Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 3, 1888, Part II

No. 1094.
Mr. Bayard to Mr. King.

Department of State,
Washington, September 21, 1888.

No. 134.]

Sir: I transmit for your information and files a copy of a protest from H. A. Proios, dated the 24th ultimo, in his case.

I am, etc.,

T. F. Bayard.

[Inclosure 1 in No. 134.]

Mr. Proios to Mr. Bayard.

Constantinople, August 24, 1888.

Sir: I inclose herewith a letter of protest to Mr. Pendleton King, United States chargé d’affaires ad interim, and also a statement regarding my case prepared for publication, as I was informed by the United States authorities here that I might expect my citizenship to be denied to me by the State Department.

I desire to have positive information from you as to such pretenses, and I therefore send the inclosures for your consideration, hoping for an immediate reply.

I have, etc.,

H. A. Proios.

[Inclosure 2 in No. 134.]

Mr. Proios to Mr. King.

Sir: Having been a victim of proceedings on the part of the United States officials in Turkey and Russia, who state that they have acted in conformity with instructions from the State Department, and the said authorities seem determined to pursue a course most dishonorable and discreditable to the United States as well as unconstitutional and to me most damaging and ruinous, I deem it my duty to place the facts through you before the people of the United States, who are the best guardians of the nation’s honor and dignity, as well as their own sovereign rights guarantied by the Constitution.

Such a course is forced upon me, as I find my case does not vary practically as to citizenship from that of numerous others, who, although less unfortunate than myself, have been refused passports and recognition as citizens by the United States authorities at Constantinople, although their rights to citizenship and protection are unquestionable and have always been recognized previously to the past two years in every manner, with their names upon the consulate register, from which they have been struck without cause or justice.

The summary of my case is as follows: I am a naturalized citizen of the United States, born of Greek parents, and at the age of nineteen years went to England and from thence to the United States, where I remained for eight years, during which time I became a citizen of the United States in conformity with the laws of our country, and married an American lady.

My naturalization papers entitling me to such citizenship bear the date of the 14th of August, 1871, and the signature of the clerk of the circuit court of Chicago, Cook County, where I resided eight years, doing a good business.

In the year of 18731 was advised by my doctor to take a trip to Europe on account of my bad health, and in consequence I started on a visit to my parents at Constantinople, where I arrived on the same year.

I recorded myself at the American consulate at Constantinople, as is usual upon arrival of American citizens.

In a short time thereafter I was offered a good position in the Turkish service as receiver of the sanitary office of Constantinople, and in consequence I took the place, which I held for a period of sixteen years.

In this position considerable sums of money were left uncollected from my hands sometimes for two weeks, and I had to insure the safe custody and delivery thereof when called upon.

Such facts were of course known, and in consequence under peculiar circumstances a deficit of 500 pounds resulted, but without any benefit to me.

This deficit was known to leading Turkish officials who benefited therefrom, with the further result that the directors of the sanitary commission were notified thereof with the censure resting upon me, and the final result that I was discharged from my position about the middle of May of 1887.

After my discharge, I remained in Constantinople until the 31st of July, 1887, and during which time I was advised by some friends of the practicability of doing good business on the sea of Azov as a shipping agent, and in consequence I took my passport from the American legation, signed by the Hon. O. S. Straus, and had such properly indorsed by the Russian consul at Constantinople, with all my papers in order and with good letters of recommendation from Messrs. Foscolo, Mango, Svorono, and other leading merchants of Constantinople, which place I left on the 31st of July and proceeded direct to Marianople, on the sea of Azov.

On arriving at the last-named place, I established myself as a shipping agent and carried on such business until the 3d of January, 1888. In the mean time I had cause to write to the United States minister at St. Petersburg regarding some intrigues and persecution against my business, to which I was subjected from the part of custom-house officials at that place.

By such communication the minister became duly advised of my citizenship, as I sent my passport in evidence thereof.

Without any notice whatever, on the 3d of January, 1888, the Russian police entered my rooms, seized my correspondence, documents, and all effects, and took me to prison.

On the following day I was taken before the head of the police, who examined my papers and declared all such in good order, but that he had positive instructions from the governor-general to send me to Odessa.

I asked what offense I had committed.

