Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 5, 1898
Mr. Tower to Mr. Day.
Vienna , July 1, 1898 .
Sir: I have the honor to report for your information the case of Herman Meller, a naturalized citizen of the United States, who was arrested in the month of April of the present year at Lemberg, in Galicia, upon a charge of nonperformance of military duty and released upon the intervention of this legation.
The facts of this case are as follows: Herman Meller was born at Brody, in Galicia, in September, 1863, and emigrated to the United States in the year 1879. He resided there eighteen years, in the city of New York and in Montgomery, Ala., which latter is his present residence. He was admitted to citizenship before the superior court of the city of New York, at NewYork, on the 14th of October, 1884. He is the bearer of a passport, numbered 11821, issued by the Hon. John Sherman, Secretary of State, at Washington, on the 7th of February, 1898.
Mr. Meller came to Austria in the month of March of the present year, intending to visit his friends here and to return to America early in May. He had already bought the ticket for his passage back to New York.
During the period of his visit in Lemberg, and shortly before the date upon which he intended to start for America, he was arrested upon a charge of having evaded his military duty at the time of emigration.
He appealed to this legation for assistance on the 24th of April, 1898, and upon my presenting a statement of the facts relating to his naturalization to the Imperial and Royal ministry of foreign affairs, on the 7th of May, he was released on the 2d of June. Copies of the entire correspondence are respectfully submitted herewith.
I have, etc.,
Mr. Tower to Mr. Meller.
Vienna , April 24, 1898 .
Sir: I have duly received your telegram of the 24th of April, which reads as follows:
Arrested on account of military duty by the police at Lemberg. Citizen of the United States. Passport No. 11821. Request intervention. Reply Police Director, Lemberg.
Herman Meller.
To which I replied by telegram this morning as follows:
Your telegram received. Have written to-day. Await my letter.
Minister.
I wish you would send me at once a detailed account of your arrest, its causes, and all other particulars connected with it, in order that I may take steps to give you such assistance as you may be entitled to by your American citizenship.
Where and when were you born? When did you emigrate to the United States? Where did you live, and how long? Where and when were you naturalized? When did you leave the United States? When do you intend to return to the United States? Send me your certificate of naturalization and your passport.
Once in possession of the data mentioned in the foregoing, I will do what I can in order to see that justice is done to you.
I am, sir, etc.,
Mr. Meller to Mr. Tower.
Your Honor: I am in possession of your letter dated April 24, and will hereby answer all you asked of me. I was born in Brody, Galizien, in September, 1863. I emigrated to the United States the end of 1879 or the beginning of 1880. I can not recollect, and therefore will give it to you as close as possible. I have lived for about thirteen years in New York and about five years in Alabama, Montgomery especially. I was naturalized in the superior court in the city of New York on the 14th of October, 1884, before Judge Dugro, by Clerk M. O. Boese, which I inclose to your honor, then the naturalization paper which I took out in the city court of Montgomery, Ala., the 1st of February, 1898, before Judge A. D. Sayre, by Clerk H. H. Mathews, through which I got my passport; being I had my former paper mislaid could not remember exact date of first paper mentioned, and thinking it is lost, Judge Sayre granted me the second, from which I got my passport the 7th of February, 1898, at the Department of State by Secretary John Sherman. Number of passport is 11821. I can not inclose to your honor the other paper and passport, being the criminal court of this city has it in their possession. Your honor has seen and read every one of the three documents I have, while I was in Vienna on the 11th of March, when I registered at your legation, and your secretary took a memorandum of my papers, and you told me to also take all dates and names of particulars and mark it separate. That is why I can give you correct dates and names of judges. 1 then told you that Judge Day told me not to go unless you say so. I have done so, and came here on the 14th of March, and was not molested until the 22d of this month, when a policeman came up to my house and asked me to go with him to the station. I obeyed, but the officer at the desk apologized and said 1 can go, as itwas spite of somebody reporting me that I ran away from the military service, but hearing that I left when a boy of 16 years he would not hold me.
Two days later an officer of the police direction came to my room and asked me to go with him. The same boy which reported me first standing by the door, and pointed at me, this is the one. I went again, told [Page 25] the presiding officer that I am an American citizen, and not fugitive; that I am reported at police headquarters upon my arrival and showed him my passport. He asked for my citizen papers, which I handed him. Nobody could read them. Then he decided it belongs to the bezirkshauptmann. He could not understand my papers, and decided to hold me until the next day. My uncle, the above named, promised to bring me at 10 o’clock in the morning. We got there in time, and he decided to send me to the magistrate. There they said I must serve the army, and send me to the procurator. He put me to prison until they would decide. They tried to put me down that I was born in 1865, so as that I left when I was 18 years instead of 16 years; that I ran away from the army, but I produced my paper of birth and then they could not say anything. Then I was put with criminals in a cell and had to stay there for over twenty-four hours. You can imagine what a picnic. They called me up to make a statement and tried to hold me liable under some law which passed here in 1889. Then one judge said that the law passed ten years later—after I left. They send me back behind the iron bars, and in the meantime Uncle Litzerman got a lawyer and with hardship took me out with 2,000 gulden bail. They then yet send me back to the magistrate, and there with hard fighting had to give 500 gulden there to appear on the 5th of May to be put under military service.
