply to the above-named Burmeister as were made
in reference to the persons enumerated under Nos. 7, 9, in the note of
the undersigned of December 21 of last year, concerning the expulsion of
S. M. Boysen and his associates.
Burmeister emigrated to America in the year 1880, shortly before
attaining the military age, without having been discharged from his
Prussian allegiance, and returned from there to Germany for the first
time in October of last year provided with an American citizen paper.
The Prussian authorities have reached the conviction, from these
circumstances, that Burmeister has been led, in the matter of his
emigration, by the intention to withdraw himself from the performance of
general military service in Prussia.
[Page 327]
Inasmuch as the said Burmeister has been permitted to remain in his home
for a period of several months, sufficient for a visit to his relatives
and attention to his possible affairs, the appropriate Prussian
authorities believed they could not accede to the proposal for the
withdrawal of the order of expulsion against Burmeister with due regard
to the interests of the state, on the general grounds developed in the
several communications heretofore made.
The sickness of the father, of which the note of the 8th February makes
mention, consists of an affection of the eyes, with which the sick man
has been affected for several years. The authorities are of the opinion
that the inconveniences in household affairs which arise from this cause
can be obviated by the service of strangers, and that the sick man is in
no way dependent exclusively on the aid of the son. Whilst the
undersigned regrets that it appears impossible under existing
circumstances to accede to the above-mentioned request, he avails
himself, &c.
[Inclosure 2 in No. 244.]
Mr. Pendleton to
Count Bismarck.
Legation of the United States,
Berlin, April 16,
1886.
The undersigned envoy, &c., of the United States of America, has the
honor to acknowledge the receipt of the esteemed note of Count Bismarck
Schönhausen, undersecretary of state in charge of the imperial foreign
office, of April 14, 1886, declining, on behalf of the Prussian
authorities, to grant request heretofore made for the suspension of the
order of expulsion of Carl Hans Gerd Johannes Friedrich Burmeister.
The above-mentioned note informs the undersigned that the investigations
kindly instituted in pursuance of his note of February 8; 1886, foreign
office, No. 169, disclose the facts that in the year 1880 Burmeister
emigrated to America shortly before attaining the military age, and
without having been discharged from his Prussian allegiance, and
returned thence to Germany for the first time in October, 1885, provided
with an American citizen paper.
From these circumstances alone the Prussian authorities have drawn the
conclusion, which in their view admits of no doubt, that the intention
to withdraw himself from the performance of military duty, common in
Prussia, led to the emigration of Burmeister, and, on the ground of this
inferred intention of Burmeister, the Prussian authorities have felt
themselves justified in ordering his expulsion in ten days after the
date of the order, to wit, the 24th of January, 1886, although he had
returned to Germany only in October, 1885, and desired, for family and
business reasons, to remain only until July 1, 1886, lest his longer
sojourn should seem to imply a willingness on the part of those
authorities to further an attempt to evade military service.
From this interpretation of the treaty rights of citizens of the United
States seeking temporary sojourn in Prussia the> Government of the
United States instructs the undersigned to express its entire dissent. *
* *
The undersigned avails himself; &c.,