“None whatever against the laws of Russia, but I must hold you upon the accusation signed by the Turkish vice-consul of Berdianska, who accuses you of being a runaway Turkish subject under a false name, carrying a stolen American passport, and having robbed 5,000 pounds from the Turkish Government.”

I protested against these accusations as absolutely false, and demanded “by what right and upon what grounds can you act in this manner, acknowledging as you do that I am an American citizen with my papers in order.” His answer was that “superior orders force me to send you to Odessa.”

I therefore telegraphed to and paid for a response from the American minister at St. Petersburg regarding my arrest, and requested him to obtain my release.

The only answer or action on his part was a dispatch saying, “show your papers,’ instead of protesting to the Russian authorities at St. Petersburg against my arrest, and having such to telegraph to the governor-general or other authorities at Marianople to release me, as the American minister knew that my papers were in perfect order as they had been submitted to him previously, as a letter from him to me will prove.

The Russian authorities of course paid no attention to such un-American and heartless inaction on the part of the American minister at St. Petersburg.

In consequence, my only alternative was to quietly submit to any torture or loss which might be in store for me as the result of being an American citizen in a foreign land, without a minister to even demand respect for his country, regardless of humanity and justice.

I next endeavored to make the best of my position by requesting the police superintendent to send me in charge of two policemen to Odessa, offering to defray all expenses.

The police superintendent, who fully recognized my American citizenship and who said he could not comprehend my arrest or its legality, wrote to the governor-general my request and offer, but he received the answer thereto that I must be sent at once to Odessa by land.

Following such orders, I was removed at once from the police station to the main prison, into a filthy, suffocating room containing ninety-five more prisoners, without any sleeping accommodation, closely packed together, receiving twice a day a kind of soup said to be made from the lights of cattle, with black paste for bread.

Under such conditions I existed until the 8th of January, when, with four other prisoners and under a guard of three soldiers, we left Marianople for Berdianska, where we arrived, after five days of great sufferings, walking from 25 to 30 versts each day, with the climate bitterly cold, the thermometer ranging at times 25 degrees below zero, with filthy pens for our sleeping places at night.

On arriving at Berdianska, the 13th of January, I had the luxury of being committed to the main prison with the honors of a convicted prisoner for the period of three weeks.

On the 22d of February I was started on another Russian pleasure trip of eight days before reaching Miletopole, during which time I had similar experiences and even worse hardships and sufferings than before. At this place I was kept twelve days, and subjected to the experience of having a large part of my clothing stolen from me by the prisoners.

From Miletopole I was sent by railway to Harkovo in iron bracelets, attached to another prisoner, in a wagon filthy beyond imagination, infested with vermin, and overcrowded with prisoners.

After twenty-four hours in this wagon we arrived at our destination, where I was kept ten days in the prison, from whence I was sent to another town called Elizabethgrad, where I remained for four days.

From Elizabethgrad I was sent to Bait a by railway wagon along with other prisoners.

And en route we were subjected to a snow-storm and had to pass two nights in the wagon without any means of heating, and on arriving at the railway station walked 8 versts to the prison, where I was kept two days.

From thence I started for Odessa, where I at last arrived on the 8th of March, after two months and five days from the time of my arrest, supposing that at last 1 had reached a point where I would find my release by the proper intervention of the United States Government’s representatives, the consul of Odessa, and minister at St. Petersburg.

On my arrival at Odessa I was at once visited in person by the American consul, Dr. Thomas He en an, to whom I stated the whole of my case, and begged him to take action for my liberty. He first proposed to send me to Constantinople, but I protested, as my business would suffer from my absence from Marianople, where I wished to return at once. He then told me that he would do his best to obtain my liberty, but that I must have patience for a few days, as the Russian authorities moved very slowly in documentary affairs.

Three days after my arrival at Odessa I was taken before the police superintendent, who informed me that I was not going to be sent to Constantinople; that I must stay a few days in prison until the police made inquiries regarding my character, etc., and I was again put back into the same dark, damp cellar.

Imprisoned for a month in this cellar, sleeping on the stones waiting for my release, and without hearing from the American consul, I wrote to him on the 19th of May insisting upon my release, after which I received the following response:

“H. A. Proios, Esq.,
“Odessa Main Prison:

“I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated May —, and in reply would say that this consulate has done everything possible to bring the question of your nationality, as far as the Russian Government is concerned, to a speedy conclusion.

