In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 21st instant, relative
to the refusal of the Turkish Government to grant exequaturs to the
vice-consuls of the United States at Erzeroum and Harpoot, I transmit
herewith a report from the Secretary of State.
Report of the Secretary of State.
The President:
The Secretary of State has had the honor to receive, by reference
from the President, a Senate resolution of December 21, 1895, which
is in the terms following:
Resolved, That the President be
requested, if not incompatible with the public interests, to
inform the Senate whether the exequaturs of the American
vice-consuls duly appointed to the consulates of Erzeroum
and Harpoot have been withheld or refused by the Turkish
Government, while exequaturs were granted to the consuls of
other nations at the same points.
The facts respecting the new consulates at Erzeroum and Harpoot,
temporarily filled by the appointment of Mr. Robert S. Chilton, jr.,
as vice-consul at Erzeroum and of Mr. William D. Hunter as
vice-consul at Harpoot, have been fully set forth in the report of
this Department annexed to the special message of the President of
the 19th of the present month.2
Since the making of the report, however, attention has been called to
an error of slight importance, but which it may be well to take the
present opportunity to correct. Instead of Messrs. Chilton and
Hunter departing for Tnrkey early last autumn, they were
commissioned in June, immediately started on their journey, reached
Constantinople in July, and after waiting there for two months for
their exequaturs were, on September 11, directed to go to their
respective posts without them.
The statement of the same report that consulates of Great Britain and
France are already established at Erzeroum and Harpoot was made
[Page 1471]
on the authority of
early advices. It has since been ascertained that no foreign
consular representation of any kind exists at Harpoot. That town
lies in Koordistan, a district comprising the vilayets of Harpoot,
Diarbekr, Sort, Moosh, and Yan. It is embraced in the consular
jurisdiction of a British consulate for Koordistan, the residence of
the principal officer being at Erzeroum (which, however, lies north
of Koordistan proper), with subordinate vice-consuls at the towns of
Diarbekr and Yan. At both of these latter places, as also at Mosul,
in the eastern part of Koordistan, vice-consulates of other Powers
are established, although as regards lack of foreign trade they are
in much the same case as Harpoot.
At Erzeroum consulates are maintained by Persia and Russia, and
vice-consulates by France and Italy.
Richard Olney.
Department of
State,
Washington, December 28,
1895.