I told him that I swore to the Stars and Stripes, but that did not help. I have my return ticket on which I was to return to the land of liberty in a few days, but now I will be detained and my place of business, which is located at 13 South Court street, at Montgomery, Ala., will have to suffer. It will be a great loss to me. I went under your advice, and hope and look to you for immediate relief, for if by the 5th of May if nothing is done through you I will be in fine pickle, with the Austrian uniform on. My brother-in-law ran to Vienna to you, while I was in prison, as they would not let me communicate, to tell you all particulars. I don’t want to delay this letter, as time is very precious, but will try and ask for the passport and papers, and if they will give me same will send it to you by next mail; if not, you have in this letter the exact dates and names of judges and courts.
Hoping you will free me at your earliest opportunity and not forget the 5th of May, I will close, with many thanks beforehand.
Your obedient servant,
Mr. Tower to the District Captain.
Vienna , April 27, 1898 .
Sir: Herman Meller, a citizen of the United States, living at Montgomery, in the State of Alabama, has requested the assistance of this legation and reports having been arrested by the Imperial and Royal police at Lemberg and deprived of his passport and other documents whereby to prove his identity.
This legation therefore requests the Imperial and Royal district captaincy of Lemberg to make known upon what grounds the arrest of this American citizen is based and why he has been deprived of his liberty.
[Page 26]The United States minister would be under great obligations to the Imperial and Royal district captaincy at Lemberg if the desired information could be conveyed to this legation at the earliest practicable time.
Very respectfully,
Mr. Tower to Mr. Meller.
Vienna , April 29, 1898 .
Sir: I have received your letter of the 27th of April, and I have taken steps toward your relief. I wrote to the bezirkshauptmann at Lemberg on the 27th of April, immediately after receiving your telegram, and expect to hear from him soon in reply. You may be confident that I shall not lose sight of your case.
Very respectfully, yours,
The District Captain to the United States Legation.
In reply to the esteemed letter of the 27th of April, No. 408, I have the honor to inform the honorable legation that Herman Meller was not arrested by the district captaincy at Lemberg and surroundings, but by the provincial criminal court on solicitation of the magistrate of the city of Lemberg, and that his documents are in all probability at the court above named. The aforesaid esteemed letter of the 27th of April has been transmitted to the Imperial and Royal state attorney at Lemberg for further action, and the provincial criminal court is the only authority which can give to the honorable legation further information in this case.
Mr. Meller to Mr. Tower.
Your welcome letter of the 29th April to hand, and was very much pleased to hear that you are not losing sight of my case. I have tried to get my papers and passport from the criminal court procurator, so as to send same to you, but in vain. I told them that the bail was heavy enough for a murderer—not such offense—and that they could send my papers direct to you. But this is a one-sided affair here with them, and if the Austrian minister of justice will ask for them they will lose their power, so as even to give up the 2,000 florins they have in their possession, besides 500 florins in the magistrate court. I hope your honor will [Page 27] free me from these obstacles in a few days, so I can start for home, as everything in my neighborhood is very lively, and my people at home at, such a time can not do without me.
Hoping to hear from you soon, and please don’t forget the 5th of this month, as they intend to put me before a military court, and if it is possible for you to avoid that, please accept my heartiest thanks.
Your obedient servant,
Mr. Tower to Count Goluchowski.
Vienna , May 7, 1898 .
Your Excellency: Complaint has been made at this legation by Herman Meller, a naturalized citizen of the United States of America of Austrian birth, that he is unjustly held under arrest and is imprisoned at Lemberg upon a charge of nonperformance of military duty.
The facts of this case, as stated by Mr. Meller, are these: Herman Meller was born at Brody, in Galicia, in September, 1863, and emigrated to the United States in the year 1879. He resided there eighteen years, during which time he was admitted to citizenship before the superior court of the city of New York, at New York, on the 14th of October, 1884. He is the bearer of a passport, No. 11821, issued by the Hon. John Sherman, Secretary of State, at Washington, on the 7th of February, 1898.
Mr. Meller came to Austria in the month of March of the present year, intending to visit his friends and to return to America early in May, for which purpose he had already bought his ticket.