“The Russian authorities arrested you with an American passport in your possession; your right to this passport and your claim to American citizenship is conceded and indorsed by the United States authorities in Russia and elsewhere; the Russian authorities have been formally notified of the above, and your release has been repeatedly demanded on the ground of your citizenship; thus far, however, the Russian authorities have resisted this demand without giving any satisfactory reason for so doing.

“His excellency the governor-general of Odessa, with whom I am in correspondence about your case, has done everything possible to facilitate matters for you, and the blame for what is certainly an unnecessary and cruel delay must be sought for elsewhere than in south Russia.

“The question of innocence or guilt can not be passed upon either by this consulate or the Russian authorities; it is only with the question of your American citizenship that we have to deal.

“In conclusion, accept my sincere sympathy both officially and personally, and rest assured that my best efforts for your release as an American citizen have not nor will not be found wanting.

“Th. E. Heenan,
“United States Consul.”

After a month’s stay in that cellar I was afflicted with rheumatism, and I was removed to the main prison dressed as a convict and retained for two months, expecting every day my release, but as there was no sign of it I wrote again to my consul and received from him the following reply:

“H. A. Proios, Esq.,
“Odessa Main Prison:

“I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated Jane 21, and in reply beg to inform you that I have also received two other letters from you, which I did not answer. My reasons for so doing I will furnish on another occasion.

“I take this opportunity of repeating what I have stated to you before, viz, that I have done everything possible in your behalf, and if of late I have seemed to be indifferent to your fate, I can assure you that in reality such was not the case. The governor-general acknowledged your American citizenship, and agreed to send you to Constantinople. Why this agreement has not been carried out I do not know. I have written again to ask for your release and will communicate with you when the reply is received.

“Thos. E. Heenan,
“United States Consul.”

This letter bears date six months and three days from the time of my arrest, during which time I was subjected to imprisonment and treatment as above stated, and it was not until the 14th of July that I was informed by the American consul at Odessa that an understanding had been arrived at between him and the governor-general of that place, by which I was to be sent from there in company of a police officer, who was to deliver me to the Russian consul at Constantinople.

The excuse offered in the American consul’s letter of July 5, where he says, “In reply, beg to inform you that I also received two more letters from you, which I did not answer. My reasons for not answering I will furnish on another occasion” I found to be based upon information which he had received from Washington that I had renounced my citizenship, and from instructions that he (the American consul) “should have nothing more to do with me.”

Since then I have been told by Mr. Pringle, the United States consul at Constantinople, that the Turkish authorities had actually taken steps with the State Department at Washington (discarding the United States authorities at Constantinople, or probably by acting in concert with them), while I was kept in prison in Russia for having the State Department and its representatives abroad, to refuse me protection, and thereby throw me into the Turkish authorities’ hands from the Russian prison.

Mr. Pringle also now advises me to run away from Turkey (which I refuse to do), notwithstanding that I signed a bond to him that I would appear for trial.

Under conditions set forth I left Odessa on the 14th of July and arrived at Constantinople on the 16th, where I was delivered into the hands of the Russian consul, and in a few hours thereafter I was taken under charge of a cavass to the American consulate, where the United States consul, Mr. Pringle, asked, along with other questions, if I was going to America. I believe my reply was, “At present, no.” The consul then said, “I must put you in jail,” and I was forthwith conducted to the British consular prison.

Two days thereafter I wrote to the consul, referring to the question regarding my return to America, and stating that it was my desire to return to America the moment I should have the means to do so.

On the 22d of July Mr. Pringle, the consul-general, called and said, “You must go with me to the Turkish nationality bureau, where they will ask you a few questions regarding your nationality.”

Upon our arrival at this bureau we met Mr. Gargiulo, the dragoman of the United States legation, and the disreputable proceedings of discrediting my American citizenship were commenced by the United States Government. Hereby the United States Government was made to appear in the despicable position of not even begging of Turkey for the constitutional and recognized rights of her citizens and the honor of our national institutions, but as being a party to the most discreditable and dishonorable transaction of which any government might be guilty.

