Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 5, 1892

Mr. Wurts to Mr. Wharton.

Legation of the United States,
St. Petersburg, June 16, 1892. (Received June 30.)

No. 201.]

Sir: I have the honor to inclose to you herewith a translation of the law adopted by the Imperial Government regarding the emigration of Hebrews from Russia under the project of Baron Hirsch, which received the supreme sanction of the Emperor on the 8–20th ultimo.

I have, etc.,

George W. Wurts,
Chargé Ad’ffaires ad interim.

[Inclosure.]

Statutes or regulations for the committees of emigration.

1. The committees of emigration instituted by the present statutes have for their object to contribute to the emigration of Russian Israelites by their transplantation in other countries.

2. There will be created a central committee at St. Petersburg, which will be assisted in various cities of the Empire by local committees, whose formation will proceed successively, following the need and the previous consent of the minister of the interior. The central committee, as well as the local committees, shall work under the supervision of the Government, which can suppress and annul all their arrangements and their activity, with all the consequences, if the minister of the interior finds it necessary.

3. The central committee is under the jurisdiction of the ministry of the interior, and is placed under the supervision of the department of police. It is composed of seven to eleven members designated, with the consent of the minister of the interior, by the president of the Jewish Colonization Association. The minister of the interior can at any time require the resignation of those members of the central committee whose activity does not respond to the views of the Government.

4. In case of the death or the retirement, for any reason, of a member of the committee his successor will be designated in the manner indicated in the preceding article.

5. The central committee will choose from among its members a president, vice-president, treasurer, and secretary. These appointments are made for one year. The officers are eligible to reëlection.

6. Three members at least of the committee designated for one year by their colleagues and reëligible form an executive committee, charged with the management of affairs and with the necessary relations with the Government in everything which concerns the enterprise, as well as with the direction of the railroads for the free transport of emigrants to the frontier.

7. The divisions of the central committee are determined by an absolute majority of the numbers present. The presence of at least four members of this committee is necessary for the validity of its deliberations. In case of an equal division of votes the vote of the president decides. In case of the absence of the vice-president the oldest member present will preside.

8. The decisions of the central committee are put in force only after the authorization of the minister of the interior. If the minister, within a month of the reception of the decisions, shall not have notified the central committee of their annulment they can be put into execution. The central committee must submit every year to the minister of the interior a report of what has been done.

9. The central committee, being in constant relations with the Jewish Colonization Association, should keep the latter informed of its work and transmit to the said association the procès-verbal of its sessions, as well as of the sessions of the executive committee. The central committee receives the procès-verbal of the local committees.

10. The president of the Jewish Colonization Association can at any time charge one or several delegates to verify upon the ground the work of the committees and to assist at their sessions. The designation of these delegates must be submitted to the previous approbation of the minister of the interior.

11. The services of the members of the committee are gratuitous.

12. The central committee organizes its bureaus according to the needs of the service.

13. Before the commencement of operations of the central committee, the Jewish Colonization Association shall lodge 100,000 rubles in the State bank in St. Petersburg, in deposit for the minister of the interior. Out of this capital shall be defrayed by order of the minister of the interior all expenses which may be incurred in connection with the return and repatriation in Russia, on account of the Government, of Jews who shall have emigrated with the assistance of the above committee. The sum expended out of the above 100,000 rubles shall be completed by the Jewish Colonization Association on the demand of the minister of the interior, when the available balance shall not exceed 25,000 rubles. The interest on the above capital constitutes the property of the association, and shall be payable to its authorized agents.

14. The local committees are under the supervision of the governors or persons who are designated by them for this purpose.

15. All of the arrangements of the local committees are brought to the knowledge of the governors, who can arrest their execution while submitting them to the approbation and authorization of the minister of the interior.

16. The members of the local committees are named by the central committee for a term and under conditions to be determined by it. The nominations must be submitted to the previous approbation of the minister of the interior.

The minister of the interior can at anytime require the resignation of members of the local committees whose activity does not respond to the views of the Government.

17. In places where the elements necessary for the formation of a local committee are not found, the central committee can name one or two delegates charged with the functions of the local committees. The method of the designation, as well as the revocation of these delegates, is subject to the provisions of articles 13–15.

18. The services of members of the local committees are gratuitous. The delegates mentioned in the preceding article can, in case of need, receive compensation.