While visiting in Lemberg, and but a few days prior to his intended departure for the United States, he was arrested upon a charge of having failed to perform military duty when he first left his home. This Mr. Meller declares to be without foundation, since he was but 16 years of age at the time of his emigration, and he had never been summoned or enrolled as a conscript in the Empire of Austria Hungary. If the facts as here set forth are accurate, this case is an unusually aggravated one, for Mr. Meller declares that he has proved his age at the time of his emigration by exhibiting his certificate of birth. This appears not to have been accepted by the authorities at Lemberg, who have disregarded his certificate of naturalization in the United States and his American passport, both of which documents they have taken from him, and they are detaining him now, to his serious detriment by reason of his personal interests in America, which are suffering from his prolonged absence.
I respectfully request your excellency to have the case of this American citizen promptly examined by the competent authority, and if the facts be found true as reported to this legation, that he be set at liberty immediately; also, that the authorities at Lemberg be instructed to give in the future that respect and recognition to United States passports and other official documents which they are legally and properly entitled to.
I avail myself, etc.,
Mr. Meller to Mr. Tower.
Sir: Being informed that you have given over my case to the Austrian minister for investigation, I wish you will grant me that favor to see that the court of Lemberg should not take their time so easy in answering, so that too much time should not be lost, as they are here free and easy going and are not particular, and I am counting the minutes, as my time is required at home, and a great loss to me; if possible to notify the courts here by telegraph, so as to save a few days of railroad travel. This is a great unjust to me. I hope and trust you will put a spark in them to wake them up in forwarding matters, so to make my stay here very short.
Hoping to hear from you soon, I remain, very truly, yours.,
Mr. Meller to Mr. Tower.
Sir: I have to-day received a notice to appear before the criminal court on the 23d of this month, as they found an indictment against me, from section 45, for not appearing for military service, and my answer as being an American citizen will not justify, says my attorney here, unless the Vienna high court will command them here in time, before the trial begins, to dismiss my case and scratch me as an Austrian. I am here at present in the dark, and don’t know what to answer to questions which will be put before me. Don’t know what will happen, and how long it may last. It is nearly a month, and I don’t bear or see any sign which will enable me to make a break for home. This will be a ruin for me unless something is done to shorten my stay here. I hope your honor will inform me by return of mail all the particulars, so I can guide myself and know what is going on. By doing so, you will greatly oblige,
Very respectfully, yours,
Mr. Tower to Mr. Meller.
Vienna , May 19, 1898 .
Sir: I have duly received your letter of the 18th of May. I am sorry to hear that you are still detained by the’ Austrian authorities for nonperformance of military duty. Unless there is some ground of complaint against you of which 1 have not been informed your American citizenship will certainly free you from this charge. Of course I can not say precisely upon what day that will occur, because I do not know when your case will be reached by the court and decided; but I have written in your behalf to the Bezirkshauptmannschaft, as well as to the Landesgericht in Lemberg, and on the 7th of May I presented [Page 29] your case fully to the Austro-Hungarian foreign office, with the request that it should be examined into and you should be set at liberty at once.
I am, sir, very respectfully, yours,
Mr. Meller to Mr. Tower.
Sir: With your kind assistance I regained my liberty to-day, and don’t want to lose any time in expressing my sincere thanks for all the trouble I have given you. They tried their very best to deprive me of my rights, but at last it is Stars and Stripes forever. I am leaving to-night for home, sweet home, and shall not make no secret out of it, and have it published, and will demand something for depriving me of my liberty. They need a lesson, to have respect for the American Eagle, and not to say they can not read our passports. Why have we an interpreter in our courts for their language to suit their subjects? I’ll close with many many thanks to you for hurrying my affair to a close. Good-bye.
Very respectfully, yours,
Count Welsersheimb to Mr. Tower.
Sir: The Imperial and Royal ministry of foreign affairs has not failed to address itself to the Imperial Royal ministry of public defense, in compliance with the esteemed note of May 7 last, No. 50, in order that the proper investigation be made relating to the arrest of the naturalized American citizen, Herman Meller, by the Imperial Royal authorities at Lemberg for nonperformance of military duty, and that the proper steps be taken in order that the said Herman Meller be treated in accordance with the provisions of the treaty of September 20,1870.
It appears from a communication now received by the Imperial and Royal ministry of foreign affairs that proceedings were instituted in the court of Lemberg against Herman Meller for violation of paragraph 45 of the military law, and that a correspondence relative thereto was opened between the Imperial Royal ministry of public defense and the Imperial Royal ministry of justice. In consequence of this investigation the state attorney at Lemberg has since directed proceedings to be discontinued, because of Mr. Meller’s naturalization in the United States, and the said Meller has therefore been set at liberty.
While the undersigned has the honor of conveying the foregoing to the knowledge of the honorable envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States of America, Mr. Charlemagne Tower, he avails himself at the same time of this opportunity to renew? etc.
For the minister.