Upon leaving the nationality bureau Mr. Gargiulo remained, and I was returned to prison.

On the same day Mr. Pringle proposed to me to settle the matter quietly with the Turkish Government by the payment of a sum of money, which proposition I refused.

The same proposition was made to my father, and I have heard that it has been suggested that I should settle the matter by monthly installments.

I wrote to the consul on July 30, protesting against my imprisonment and asking release on bail.

In consequence, Mr. Pringle, the consul-general, called upon me the same day, and asked me regarding the bail, which, from the fact of the persons not being American citizens, was refused, and £500 in cash demanded. I stated that I had no money and demanded my trial.

I also remarked to the consul-general that instead of keeping me one month in prison he should have given notice on my arrival here to the Turkish authorities to bring forward whatever charges they had against me, and if they did not do that, I should be liberated.

A few days later I again by letter protested against my imprisonment to the consul-general as an illegal proceeding, but received no response.

Seeing that there was no hope of any protection from the part of the consul-general, I addressed a letter to Mr. Pendleton King, United States chargé d’affaires ad interim, protesting against my illegal and indefinite imprisonment, demanding my release, in answer to which I received from him the following reply:^*

On the 14th of August, I was taken to the consulate and asked to sign a bond to appear at the pleasure of the consul and was then released, being told by the consul-general that he had written to Washington for instructions whether to consider me an American citizen or not.

In consequence of this statement from Mr. Pringle I called upon Mr. Pendleton King, United States chargé d’affaires ad interim, on the 17th of August, and found even Mr. King refusing me protection, waiting for an expected answer from the State Department denying my citizenship.

On the following day, after having taken advice and having the question fully examined, I wrote a letter to the United States chargé d’affaires exposing the injustice done to me as well as my constitutional rights and my rights under the treaty of 1830, between the United States and Turkey as an American citizen, and requesting him to notify the Turkish authorities that I was prepared to meet the charge they had to bring against me.

I furthermore requested of Mr. Pendleton King that he would notify the State Department the full facts of my case and send my protest forthwith.

I have, however, as yet no response, but only found myself urged by my own authorities to run away with a false and fraudulent accusation resting against me, and I am told by Mr. Pringle that he knows “the State Department will (in answer to his letter) refuse to recognize me as an American citizen.”

In answer to such statements from the consul-general I stated that I should not permit my citizenship to be questioned, much less destroyed, and that it is not in the power of the consul-general or the State Department to deprive me of my citizenship and rights thereunder.

I demand in the cause of humanity and justice, and for the honor and dignity of the United States, that justice shall be given to me.

[Inclosure 3 in No. 134.]

Mr. Proios to Mr. King.

Constantinople, August 17, 1888.

Sir: Having carefully considered the conversation I had with you to-day with reference to the question of the protection to which I am entitled as an American citizen, I can but ask you to carefully consider the facts of the case as well as my just and legal rights, as I feel sure that your patriotism and responsibilities to your country, her citizens and interests, will not permit you to allow our national institutions and honor to be sacrificed, and recognized usage and treaty rights to be not only ignored, but contemptuously and fraudulently defied.

Starting from the premises that I am an American citizen, whose rights as such can not be questioned or set aside in defiance of the Constitution of the United States, I must insist that I shall receive the protection of the United States authorities in case of necessity, and in case the Turkish authorities have any complaints or charges to make against me, that such shall be formulated and proceeded with in the proper manner, as provided for in the Constitution of our country (see articles 4, 5, and 6 thereof), and as secured to American citizens when in Turkey by the treaty of 1830, and as has always been the practice hitherto.

It is of course unnecessary for me to argue the details of such proceedings and customs and the rights under the Constitution and the treaties, as you will be better informed than I regarding such.

But, strangely, it seems necessary to call to your mind and to place upon record the facts regarding my citizenship and the extraordinary position which I am informed I occupy in consequence of false and fraudulent charges made against me by the Turkish officials here and from their utter contempt for the United States authorities here and the Government of that country.

