Mr. Tower to Mr.
Day.
United
States Legation,
Vienna, June 4,
1898.
69.]Sir: I have the honor to report to you the case
of Anton Guerra, a naturalized citizen of the United States, who was
arrested in Styria for nonperformance of military duty, and, in
consequence of the intervention of this legation in his behalf, has now
been set at liberty.
Anton Guerra was born in Hrastnig, in Styria, on the 26th of November,
1875, and emigrated to America in August, 1889, when he was 13 years of
age. He was naturalized before the circuit court of the United States in
and for the eastern district of Pennsylvania on the 3d of May, 1897, and
obtained a passport (No. 3660) from the Department of State on the 21st
of the same month. He left the United States almost immediately after
his naturalization and returned to his native town, where he now
resides.
Soon after his arrival in Styria he was arrested on the 5th of August,
1897, for nonperformance of military service, though it appears that he
succeeded upon that occasion, with the aid of a local attorney, in
freeing himself. Having remained in the town of Hrastnigj however, until
the following spring, when the Austrian recruits were being summoned
into service, he was notified again, on the 6th of March, 1898, to
present himself among those liable to perform military duty. He then
[Page 17]
appealed to the United States
consul-general in Vienna, who referred his letter to this legation.
Upon inquiry into the facts, I discovered that Mr. Guerra belongs to that
class of foreigners who go to the United States and remain there long
enough to obtain the privileges of citizenship, after which, upon
various pretexts, they return to their native country with an American
passport. Most of them have never performed the slightest service to our
Government in return; and that is the case with Anton Guerra, who has
never paid any taxes, owned any property, established any tangible
interest, or served upon a jury within the United States of America.
Nevertheless, it was evident that he had emigrated to America before he
was liable to military duty in Austria-Hungary, and therefore, under the
provisions of the treaty of 1870, his United States passport should have
been sufficient protection to him from arrest. His passport had been
presented to the authorities in Styria and disregarded by them. It was
this disregard of his passport which led me to present his case at once
to the Austro-Hungarian ministry of foreign affairs, and I have the
honor to announce to you that he has been set at liberty and his name
struck from the list of those persons who are liable to perform military
service. A copy of the entire correspondence is respectfully submitted
herewith.
I have, etc.,
[Inclosure 1 in No. 69.]
Mr. Guerra to Mr.
Judd.
Honorable Sir: I am sorry to again have to
trouble you, but I am again called to appear on the 12th of March to
the “assentirung,” as they call it. I thought best to inform you
about it. I went yesterday to the bezirkshauptmann in Cilli to
protest against it, but told me it would be best to come there on
the 12th and show my papers to the assentirung commission; but as I
proved my citizenship last summer, I don’t see why I should be
bothered again. I wish you would protest against it to the
bezirkshauptmann, as well as to let me know what to do. They claim I
was militarpflichtig here at the time I was made a citizen there,
and so have a claim on me, but I don’t see what that has to do with
it.
Hoping to hear from you, I remain, very respectfully,
[Inclosure 2 in No. 69.]
Mr. Tower to Mr.
Guerra.
United States Legation,
Vienna, March 14,
1898.
Sir: Your letter of the 8th instant to Mr.
Max Judd has been referred by the United States consul-general, Mr.
C. B. Hurst, to this legation.
As this legation has no record of your case, will you be kind enough
to send hither a statement, setting forth the particulars, as fully
as possible, both as to your previous as well as your present
trouble.
[Page 18]
It will also be necessary for you to send to this legation your
passport, if possessed of one, and your certificate of
naturalization.
Please state, also, the date of your birth, the date of your
emigration to America, the date of your return to this country, the
place of your temporary residence here, as well as other details you
may deem proper to make known. With these details in hand, this
legation will then take such steps as may be necessary to assist
you.
I am, sir, etc.,
[Inclosure 3 in No. 69.]
Mr. Guerra to Mr.
Tower.
Hrastnig, March 16,
1898.
Honorable Sir: Your letter dated the 14th
instant has been received, and in answer send you all my papers,
letters, as well as full particulars about my case. I think it was
an outrage on the part of the Austrian officials to have treated me
as they did, and hope you will take the necessary steps, as they not
only insulted me, but also the United States consul, as when I
showed them his letters they said that he, too, is liable to make
mistakes.
I kindly beg you to let me know what you think of the case, and
should it prove that they have acted wrong with me here, I demand
full satisfaction.
Awaiting your reply, I remain, etc.,
[Inclosure 4 in No. 69.]
I, Anthony Guerra, jr., was born November 26, 1875, in Hrastnigg,
Parish Trifail, Bezirk Cilli.
I emigrated to the United States August 3, 1889, and lived in
Philadelphia from the 1st of September of same year to the 26th of
May, 1897.
