Mr. Uhl to Mr.
Sherman.
Embassy
of the United States,
Berlin, March 19, 1897.
(Received April 2.)
No. 301.]
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith the
correspondence had with the Imperial German foreign office, in the
matter of the impressment into the German army of Alfred Meyer.
The intervention on behalf of Meyer was made on the 31st of December
last, the day following the receipt of a communication from the United
States consulate at Hamburg, informing the embassy that he had been
impressed into the German army, and in the absence of any reply to my
first note, I again brought the subject to the attention of Baron von
Marschall, in notes of February 1,11, and 20, and of March 5, and, in
addition to these written communications, I called in person at the
foreign office on or about the 26th ultimo, and urged upon his
excellency the importance of an early reply to the representations
before made in writing.
It will be observed that Meyer was born in Baltimore on December 16,
1875, that he is unable to furnish any evidence that his father, who was
born in Prussia, ever became an American citizen; and that his father
returned to Germany in 1879, taking his son with him, where he
afterwards resided until the time of his death.
The conclusion of the German Government is that the fact that Meyer was
born abroad does not alter his legal status, and that according to
German law he possesses the nationality which he inherited from his
father; that is to say, that he is a Prussian subject, and that if
through the fact of his birth at Baltimore he acquired American
citizenship according to American law, he possesses a double
nationality, and consequently is bound to perform the obligations to
both countries, as well to Germany as to the United States, which are
put upon him by the laws of both these countries, and that the Prussian
Government does not find itself in a position to comply with the request
that he be discharged.
I have the honor, etc.,
[Page 195]
[Inclosure 1 in No.
301.]
Mr. Uhl to
Baron Marschall.
Embassy of the United States,
Berlin, December 31, 1896.
F. O. 145.]
The undersigned, ambassador, etc., of the United States of America,
has the honor to invite the attention of His Excellency Baron
Marsehall von Bieberstein, Imperial secretary of state for foreign
affairs, to the case of one Alfred Meyer, a native citizen of the
United States, lately impressed into the Prussian military
service.
The facts of the case as presented to the embassy are as follows:
Alfred Meyer was born at Baltimore, Md., December 16, 1875, as is
shown by the certificate of birth herewith inclosed, with the
request for its ultimate return. His father, Moritz Meyer, a
naturalized American citizen, was borne at Pinne, near Posen, in
1839, emigrated to the United States, but returned to Germany
(Colmar, Al.) in 1880, bringing with him his son Alfred. His father
died in 1889 and his mother in 1894, at Burg, near Madgeburg. He was
impressed into the Prussian military service on October 1 last,
although he protested against it, claiming that he was a citizen of
the United States, and is now serving in the First Company
Eighty-fifth Regiment of Infantry (Duke of Holstein’s), at
Reudsburg. The undersigned has the honor to request that his
excellency will kindly cause an immediate investigation of this
case, and should the facts be found to be substantially as stated
that Meyer will be at once discharged from military service.
The undersigned avails himself, etc.,
[Inclosure 2 in No.
301.—Translation.]
Baron Marschall
to Mr. Uhl.
Foreign Office,
Berlin, March 14,
1897.
The undersigned has the honor to inform his excellency, the
ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the United States of
America, Mr. Edwin F. Uhl, in regard to the impressment of Alfred
Meyer into the German army, which was last referred to in the note
verbale of the 24th ultimo, and while returning Meyer’s birth
certificate, as follows:
The intervention which was made in behalf of Meyer, in the note of
December 31, 1896—(F. O. 145)—is based upon the presumption that his
father, Moritz Meyer, who was born at Pinne, near Posen, and died in
Colmar, had acquired American citizenship through naturalization
during his sojourn in the United States. As yet this presumption has
not been proved to be correct. Neither the son, Alfred Meyer, nor
his uncle and former guardian, Hermann Meyer, a merchant at present
living at Colmar, has any knowledge of the naturalization of Moritz
Meyer. According to their statements, he emigrated from Germany in
1872, and went to Baltimore, where a son was born to him. In 1879 he
left the United States of America, taking his son with him, and
returned to Germany, and from that time until the time of his death
he lived in Colmar. He, therefore, retained his Prussian
nationality, which he had in the beginning, until the time of his
death, without having, as far as can be ascertained, acquired any
other nationality.
As Alfred Meyer has also lived in Germany since 1879, and was only
temporarily in Switzerland in 1895, the conclusion must be drawn [Page 196] that, according to German
law, he possesses the nationality which he inherited from his
father; that is to say, that he is a Prussian subject. The fact that
he was born abroad does not alter the case. If through the fact of
his birth in Baltimore he acquired American citizenship according to
American law, he possesses a double nationality, and consequently is
bound to perform the obligations to both countries, as well to
Germany as to the United States of America, which are put upon him
by the laws of both of these countries.
As was stated in the note of the 15th of January, 1886, in the case
of Henry Rabien, which, if not exactly the same, is still similar
under existing circumstances, the treaty of February 22, 1868, on
the subject of nationality, has no application to the case of Alfred
Meyer, as in this case it has not been proved that the father,
Moritz Meyer, had become a naturalized citizen of the United States
of America at the time of the birth of his son.
It was, therefore, right that Alfred Meyer should be called upon to
serve in the German army, and the Prussian Government does not find
itself in a position to comply with the request that he be
discharged.
The undersigned, while promising a further communication in regard to
the case of Casimir Hartmann, which was also referred to in the note
verbale of the 24th ultimo, as the investigation in regard to his
impressment into the Second Hessian Infantry Regiment, No. 82, is
not yet completed, avails himself, etc.,
Note.—A copy of the note in the case of
Henry Rabien, referred to above, was sent to the Department in
Mr. Pendleton’s dispatch, No. 182, of January 28, 1886.
[Inclosure 3 in No.
301.]
Mr. Uhl to
Baron Marschall.
March 18,
1897.
F. O. No. 199.]
Referring to the esteemed note from the imperial foreign office of
the 14th instant, the undersigned, ambassador, etc., of the United
States of America, in order that there may be no misconception of
the position taken by him in regard to the case of Alfred Meyer, has
the honor to inform His Excellency Baron Marschall von Bieberstein,
Imperial secretary of state for foreign affairs, that his
intervention in Meyer’s behalf was not based upon the presumption
that his father, Moritz Meyer, had become a naturalized American
citizen, although it was understood that such was the case, but that
it was based upon the fact that, through his birth in Baltimore,
Alfred Meyer became according to American law a native citizen of
the United States.
The undersigned avails himself, etc.