I say utter contempt for the United States authorities, because such is evident from the facts that I, an American citizen, was actually arrested in Russia by request of the Turkish authorities, in absolute defiance of every recognized custom and law, and even far worse, upon the fraudulent and false statement of the Turkish authorities at Constantinople that I was a runaway Turkish subject who was under a false name, with a stolen American passport, having stolen £5,000 from the Turkish Government; all of which allegations were and are known to be absolutely false, and devised, probably, for covering frauds of Turkish officials and of such as are probably their assistants and co-conspirators, particulars of which it would be well for American officials to look into for their own honor and credit.

Such facts seem too strange to be true, but little less incomprehensible have been the proceedings since;, for when I arrived in Constantinople, and was handed over to the United States consul-general, I was thrown into the English jail, being told by that official, in answer to my protestations, that “I did not put you in prison in Russia,” instead of that official demanding explanations and protesting to the Turkish and Russian authorities against such utter violations of law, usage, and national civilities.

What followed here, under the authority supposed to uphold our national honor and prestige and to administer the laws of the United States and treaty privileges to American citizens in Turkey? No less disgraceful proceedings, in absolute defiance of the Constitution of the United States and of every right under the treaties. Not satisfied with subjecting an American citizen to imprisonment, and without warrant of law, the contemptible device of assumed official power for the destruction of nationality, the dearest of every freeman’s prerogatives, was resorted to for the purpose of throwing an American citizen into the clutches of a corrupt and lawless band of officials, who know no law, moral or governmental, except for plunder, blackmail, and crime.

By what right or law was I detained in the British jail? What right had the United States consul-general to question my citizenship and to subject me to the ignominious treatment of taking me over to the Turkish nationality bureau, when he I knew perfectly from my passport (dated July 30, 1887 and signed by the Hon. O. S. Straus, the present United States minister to Turkey), as well as from other documents, that I am an American citizen beyond dispute?

By what right, law, or fact, did the United States consul-general presume to undermine my nationality and my rights with the State Department?

Has the United States consul, or even the State Department the power to denationalize an American citizen at home or abroad under any circumstance?

Is it not discreditable that the United States Government institutions should be so falsified and discredited by being made to appear in such a position?

Furthermore, under whose authority or investigation did the United States consul-general propose to settle the matter quietly if I would pay a sum of money? And is it not strange to see a United States consul in such relationship with Turkish officials, who had treated with such abject contempt the country of which he is the representative, with judicial powers for protecting Americans, their rights, and property in Turkey?

If it, has served the dignity and honor of the United States by me being detained in the British prison for one month without any charge against me, waiting for the Turkish authorities to formulate charge, by the special request of the United States consul, while British and other officials were ridiculing the action of the United States authorities, and actually saying the American authorities would throw me into the street in the end, and that such was their practice, I am perfectly satisfied with the treatment, notwithstanding its illegality; but I am not satisfied, no.

Can it be maintained as honorable or creditable to the United States consul-general or the United States for to keep me in prison under such conditions, and in the meantime endeavor to question and even destroy my nationality and rights thereunder, and to refuse me protection after my release?

It is with regret that I should be the subject of any annoyance to the authorities here or the Government of my country, but as I have no other nationality than that of an American citizen, having renounced allegiance to my native land, Greece, and sworn allegiance to the United States, and received all necessary documents constituting American citizenship, all of which you are well aware, as is also the consul-general, I can not anticipate that justice, “humanity, and law shall be measured out for the United States to me by the Turkish authorities.

Regarding my rights as an American citizen and the sovereign rights thereunder, take the liberty of calling your attention to, and quoting from the Constitution of the United States, from which you will doubtless see that the Constitution guaranties to me what no United States official can deprive me of, except in jeopardy to himself and his credit, as well as the honor and credit of the United States, as that country has a treaty with Turkey, which secures all the privileges of the Constitution of the United States to her citizens when in Turkey in cases such as mine.

Section 1 of article 14 of the amendments to the Constitution says: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Not only are the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States thus broadly covered and absolutely secured by this article of the Constitution, but the details of legal procedure are most carefully guarded for the citizens of the United States, as you will perceive from articles 4, 5, 6, and 8.

Article 4 says: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.”

Article 5 says: “No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”

Article 6 says: “In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with the witnesses against him, to have compulsory power for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.”