Was naturalized on the 3d of May, 1897, at the eastern district court
of Pennsylvania. Being under the treatment of Dr. Manson, of
Philadelphia, since the latter part of last winter, I followed his
advice, which he gave me as a last resort, to take a trip abroad,
and having my parents living here at Hrastnigg, I undertook this
trip, and arrived here on the 10th of June. For security I appiied
to Washington for a passport, which I inclose herewith.
On the 5th of August, 1897, I received a call from the K. K.
bezirkshauptmann of Cilli to present myself there as
militarpflichtig. As soon as I received this call I wrote to the
United States consul-general about it, praying his advice. Not
receiving any reply from him, I presented myself on the same date,
and showed them all my papers. But, notwithstanding, they put me
under arrest, and was only released on the 7th of August through the
intervention of the lawyer, Dr. Mavlag, which my brother-in-law, Mr.
F. Wittschnig, engaged, and after giving bail to the amount of fes.
100.
It is understood that such treatment, joined with anger and shame,
affected my ill health very much, inasmuch as I could not take my
medicine as prescribed. Consequently, when I was released, my health
was thrown back for several weeks.
As soon as I got home I wrote to the United States consul about the
ill treatment I had received. In reply I received the inclosed
letter which, translated in German, I sent to my lawyer. He advised
me to make an application to the Austrian Government to release me
from their books. I notified the consul about it, and he in reply
told me not to.
With these letters I went to my lawyer, and not receiving any
satisfaction from him, I myself went to the court and demanded my
papers, which I got, as well as the fes. 100 bail I gave. The
lawyer’s fee was fes. 18, and other expenses I had on account of
this trouble amounted to about fes. 50. After that I thought the
Austrian
[Page 19]
authorities
recognized my citizenship of the United States and this incident
ended.
To my surprise, though, I received on the 6th of March a new call.
The next day, the 7th, I went to the bezirkshauptmanu to protest,
but was told there I would have to come there on the day named
(March 12) and be examined like all others, they still claiming me
as one of their subjects. I therefore wrote to Mr. Max Judd the
letter which was referred to you, and not receiving any answer from
him and not wanting to run the risk of being forced by gendarmes, I
went there myself, thinking, of course, my papers and letters of the
United States consul, which I had translated in German, would clear
me. To my surprise they fully ignored these documents, and told me
it would be best to leave myself be examined, as there was no help
for me, and should I not, I would have to take the consequences and
be treated as I was last summer. I protested vigorously against it,
with the only result that they laughed at me, as well as the papers
I tried to show them. I therefore thought it best to let myself be
examined, of course with the full intention, as I told them there,
of informing the United States consul about the whole affair, which
I would have done had I not received your letter.
[Inclosure 5 in No. 69.]
Mr. Tower to Mr.
Guerra.
United States Legation,
Vienna, March 18,
1898.
Sir: I have received your letter of the
16th of March. I regret that you did not refer your case to this
legation before. I will do now, however, whatever it is proper to do
to protect you in your rights as an American citizen.
Your passport is the only document you need show in order to prove
your citizenship. You are not liable to military duty in
Austria-Hungary unless you emigrated to America after having been
drafted at the time of conscription or while you stood in service
under the flag. As you were quite young at the time of your
emigration, I presume you are subject to neither of these
conditions. Let me know whether your name is still carried upon the
lists of those liable to military service and whether you have not
been allowed to excuse yourself by the exhibition of your
passport.
Your United States citizenship must be recognized and your passport
respected, and they will be so. In the meantime I recommend to you
an attitude of civility toward the local authorities. A conflict
with them can only lead to your personal discomfort.
I shall wait to hear from you, and if you inform me that your name is
still kept upon the military lists and that your passport has not
sufficed to prove your freedom from obligation to serve, I shall
take steps in your behalf at the foreign office.
I return to you herewith your Tauf and Heimatschein; your Reise Pass,
dated 1889; your certificate of naturalization before the circuit
court of the United States for the eastern district of Pennsylvania
on the 3d day of May, 1897, and your passport, No. 3660, dated at
the Department of State the 21st of May, 1897; also the letters from
Mr. Judd, and others which you inclosed to me.
Very truly yours,
[Page 20]
[Inclosure 6 in No. 69.]
Mr. Guerra to Mr.
Tower.
Hrastnig, March 22,
1898.
Honorable Sir: Your favor of the 18th
instant received. In reply would say I emigrated to the United
States when under fourteen years of age. Showed here last summer
both my passport as well as the certificate of naturalization, but
notwithstanding put me under arrest for two days, and this last time
they practically refused to look at either, telling me it didn’t
amount to anything. Of course my name is still kept on the lists,
and what I desire is that my name should be stricken out, so as not
to be troubled in future. I also think with your assistance I should
be able to recover the amount of my expenses, which I had on account
of this trouble.
