Mr. Jackson to Mr.
Olney.
Embassy
of the United States,
Berlin, August 8, 1895.
(Received Aug. 20.)
No. 329.]
Sir: Respectfully referring to my dispatch, No.
323, of the 2d instant, relative to the case of Mr. Louis Stern, at
Kissingen, I have the honor to inclose herein copies of certain
correspondence in the matter, and to report further in regard to it.
On the 2d instant, after the dispatch above, referred to had been
written, I sent a letter to Mr. Stern, and on the 3d and 4th instant I
received letters from him, copies of all of which are herein inclosed
(Nos. 1, 2, and 3).
The trial took place on Monday, the 5th, and it appears from a letter
from the U. S. commercial agent at Bamberg, of the 7th instant
(inclosure No. 7), which I received to-day in reply to my letter to him
of the 6th (inclosure No. 5), that Mr. Stern “was found guilty of having
resisted the authority of the State, and of having insulted a Royal
official; and was sentenced to two weeks’ imprisonment and to pay a fine
of 600 marks,” the charge of fraud having apparently been dropped. Mr.
Stern had on the day after the trial sent me a telegram asking advice,
to which I replied by telegram (inclosure No. 4) and letter (inclosure
No. 6), and after the receipt of which I cabled (on the 6th instant) the
Department.
The sentence in the case was a surprise to everybody. It was a foregone
conclusion that Mr. Stern would be found guilty, but a fine was all that
was expected, and that, it appears, is all that was asked for by the
prosecuting officer. The Bavarian Government did all it could to bring
about such a result, and only the independence of the judge made a
sentence of imprisonment possible.
[Page 461]
I saw Count Lerchenfeld again last night, and was told by him that the
only way in which Mr. Stern could avoid going to jail would be by
pleading for and obtaining a pardon or a commutation of the sentence
from the prince regent of Bavaria—advice which I had already given Mr.
Stern.
A copy of my letter to the U. S. commercial agent at Bamberg (inclosure
No. 5) was transmitted to Consul-General Mason, at Frankfort on the
Main, and to-day I received a letter from him (inclosure No. 8)
commenting upon it, and to this I have replied that I think it advisable
that the U. S. commercial agent at Bamberg, should make a report to the
Department of State upon the whole case.
I have, etc.,
[Inclosure 1 in No.
329.]
Mr. Jackson to
Mr. Stern.
Embassy of the United States,
Berlin, August 2, 1895.
M. No. 7344.]
Sir: Respectfully referring to my letter to
you of the 31st ultimo, M. No. 7336, I have to inform you that the
Bavarian minister here called on me this afternoon and showed me a
copy of a letter1 addressed by his Government to the U. S.
commercial agent at Bamberg, in reply to the petition submitted in
your behalf. As the U. S. commercial agent has probably already
shown you the letter, I need not communicate its contents to you. I
venture, however, to express the hope that it may be found possible
for you to arrange with Baron Thuengen as indicated in the letter. I
am told that other matters will be settled as speedily as
possible.
I am, etc.,
John B. Jackson,
Chargé d’Affaires.
[Inclosure 2 in No.
329.]
Mr. Stern to
Mr. Jackson.
Hotel de Russie,
Kissingen, August 2,
1895.
My Dear Sir: I have your favor of the 31st
ultimo, and taken note of its contents.
The authorities here informed me last Wednesday that I was at liberty
to leave Kissingen; but as the trial has been set for next Monday
morning I will remain.
The charge that I was making preparations for flight was simply
trumped up, for on the day of the occurrence, my family had been
here three weeks, the usual stay for guests taking the cure;
furthermore, the proprietor and parties testify, as you will
perceive from the documents sent you from Munich, that I had given
them notice on the 10th of July of my intention to leave the
following Tuesday. I have asked Consul Carpenter, from Fürth, and
the U. S. commercial agent at Bamberg, to be present at the trial
Monday morning.
With many thanks for the interest you are taking in my behalf, I
remain,
Yours, very truly,
[Page 462]
[Inclosure 3 in No.
329.]
Mr. Stern to
Mr. Jackson.
Hotel de Russie,
Kissingen, August 3,
1895.
My Dear Sir: In answer to yours of the 2d,
received to-day, I beg to state that the U. S. commercial agent at
Bamberg sent me a copy of the letter he received from the Bavarian
Government, and my lawyer has been conferring with the authorities
here, without any result, for the reason that the retraction
demanded by the gentleman was such that, considering the wide
publicity the affair has now reached, I could not conscientiously
sign the same.
Will inform you of the result of the trial by telegraph Monday.
Most respectfully, yours,
[Inclosure 4 in No.
329.—Telegrams.]
Mr. Stern to
Mr. Jackson (received August 6, 1895).
[undated]
Verdict a surprise. While even prosecuting attorney proposed line,
judge pronounced two weeks’imprisonment and 600 marks. Do not know
at present what further steps I will take. Please advise me how
embassy thinks about the matter.
Embassy to Mr. Stern (sent August 6, 1895).
If appeal to higher court thought useless, your only recourse is
to petition for pardon. Sentence has been reported to State
Department.
