Mr. Eustis to Mr.
Gresham.
Embassy of
the United States,
Paris, May 27, 1893.
(Received June 12.)
No. 5.]
Sir: In a disnatch numbered 154, of date February
1, Mr. Foster requested Mr. Coolidge to use his good offices in favor of
Victor Poidebard, an American citizen of French birth and parentage,
residing in New Jersey, who has been called for service in the French army,
and received notice to join the regiment to which he was assigned.
Mr. Coolidge presented the case to the minister for foreign affairs in a
dispatch dated March 22, stating fully the circumstances under which
Poidebard became an American citizen.
He went to the United States at the age of 13, was naturalized first through
his father and a second time when he became of age. He had also applied
through the proper French legal channel for the recognition of Ins
naturalization, which the law of 1889 declares void unless it is obtained
with the permission of the Government. Considering that these facts plainly
establish that Poidebard had not left France in order to escape military
obligations, and that he was a bona fide citizen and resident of the United
States, Mr. Coolidge asked that the order requiring him to perform military
service in France be cancelled so that he could, should he desire to do so,
visit France without being subjected to prosecution by the military
authorities.
On the 3d of May, Mr. Develle replied substantially that the case had been
submitted to the minister of war and that the request could not be granted.
He does not discuss the circumstances of the case, and simply states that,
according to the law of 1889, a person of French birth can not acquire
another nationality before having complied with the military laws of France,
unless he obtains from the Government permission to do so, a permission
which is refused to Poidebard because it would be an encouragement to young
Frenchmen to have themselves naturalized abroad, in order to escape military
service in France.
With reference to the privilege of visiting France without being subjected to
military prosecution, he states that Poidebard might have done so under the
provision of article 50 of the law of July 15, 1889, but that having failed
to do so at the time, it is now too late.
I inclose herewith a copy of Mr. Coolidge’s note and of Mr. Develle’s reply,
with a translation of the same.
I have, etc.,
[Inclosure 1 in No. 5.]
Mr. Coolidge to Mr.
Develle.
Legation of the United States,
Paris, March 22,
1893.
Sir: I beg leave to call your excellency’s
attention to the case of Victor Poidebard, an American citizen of French
nativity, residing for many years in the United States, who has been
drafted in the French army, and who has been notified to join the second
regiment of artillery at Grenoble. The circumstances of this case are as
follows:
Victor Poidebard was born at Lyons, June 5, 1871. He emigrated to the
United States in 1884, being then only 13 years of age, and became an
American citizen by the naturalization of his father, Antoine Poidebard,
which took place October 30, 1888. Antoine Poidebard had gone to the
United States in 1880, and is still residing there. He is a manufacturer
at West Hoboken, N. J.
[Page 301]
As article 17 of tire French civil code (amended in 1889) provides that
the change of nationality of a Frenchman liable to military service
shall not be recognized if it takes place without the consent of the
Government, Antoine Poidebard applied in 1890 for the recognition of the
new status of his son Victor, who was then still a minor. He was told by
the minister of justice that his request could not be acted upon before
Victor Poidebard had reached his majority.
In 1892, Victor Poidebard, being then of age, fearing that his change of
nationality through the act of his father would not be considered in
France as sufficient evidence of his personal intention to renounce his
original French citizenship, applied to an American court of justice for
papers of naturalization, which he secured under date of December 29,
1892. He then renewed the request made by his father in his behalf that
his change of allegiance be ratified by the French authorities. In the
meantime, however, he had been placed on the recruiting list of the
class of 1891, and in February, 1893, he received, in the United States
an order to proceed to France and to join the regiment to which he had
been assigned.
Considering himself a full American citizen, Victor Poidebard submitted
his case to my Government, by whose instructions I am directed to exert,
my good offices in behalf of this young man. Your excellency will
observe that the change of allegiance of Victor Poidebard was effected
not only through the naturalization of his father, which is a mode of
naturalization legal in the United States as well as in France, but also
by his own free will and action after he had come of age. You will
observe besides that when he left France he was a boy and could not
therefore have acted with the view of escaping military service and that
he is a bona fide citizen and resident of the United States, where his
father is engaged in an important manufacturing enterprise.
Under these circumstances I venture to ask that the order which Victor
Poidebard has received to join a French regiment be cancelled so that
this young man may visit France to complete his education, without being
considered as an “insoumis”and subjected to prosecution by the military
authorities.
I am, etc.,
[Inclosure 2 in No.
5.—Translation.]
Mr. Develle to Mr.
Coolidge.
Ministry for Foreign Affairs,
Paris, May 2,
1893.
Mr. Minister: On the 22d of last March you were
kind enough to write me with a view of obtaining the erasure from the
conscription list of our army of the name of Mr. Victor Poidebard, born
in Lyons on June 5, 1871, and who became an American citizen through the
naturalization of his father in the United States.
The minister of war, to whom I immediately transmitted your
communication, observes, firstly, that according to the terms of article
17 of the civil code, modified by the law passed on the 26th of June,
1889, a Frenchman still subject to the obligations of active military
service can not lose his French nationality by means of naturalization
in a foreign country unless this naturalization has been authorized by
the French Government. Under these circumstances the only request that
Mr. Poidebard could consistently make was to ask of the Government of
the Republic their authorization to his becoming a naturalized
American.
Gen. Loizillon thought it his duty to examine carefully this point in
order to see if such a favor could be granted in this special case, and
he was obliged to realize that such a decision would have the serious
disadvantage of encouraging young Frenchmen to become naturalized in a
foreign country in order to avoid military service, which would not fail
to provoke violent protestation on the part of those families having
relatives in the service.
Mr. Poidebard, it is true, could have availed himself of the dispensation
contained in article 50 of the law of July 15, 1889, on recruiting, by
claiming he moved to the United States before the age of 19, and had not
since then made a longer stay in France than three months; but he failed
to claim this dispensation before the court of revision of the class of
1891, which alone, according to the terms of article 18 of the aforesaid
law, is privileged to act in this respect. Consequently he is definitely
debarred from having recourse to this channel.
Under these circumstances my colleague, the minister of war, charges me
to express to you his regrets that he finds himself unable to reply
favorably to your request.
Accept, etc.,
