Mr. Day to Mr. Hitchcock.
Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatch, No. 60, of the 10th ultimo, in which you invite the Department’s attention to a certain class of applicants for United States passports, and request instructions which will serve as a guide for your future action. You refer to the policy of your predecessor in granting passports to American citizens, agents for American commercial and industrial enterprises in Russia, notwithstanding long residence abroad, and you favor a continuance of this practice on the ground that it is desirable for the extension of our commercial relations with Russia that the services of American citizens, familiar with the country and language, should be available to promote the interests of American producers and exporters. You refer, however, to the evasions which would result from following to the letter a ruling such as you recommend, and as an instance cite cases which have recently come to your notice, and you ask such a ruling from the Department as will enable you, while giving full protection to those persons who are bona fide representatives of American concerns, to prevent an abuse of the privilege by those persons who use the color of such occupations to [Page 536] evade the rulings of the Department regarding the abandonment of citizenship.
You evidently have a correct understanding of the policy of the Department with regard to the issuance of passports to persons indefinitely residing abroad, and the Department feels that it may be safely left to you to deal with each individual case in your discretion upon the facts presented. As you state, it has been and should continue to be the policy of the Government to foster and promote the manufacturing and commercial interests of the United States, and to that end, in the case of bona fide agents and representatives of American interests, the rules usually applied to our citizens in respect to residences are relaxed. Of course mere technical compliance with the requirements in these exceptional cases is not sufficient. If you feel satisfied that the party applying for protection is not actually and in good faith representing American interests, then it is your duty to refuse to grant a passport. The extent of business done, while sometimes an important factor, should not be considered the sole criterion in judging of the good faith of the party.
With regard to the individual cases to which you refer, your action in case of Dr. Michaels is approved, the case having been submitted to your discretion. The Department shares your views as to the case of Dr. Regner and approves your granting a passport to Dr. Hartoch, in view of the facts stated.
The Department is scarcely prepared to recognize the right to recognition as American citizens of the parties you mention as setting up the claim that they are promoting an American commercial interest in Russia as agents there of German representatives of American manufactures. As above stated, however, the determination of the bona fides of these and similar cases must be left to your discretion.
Respectfully, yours,