Mr. Blaine to Mr.
Lincoln.
Department
of State,
Washington, April 10,
1890.
No. 233.]
Sir: Your dispatch No. 203 of the 28th ultimo,
concerning the inconvenience to which Mr. Louis Wagner has been subjected by
a paper [Page 333] in the nature of a
passport issued to him by the governor of Minnesota, has been received and
brought to the attention of that officer.
Inclosing for your information copies of correspondence relative to a similar
case at Vienna,
I am, etc.,
[Inclosure 1 in No. 233.]
Mr. Grant to Mr.
Blaine.
United
States Legation,
Vienna, December 6,
1889. (Received December 23.)
No. 47.]
Sir: With reference to my dispatches Nos. 32
and 46, dated, respectively, October 5 and December 4, 1889, relative to
the issuance of passports at this legation, I have the honor to invite
your attention to the following occurrence:
On the morning of the 2d instant one John Jagger called at this legation,
and, presenting to me a printed paper, of which the inclosed is a copy,
asked me “to indorse on the back of it whatever might be necessary to
enable him to visit Constantinople.” After examining the paper in
question, I explained to Mr. Jagger that it was not a passport, and that
this legation could not give to it, by any official indorsement, an
effect which would enable him, by virtue thereof, to proceed unmolested
into the territory of the Ottoman Empire.
Mr. Jagger seemed surprised to hear this and remarked that he had
intended to to get a passport at Washington, but that his friends in St.
Paul told him the governor of Minnesota would give him a paper which
would answer the same purpose, and that he had therefore applied for and
received the paper above adverted to.
While this certificate of the governor of Minnesota does not purport to
be a passport, it appears to me to be susceptible of criticism as an
“instrument in the nature of a passport,” the issuance of which by any
person “acting or claiming to act in any office or capacity under the
United States or any of the States of the United States who shall not be
lawfully authorized so to do” is prohibited by the laws of the United
States, as set forth in paragraph 121 of the Personal Instructions to
the Diplomatic Agents of the United States.
I am convinced from my conversation with Mr. Jagger that he believed
himself to be provided, in this paper, with all the evidence necessary
to establish his right to consideration as an American citizen, and that
his only object in coming to me was to have the paper viséed.
The matter is accordingly submitted to you for your information.
Occasion is taken to add that I was unable to accede to Mr. Jagger’s
subsequent request for a passport from this legation, inasmuch as it was
ascertained upon inquiry that, although he had emigrated to the United
States while a minor with his father, who was naturalized as an American
citizen during his (John Jagger’s) minority, no evidence of such
naturalization of the father could be produced before me by the son.
I have, etc.,
[Inclosure in No. 47.]
Certificate of the governor of
Minnesota.
State
of Minnesota,
Executive (coat of arms, State of Minnesota) Department.
To whom it may concern:
The bearer hereof, John Jagger, is a worthy and respected citizen of this
State, a resident of St. Paul, county of Ramsey, State of Minnesota,
United States of America.
He is now about leaving his home to travel in Europe, and I cordially
bespeak for him the kind attention of all to whom these presents may
come.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my
hand and caused the great seal of the State to be affixed, at
St. Paul, this 4th day of October, A. D.
1889.
By the governor.
[
seal.]
William R. Merriam,
Governor.
H.
Mattson,
Secretary of
State.
[Page 334]
[Inclosure 2 in No. 233.]
Mr. Blaine to
Governor Merriam.
Department of State,
Washington, December 30,
1889.
Sir: I have the honor to inform you that our
minister at Vienna, in a recent dispatch, reports to this Department
that on the 2d instant one John Jagger presented at the legation a
paper,* a
copy of which is inclosed, with a request that it might be so indorsed
as to enable the holder to visit Constantinople. The minister, after
examining the paper in question, explained to Mr. Jagger that it was not
a passport, and that the legation could not lawfully give to it, by any
official indorsement, an effect which would enable him by virtue thereof
to proceed unmolested into the territory of the Ottoman Empire.
Mr. Jagger expressed his surprise to hear this and remarked to the
minister that he had intended to get a passport at Washington, but that
his friends in St. Paul told him that the governor of Minnesota would
give him a paper which would answer the same purpose, and that he had
therefore applied for and received the paper above adverted to.
I have the honor to bring this matter to your attention for the reason
that the issuance of the paper in question led the person holding it to
suppose that it entitled him to the protection of the Government of the
United States as a passport. The law, however, vests the power to issue
passports to persons in the United States exclusively in the Secretary
of State (see Revised Statutes, U. S., sections 4075 to 4078), and
officers of this Government are not at liberty, under the laws, to
recognize any papers in the nature of a passport issued by any other
authority.
I have, etc.,
[Inclosure 3 in No. 233.]
Governor Merriam to
Mr. Blaine.
State
of Minnesota, Executive Department,
St. Paul, January 3, 1890. (Received January
6.)
Sir: I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your
communication under date of December 30, 1889, with reference to a
letter issued by myself under the seal of the State in favor of one John
Jagger.
This form of letter was not intended in any sense as a passport, nor is
it understood to be such, and, if Mr. Jagger has taken it away with that
idea, it arises from some information given him outside of this
office.
On my assuming the duties of chief executive I found this form and
understand it has been in use here for several years.
I am fully aware that there is no power vested in the executive of a
State to issue a form of passport. I have to thank you very kindly,
however, for calling attention to the matter. I shall take special
occasion in the future to inform those desiring such a letter as we have
been issuing, which is simply a certificate of good citizenship, that
they will require a passport issued by the proper authorities in
Washington.
Yours, respectfully,
William R. Merriam,
Governor.