Embassy.
[Inclosure 5 in No.
329.]
Mr. Jackson to
the U. S. commercial agent at
Bamberg.
Embassy of the United States,
Berlin, August 6, 1895.
M. No. 7355.]
Sir: Please transmit to the embassy
directly and as soon as possible a copy of the letter addressed to
you by Baron von Crailsheim on the 1st instant in regard to the case
of Mr. Louis Stern, Kissingen. This copy should have been sent
through the consulate-general at Frankfort as soon as the letter was
received, but in view of the delay which would be occasioned if
this, the proper course, were now followed, you are authorized to
send the copy to the embassy directly, and at the same time to
report on the trial, which it is understood took place yesterday,
and upon any decision which may have been given.
Your attention is also called to paragraph 396 of the Consular
Regulations of 1888.
I am, etc.,
John B. Jackson,
Chargé d’Affaires.
[Page 463]
[Inclosure 6 in No.
329.]
Mr. Jackson to
Mr. Stern.
Embassy of the United States,
Berlin, August 7, 1895.
M. No. 7363.]
Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of
your letters of the 2d and 3d instant and of your telegram of
yesterday, to which I at once replied. I am very sorry that you were
not able to come to a satisfactory understanding with Baron
Thuengen, as, after reading your letter to him of the 19th ultimo, I
had anticipated no difficulty on that score. Now, it seems that on
his complaint the more severe sentence has been given; at least that
is the impression which I receive from the newspaper report—the only
report which I have seen as yet. I doubt, moreover, if an appeal to
a higher court would be of any advantage. Count Lerchenfeld told me
that, on account of the embassy’s supporting the petition in your
behalf, it had been arranged that the trial should take place in a
minor court, in order that the sentence might be a mild one and it
seems doubtful, therefore, whether the sentence would be reduced on
appeal, and the delay occasioned by such an appeal would certainly
be disagreeable. Certain well-meant but overzealous action on the
part of your friends—particularly in the way of sending notices to
the newspapers—has, as I am informed, stirred up a feeling of
antagonism which can not fail to be prejudicial to your interests.
As you have probably seen, the action of the embassy in interesting
itself at all in the case has been severely criticised in some
quarters.
I have, as it is, done everything which I thought I could properly do
in your behalf, and I have at the same time held myself ready for
any suggestion from you as to further action; and now, barring an
appeal, the only course which in my opinion is open to you with any
prospect of advantage to you arising from its adoption is an appeal
to the clemency of the prince regent of Bavaria, either that the
sentence of imprisonment should be commuted into a fine or for an
entire pardon. Should you make such a petition it would be greatly
to your interest if your friends or lawyers would refrain from any
attempt to influence public opinion through the press.
I am, etc.,
John B. Jackson,
Chargé d’Affaires.
[Inclosure 7 in No.
329.]
The U. S. commercial agent at
Bamberg to Mr. Jackson.
United States Commercial Agency,
Bamberg, August 7, 1895.
Sir: In receipt of your favor, dated the
6th instant. I beg leave to include a copy of a communication
addressed to me by the Bavarian minister of foreign affairs in
response to my protest sent at the authorization of the United
States embassy. This copy would have been transmitted previous to
this had it not been for the fact that the Stern case at Kissingen
occupied all my attention and gave me more work than I could attend
to. I regarded it as my duty, not only as an official of the United
States Government, but as an American citizen, to aid Mr. Stern by
every means in my power, and more especially to
[Page 464]
influence public opinion, which at
first was opposed to Mr. Stern as a foreigner, in his favor. To this
effect I telegraphed to the New York Herald (Paris edition),
controverting the entirely incorrect and misleading statements
published by it. In so doing I regarded my action as a service in
helping an American to secure his rights, but was not conscious of
having violated the provisions of paragraph 396 of the Consular
Regulations of 1888. With the exception of the instance cited, no
communication, has been given by me to the press.
The result of the trial which I attended last Monday, August 5, and
which lasted uninterruptedly from 8.30 a.m. until 6 p.m., Mr. Louis
Stern, of New York, was found guilty of having resisted the
authority of the State and of having insulted a Royal official, and
was sentenced to two weeks’ imprisonment and to pay a fine of 600
marks. The court appeared to consider the circumstance that Baron
von Thüngen had first insulted Mr. Stern and his wife by doubting
their word as of small moment, in spite of the fact that during the
course of the trial Mr. Stern satisfactorily proved his son to be
over 15 years of age.
As witnesses for Mr. Stern there appeared, besides myself, Mr. Adams,
a member of the New York board of school inspection; Mr.
Claussenius, Austrian consul-general in Chicago; Mr. Panizza, hotel
proprietor; the porter of the hotel, and the district physician, Dr.
Galser. The persons named testified to the honorable character and
prominent position of the accused, as well as to the latter’s state
of health. It should not be forgotten that the State’s attorney
claimed only damages and no imprisonment; the judge, therefore, gave
a heavier sentence than was demanded, remarking, nevertheless, at
the same time that he had taken the exceptional moderating
circumstances into consideration. Whether Mr. Stern, whom I left
yesterday, will appeal from the verdict or petition the Crown to
change the punishment by imprisonment to a corresponding fine is
still undecided. I desire in this connection to state that in
Kissingen itself no verdict calling for imprisonment was
anticipated. As soon as the text of the verdict is in my possession
I shall transmit the same to the embassy.