What warrant has been issued against me or is there any oath or affirmation in support thereof? And have I not been subjected to unreasonable seizure in defiance of article 4? And in fact has there been any presentment or indictment by grand jury or otherwise, as provided for in article 5? Why is it the United States authorities are so anxious to deprive me of my liberty without due process of law, as secured to me by the same article? And would I not be entitled, under article 6, to a speedy and public trial by a competent and impartial jury, even if confronted with a legally formulated charge, setting forth the nature and cause of the accusation? And should I not be confronted with witnesses against me, and should I not have the right of compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in my favor, and the right to have the assistance of counsel for my defense, as secured to every American citizen by article 6?

These articles of the Constitution are doubtless without ambiguity and especially designed for safe-guarding justice and right.

Every condition to which I would be entitled under these articles, if resident in the United States, I am entitled to here under the treaty of 1830, for it is evident from article 14, before quoted, that even the States themselves constituting the United States are without the power to destroy citizenship and the privileges and rights thereunder, for the Constitution actually enforces them to give justice.

How, therefore, can a United States official, the mere servant of the United States people, every one of whom has sovereign rights within themselves, guarantied by the Constitution, which no American is bold enough to denounce, refuse me justice or undertake to denaturalize me or discredit my citizenship for the purpose of refusing me protection?

My citizenship and the rights I have acquired thereunder belong to me under the Constitution of the United States from the fulfillment of every obligation on my part, as prescribed by that instrument and the laws relating to naturalization, over which Congress has control, as provided for in paragraph 4 of section 8 of the Constitution.

Such control is to provide for the establishment of “a uniform rule of naturalization.” It is therefore evident that Congress can alone alter that rule, without it may be that the Constitution of the United States shall be amended, as provided for in article 5 thereof, whereby it is required that any amendment shall be “ratified by the legislatures of three quarters of the several States, or by conventions in three quarters thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification shall be proposed by Congress.”

Such fact makes it perfectly clear that there is no probability of a change in the Constitution of the United States, destroying the sovereign rights of the people with and in whom the Government is founded, nor is it any more likely that the people and the Government of the United States will permit the citizens of the United States in foreign lands (be they natives or naturalized) to be persecuted, discredited, injured, and placed beyond protection, and in such a contemptible position as even the small Kingdom of Greece would disclaim and resent.

What could be more discreditable to the United States, or what meaner thing could a United States official do than to discredit the nationality of a citizen abroad, even if such action should not throw such citizen as an outcast to lawless barbarians.

Beyond the cited safeguards to Americans against any presumption in authority upon the part of officials, or even the presumption of authority, or the mistakes of the legislative bodies or the executives of the United States, the provision exists in the Constitution for perpetuating itself by saying, as in article 6, paragraph 2:

“That this Constitution and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made or which shall be made under the authority I of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land, and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.”

To even further guaranty and perpetuate the Constitution, which is the basis and charter of the sovereign rights of the people, against destruction or changes, other than by three-quarters of the States, which probably represent to-day 90 per cent, of the entire people of the country, the allwise provision is made in the Constitution that in the laws of the United States, its officials, treaties, and all else shall be submitted to this Constitution, and be judged for constitutionality by the supreme law, the one supreme court, as section 2 of article 3 sets forth.

“The judicial power shall extend to all cases in law and equity arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made under their authority; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls; to all cases of admirality and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which the United States shall be a party; to controversies between two or more States; between a State and citizens of another State; between citizens of different States; between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of different States, and between a State or the citizens thereof and foreign states, citizens, or subjects.”

I wish you to distinctly understand that I am prepared and anxious to meet any charge the Turkish officials can justly or otherwise bring against me before the United States authorities here in the manner prescribed by the Constitution and laws of the United States and the treaties between the United States and Turkey; and I request you to so notify the Turkish authorities thereof.

I further request you to notify the State Department to this effect and of the full facts of the case, and to state that I was naturalized in Illinois, and have all papers therefore in proper order, and that I never have had any intention of relinquishing my citizenship, and shall never do so.

I will prepare for you a summarized statement of the facts of the case if you desire, and you may forward such to the State Department, along with the facts set forth above, and this my protest against denationalization and refusal of justice.

I have, etc.,

H. A. Proios.

1. Reply not inserted by Mr. Proios.