19. If a committee is formed in a province its jurisdiction covers the whole extent of the province. In case of the formation of several committees or of the designation of two or more delegates in the same province, the range of the activity of each of them will be determined by the governor.

20. The central committee, as well as the local committees, are authorized to receive donations and legacies in view of the object denned by article 1 of the present statutes, but on condition that they must be in ready money or in paper bearing interest.

21. The central committee and the local committees shall have seals bearing the name of the committee with the inscription “Colonization of Russian Israelites.”

22. Employment in the commissions gives to Israelites no right or privilege in respect to the choice of the place of their habitation.

23. The direction of the Jewish Colonization Association will indicate successively to the central committee the number of emigrants who can be sent to the frontier in a specific period, and the central committee will divide this number between the different localities in accord with the Jewish Colonization Association.

24. The local committees, as well as the delegates of the central committee, will prepare for each person desiring to emigrate a sheet conforming to the model appended, which is subject to modification.

No.

Month.

Year.

I. Read of family.

a. First and surname.

b. Age.

c. Place of inscription.

d. Military conscription district in which registered.

e. Present place of abode.

f. Former abode and time of residence therein.

g. Occupation.

h. Has such occupation latterly served as a means of livelihood

i. Amount of yearly earnings.

j. Means for traveling and purchase of land.

k. Amount of money.

l. What relations or acquaintances he may have in the Argentine Republic or other non-European countries.

m. Their names.

II. Wife.

Name, age, place of birth, occupation, how long married.

III. Children.

a. Number of children, boys and girls.

b. Name, age, place of birth, occupation of each child.

c. Military conscription district in which male children are registered.

IV.

Can the parents and children read or write.

V.

Do other members of the family live with and are supported by the head of the family.

VI. Remarks.

a. Respecting the answers supplied and particularly with regard to occupation.

b. Respecting the mental and physical capacities of each member of the family, condition of their health, etc.

c. The special aptitudes of a given person must be pointed out, and whether the person desirous of emigrating is capable of agricultural labor.

d. Whether the head of the family and his sons have performed military service.

Signature of head of family.

Signature of member of commission or of authorized agent.

Remarks of government officials or institutions.

25. Two copies of the sheet are prepared, one in white and the other in blue. The two copies bear the same number, and the correctness of the information given is certified by the competent committee or delegates.

26. The sheets prepared according to the preceding article are simultaneously sent by the committees or delegates; the blue to the governor of the place, the white to the central committee, which transmits them to the direction of the Jewish Colonization Association.

27. The direction of the Jewish Colonization Association, after having examined the white sheets above mentioned, returns them to the central committee and the latter presents to the department of police, in the original, those of the sheets which relate to the individuals indicated for emigration. The sheets must bear the stamp showing that they have been examined by the association.

28. The white sheets relating to Jews of military age indicated for emigration must be presented, conformably to the preceding article, to the department of police, at the latest on the 1st of March of the year in which these persons are obliged to present themselves for the draft.

29. Simultaneously with the presentation to the department of police of the white sheets the central committee communicates to the local committees or to its delegates the list of sheets with the indication of their numbers.

30. The local committees, as well as the delegates, fulfil the formalities required by the authorities concerning the free departure from the empire of the individuals indicated for emigration and, after having received from the governors the permits to leave, charge themselves with the care of forwarding the emigrants to the frontier within a period which should not exceed one month from the receipt of the said permits.

31. The lists of emigrants must be sent by the local committees, eight days at least before their departure, to the central committee or to the person who will be charged by the Jewish Colonization Association to receive the emigrants at the frontier.

32. The committee as well as the delegates are required to inform the local police, in sufficient time, of each considerable removal of emigrants and of the frontier toward which they are directed.

33. The Jewish Colonization Association as well as the committees of emigration are authorized to bring to the knowledge of the Israelite population that the Israelites who shall have emigrated without the consent of the committees which work under the supervision of the Government, can not count upon any aid either on the part of the said association or on the part of the committees. The notices as well as the appeals can be published and distributed only after the previous authorization of the minister of the interior.

34. The Israelites possessed of the necessary means to emigrate and to establish themselves abroad without the pecuniary assistance of the committees and of the Jewish Colonization Association can nevertheless be invited to address themselves to the agency of the committees which will facilitate the obtaining of the necessary documents and accomplish for them the formalities demanded.