No. 892.
Mr. Roosevelt to Mr. Bayard.

No. 34.]

Sir: I beg the favor of further instructions in reference to passports. If the forms issued in the substitution of the former ones are to be strictly and literally followed, many American citizens must go unprotected, and, as strict regulations are being made in some portions of Europe, this may prove a serious hardship. There is an uneasy feeling among those who reside here, more marked even than among those who are traveling. Is it the wish of the Department that I should furnish protection to these, and, if so, may I modify the form to meet the case? I have at present an application for a passport from a person born [Page 1333] abroad and taken while a child to the United States by his father, who was duly naturalized. He holds an old passport. Have I authority to modify the form to suit his case f In other words, and in general terms, I beg to inquire if any discretion in the matter of modifying the late forms is allowed to diplomatic officers?

I am, etc.,

R. B. Roosevelt.