[Inclosure in No. 337.]
Mr. Uhl to
Baron Marschall
.
April 30,
1897.
F. O. 219.]
Referring to his note of the 18th ultimo (F. O. 199), the
undersigned, ambassador, etc., of the United States of America, has
the honor to inform His Excellency Baron Marschall von Bieberstein,
Imperial secretary of state for foreign affairs, that he is
instructed to again invite the attention of his excellency to the
case of the American citizen Alfred Meyer, and to again urge that
Meyer be released from service in the German army.
[Page 199]
In the opinion of the Secretary of State of the United States there
is a very important difference between the Meyer case and the case
of Henry Rabien, referred to by his excellency in his note of March
14 last. Rabien had made a formal declaration before a German
tribunal that he did not intend ever to settle in America, and this
fact alone was sufficient to justify the United States Government in
dropping the case, and the course then pursued can not be, by any
means, considered as an admission of the right of the German
Government to impress native-born American citizens into its
military service. Questions in relation to the impressment of
American citizens in Germany usually arise in cases of sons born in
the United States of naturalized Americans of German origin who
return to Germany with their sons during their minority. In some
cases the German Government has contended that the fathers, by
continued residence in Germany, have renounced their naturalization
in the United States; but even then it has repeatedly recognized the
American citizenship of the sons and has not attempted to compel
them to perform military service.
The case of Ferdinand Revermann, which arose in 1885, is a case in
point, and while the father had been duly naturalized in the United
States, the status of the son was considered, in view of his birth
in the United States independently of the father’s naturalization.
The father emigrated to America from Germany in 1850; was
naturalized in Illinois in 1856, and resided continuously in the
United States until 1871. The son was born in Illinois in 1860, was
taken by the father to Germany in 1871, and continued to reside
there until 1880. In the latter year the Landrath at Munster
certified that as he was born a citizen of the United States, his
name would be stricken from the military rolls, and this was done.
He was, however, in October, 1884, summoned before the Landrath and
told that by order of the Royal Government at Munster he must either
become naturalized in Germany or leave the country. A week later he
applied to the United States legation for protection, and on October
31, 1884, Minister Kasson made intervention in his behalf.
In replying to this note on December 31, Dr. Busch, the German
foreign minister, contended that under the treaties of 1868,
regulating nationality, the fathers in such cases should be regarded
as having renounced their naturalization by a sojourn in Germany
longer than two years. He further said:
The provisions of these treaties do not, however, extend to
the minor children of persons naturalized in America. The
rules there prescribed can not, therefore, find any
application to the legal status of these children. Their
legal status should, therefore, be judged rather by the
principles of law governing in the United States, in view of
the fact that the children have been born in America, and
have thereby, apart from the naturalization of the fathers,
independently acquired American citizenship. American law,
so far as known here, contains no provision which makes the
renunciation of American naturalization by the father act
upon his minor children. The Government of H. M. the Emperor
has, therefore, no hesitation in recognizing such persons as
American citizens.* * * Individuals possessing this
character can not be made to perform military service in
Germany.
Alfred Meyer was born in the United States in 1875, and, although
there is no evidence that his father ever became a citizen of the
United States, he acquired American citizenship independently”
thereby, and consequently should not be made to perform military
service in Germany, and his release therefrom is, therefore, again
urgently requested.
The undersigned avails himself, etc.,