Awaiting your reply, and looking forward for your assistance, I
remain, etc.,
[Inclosure 7 in No. 69.]
Mr. Tower to the
District Captain.
United States Legation,
Vienna, March 24,
1898.
Sir: Anton Guerra, a naturalized citizen of
the United States, has addressed a petition to this legation, from
which it appears that his name is inscribed on the army list at
Hrastnig as one liable to military duty, and that he received
summons to appear before a board of examinators, although he
presented his American passport to the proper authorities.
The United States minister would be under obligations if the Imperial
and Royal district captain at Hrastnig would make known whether the
name of this American citizen is still carried on the army lists,
and if so, whether his name can not be canceled from such list, as
it appears from his passport that he can not be enrolled into the
ranks of the Imperial and Royal army.
Begging to be favored with an early reply, I am, etc.,
[Inclosure 8 in No. 69.]
Mr. Tower to Mr.
Guerra.
United States Legation,
Vienna, March 25,
1898.
Sir: I have duly received your letter of
the 25th of March, and I have already written to the
Bezirkshauptmann in Hrastnig about your case. I shall see that the
American passport which you bear is respected. At the same time I
must inform you that the Department of State does not encourage the
return of naturalized American citizens to the country of their
birth; and it reserves the right to deny them its protection if they
go back there to take up their residence. You left America in the
month of May, 1897, within four weeks after having
[Page 21]
been naturalized, and, returning to your
home in Hrastnig, you have lived there with your parents for nearly
a year.
While you are claiming protection from the United States, and I am
taking steps now to give it to you, I wish you would tell me what
your relations are to the United States in return. Have you any
interests there, and when do you intend to return thither to perform
your duties as a citizen? Do you pay taxes in America?
Awaiting your reply, I am, etc.,
[Inclosure 9 in No. 69.]
Mr. Guerra to Mr.
Tower.
Hrastnig, March 27,
1898.
Honorable Sir: Your letter of the 25th
instant received, and in reply kindly wish to inform you that I had
to leave the United States and return here on account of my health,
having marked symptoms of consumption and had to have change of
air.
I will return to the United States as soon as my health is fully
restored, which I hope will be as soon as warmer weather sets in,
and therefore I beg you not to trouble yourself about my case any
more, as all I wanted was that my transport, etc., be respected, and
as they had not been I thought it my duty to inform you about
it.
Thanking you for the interest you took, I remain, etc.,
[Inclosure 10 in No.
69.]
Mr. Tower to
Count Goluchowski.
United States Legation,
Vienna, April 4,
1898.
Your Excellency: I beg leave to call your
excellency’s attention to the case of Anton Guerra, a naturalized
citizen of the United States of America, who has been enrolled upon
the lists of those liable to perform military service, in Hrastnig,
in the Gemeinde of Trifail and Bezirk Cilli. The facts are as
follows:
The said Anton Guerra was born in Hrastnig, on the 26th of November,
1875, and emigrated to America in August, 1889, when he was 13 years
of age, and before he was old enough to be enrolled in the military
service of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was naturalized as a
citizen of the United States, in Pennsylvania, in the year 1897.
As he was in poor health, he was advised by his physician in
Philadelphia that he would be benefited by a trip to Europe,
whereupon he decided to make a visit to his parents, who still
reside in Hrastnig. He reached Hrastnig on the 10th of June, 1897.
On the 5th of August of the same year he was summoned by the K. K.
Bezirkshauptmannschaft of Cilli, to appear before it for military
examination. He presented his United States passport to the
authorities, but they declined to recognize it as proof of his
American citizenship; and after being held under arrest for two days
he was released through the intervention of a lawyer of Cilli, Dr.
Meravlag, whom he employed to assist him. Mr. Guerra believed that
he had been released from custody because he had
[Page 22]
proved his American citizenship; but he
now complains to this legation that he was summoned again by the
Bezirkshauptmannschaft for examination on the 6th of March of the
present year, and that although he exhibited his passport that
document was completely ignored by the officials at Cilli. He was
informed that his name was upon the list of persons liable to
perform military service, and that he must submit to the physical
examination. This he was obliged to do.
I have the honor to present these facts to your excellency’s
attention with the request that an examination of them be made by
the proper authorities, and that if they be found correct as they
have been reported to this legation the name of the said American
citizen, Anton Guerra, may be removed from the Imperial and Royal
military lists, and the authorities of Cilli be instructed to show
due respect hereafter to a passport issued by the Government of the
United States of America.
I avail myself, etc.,