I think it advisable to remark in conclusion that in an unofficial as
well as my official capacity (as far as I was authorized to proceed
by my superiors in office) I made every effort to aid a countryman
who, in my opinion and in that of many others, has been maltreated;
this aid was appreciated by none more than by Mr. Stern himself.
Nevertheless, I should not have proceeded officially in the matter
and acted according to the instructions contained in Consular
Regulations, if I had not been commissioned to do so, in the first
instance by my immediate superior, Consul-General Mason, and,
secondly, by the United States embassy. As the embassy refers me, by
a statement in its favor of the 6th instant, to paragraph 396 of
Consular Regulations, I would like to observe on this point that I
am not conscious of having violated that paragraph or any of the
other “regulations” in question, but am, on the contrary, convinced
of having done my full duty as an officer of the Government and
United States citizen, and feel satisfied of having accomplished
everything possible under the circumstances.
I respectfully request the embassy to inform me whether I should
transmit a copy of the proceedings and report of the case to the
Department of State.
I am, etc.,
Louis Stern,
Commercial Agent of the United States.
[Page 465]
[Subinclosure—Translation.]
Baron Crailsheim
to the U. S. commercial agent at
Bamberg.
Royal Bavarian Ministry of the Royal House and Foreign
Affairs,
Munich, August 1,
1895.
No. 10379.]
Sir: In response to your communication
bearing date of the 29th ultimo, I-have the honor to reply as
follows:
With the consideration of the accusation brought against Mr. Louis
Stern, of New York, the ministers to whose departments the case can
properly be referred have already been occupied. The functions of
the ministers in this regard, however, are considerably
circumscribed, partly due to the independence under the laws of the
courts, partly to the severity of the insult offered by Mr. Louis
Stern to the Royal district court assessor, Baron von Thuengen, in
the latter’s capacity as substitute bath commissioner, and which
undoubtedly require corresponding atonement.
The ministers mentioned have, however, ordered that the efforts to
bring about a reconciliation in the matter between Baron von
Thuengen and Mr. Louis Stern be continued to the end that the
accusation on the ground of insult be withdrawn, or, if this prove
unfeasible, to have the State’s attorney present a claim for a
comparatively mild punishment.
As regards the accusation on the ground of resistance to the
authority of the State, the only thing that now remains, after the
Royal district court has decreed the opening of the case in the
premises, is to await the result of the trial before the court and
jury at Kissingen.
Concerning that portion of your honor’s protest which treats of the
refusal to let Mr. Louis Stern leave Kissingen and to take carriage
rides, in fact, to avoid all actions which might be interpreted as
attempt to escape, according to the sense of paragraph 120 of the
criminal laws, I have the honor to inform you that, in conformity
with a notice served at the Royal district court in Schweinfurt by
the State’s attorney, all such restrictions have since been
withdrawn by order of court.
As the same recital of the facts in the case as given by your honor
has reached me, in conjunction with the declaration of the
impartial, i. e., nonparticipant American citizens whose names are
likewise attached to your protest, I respectfully request your honor
to inform the individuals in question of this communication to
yourself.
Please be assured in this connection of my highest esteem.
[Inclosure 8 in No.
329.]
Mr. Mason to
Mr. Jackson.
Consulate-General of the United States,
Frankfort on the Main,
August 7,
1895.
Sir: I am duly in receipt of your
communication, No. 7356, of yesterday’s date, transmitting a copy of
your letter of the same date to the commercial agent of the United
States at Bamberg.
I have already noticed and called the attention of the U. S.
commercial agent at Bamberg to the gross impropriety of his
communication to the Paris New York Herald concerning the case of
Mr. Stern, and referred him to paragraph 396 of the Regulations.
As the present incident is likely to have some importance I feel it
due to the embassy to report that on Sunday, July 28, the morning
after the incident at Kissingen, I telegraphed the U. S. commercial
agent at Bamberg to go immediately to Kissingen, report to Mr.
Stern, who I then understood to be under arrest, and do all in his
power to protect him in his rights as a citizen of the United
States.
Several days afterwards the U. S. commercial agent forwarded to me
from his office in Bamberg copies of some of the documents in the
case, all of which were in German. I returned the papers to him,
with instructions to prepare a complete report of the entire
proceeding, what
[Page 466]
he had
done in reference thereto, and to forward it, with the documents and
translations of the same, through this office to the Department of
State.
As you have requested him to furnish such a report to your embassy, I
wish to inquire whether such report will be sufficient and will be
transmitted by you to the Department, or whether I shall still
require a copy of the same to be sent from here to the
Department.
It will be of course remembered that the agency at Bamberg is a small
office, with no allowance for clerk hire, and as the U. S.
commercial agent has probably no assistance in copying, translating,
etc., I wish to spare him unnecessary labor in that respect.
I am, etc.,
Frank H. Mason,
Consul-General.
