The Secretary of State to
the French ambassador.
Department of State,
Washington, April 25,
1898.
No. 12.]
Excellency: I have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of your note of the 22d instant, whereby you inform me that Mr.
Polo de Bernabé, before leaving Washington and in fulfillment of the
instructions of his Government, intrusted to you, and at the same time
to the Austro-Hungarian minister, the protection of Spanish subjects and
interests in the United States. To the end of simplifying in practice
the accomplishment of this commission, which your respective Governments
have accepted, you and the Austro-Hungarian minister have agreed upon
certain convenient arrangements, which you are pleased to communicate to
me, as follows:
- “First. The archives of the Spanish legation in Washington
will remain stored in the legation of Austria-Hungary.
- “Second. The care of the consular archives and the protection
of Spanish interests will be confided to the consulates-general
of Austria-Hungary in New York and Chicago, and to the
consulates of France in New Orleans, San Francisco, and
Philadelphia.
- “Third. In those localities where only one of the two
countries has a representative, he will assume the protection of
Spanish interests; in those places where the two countries are
only represented by consular agents, such protection will be
exercised by the French agent.
- “Fourth. Questions the adjustment of which may necessitate
representations to the Department of State will be dealt with
either by the minister of Austria-Hungary or by me [the French
ambassador],
[Page 787]
accordingly as the Austrian or the French consul shall have had
the initiative therein.
- “Fifth. In all other cases I shall charge myself [the French
ambassador] alone with the steps to be taken with respect to the
Government of the United States.”
In reply, I beg to inform you that the Government of the United States
admits your friendly action in assuming charge of the protection of
Spanish subjects and interests in the United States, and that the scheme
which you and the Austro-Hungarian minister have devised for the
practical division of the charge you have simultaneously assumed is
provisionally accepted so long as experience shall show its convenience
in practice. It is, of course, understood, in conformity with the
international usage which obtains in circumstances like the present,
that the arrangement contemplates only the friendly offices of yourself
or of your esteemed colleague, as well as of the consular
representatives of your respective nations, should occasion therefor
arise, with regard to Spanish subjects and their interests actually
within the jurisdiction of the United States, and embraces no
representative office by either of you on behalf of the Government of
Spain, between which and the Government of the United States a condition
of war unhappily exists.
I shall communicate to the competent authorities copies of the notes thus
addressed to me by yourself and the Austro-Hungarian minister, to the
end that they may give all due heed to such representations as the
agents of either country may feel called upon to make in behalf of
Spanish subjects and interests in fulfillment of the friendly office of
protection thus assumed and admitted. In order, however, that no
confusion may exist as to the distribution of protective functions among
the respective consulates, I beg that you will favor me with a list of
the French consular officers who have been designated to act in the
manner stated in your note.
Be pleased to accept, etc.,
The Secretary of State
to the Austro-Hungarian minister.
Department of State,
Washington, April 25,
1898.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of your note of the 22d instant, whereby you inform me that
Mr. Polo de Bernabé, before leaving Washington and in fulfillment of
the instructions of his Government, intrusted to you, and at the
same time to the French ambassador, the protection of Spanish
subjects and interests in the United States. To the end of
simplifying in practice the accomplishment of this commission, which
your respective Governments have accepted, you and the French
ambassador have agreed upon certain convenient arrangements which
you are pleased to communicate to me, as follows:
- “First. The archives of the Spanish legation at Washington
will be left on deposit in the Austro-Hungarian
legation.
- “Second. The custody of the archives and the protection of
Spanish interests in New York and Chicago will be intrusted
to the local Austro-Hungarian consuls-general, and in New
Orleans, Philadelphia, and San Francisco to the French
consulates.
- “Third. In those places where only one of the two
countries has a representative, the latter will assume the
protection of Spanish interests; in those places where both
are represented only by consular agents, such protection
will be exercised through the French agents.
- “Fourth. Questions, the settlement of which may call for
representations to the
[Page 788]
Department of State, will be acted
upon either by the French ambassador or by me [the
Austro-Hungarian minister], accordingly as the initiative
thereof shall have been taken through a French or
Austro-Hungarian consul.
- “Fifth. In all other cases the French ambassador will take
exclusive charge of the proceedings with the Government of
the Union.”
In reply, I beg to inform you that the Government of the United
States admits your friendly action in assuming charge of the
protection of Spanish subjects and interests in the United States,
and that the scheme which you and the French ambassador have devised
for the practical division of the charge you have simultaneously
assumed is provisionally accepted so long as experience shall show
its convenience in practice. It is, of course, understood, in
conformity with the international usage which obtains in
circumstances like the present, that the arrangement contemplates
only the friendly offices of yourself or of your esteemed colleague,
as well as of the consular representatives of your respective
nations, should occasion therefor arise, with regard to Spanish
subjects and their interests actually within the jurisdiction of the
United States, and embraces no representative office by either of
you on behalf of the Government of Spain, between which and the
Government of the United States a condition of war unhappily
exists.
I shall communicate to the competent authorities copies of notes thus
addressed to me by yourself and the French ambassador, to the end
that they may give all due heed to such representations as the
agents of either country may feel called upon to make in behalf of
Spanish subjects and interests in fulfillment of the friendly office
of protection thus assumed and admitted. In order, however, that no
confusion may exist as to the distribution of protective functions
among the respective consulates, I beg that you will favor me with a
list of the Austro-Hungarian consular officers who have been
designated to act in the manner stated in your note.
Be pleased to accept, etc.,
The French ambassador
to the Secretary of State.
[Translation.]
Embassy of the French Republic in the United
States,
Washington, April 26,
1898.
Mr. Secretary of State: In your
acknowledgment, dated April 25, of a note which I had the honor to
address to you on the 22d of the same month, in regard to the steps
which I had taken, in concert With the minister of Austria-Hungary,
for the purpose of insuring the protection of Spanish subjects and
interests in the United States, which our Governments have
simultaneously assumed, you were good enough to express to me the
desire to receive the list of French consuls and consular agents
designated to exercise such protection, under the conditions
indicated in my above-mentioned note.
In order to comply with your request, I hasten to transmit to you, as
an inclosure, the list of these agents, and I avail myself of this
occasion to thank you for the instructions intended to facilitate
their mission which you propose to issue to the competent
authorities.
Pray accept, etc.,
[Inclosure.]
List of French consular posts charged with the
protection of Spanish interests.
Consulates.—New Orleans, San Francisco.
Vice-consulates.—Philadelphia, Galveston.
Consular agencies.—Cincinnati, Detroit, Kansas
City, Louisville, St. Louis, St. Paul, Brownsville, Dallas, El Paso,
San Antonio, Baltimore, Boston; Charleston, S. C; Norfolk; Portland,
Me.; Apalachicola, Baton Rouge, Birmingham, Mobile, Pensacola,
Savannah, Los Angeles; Portland, Oreg.; San Jose.
[Page 789]
The Austro-Hungarian
minister to the Secretary of
State.
[Translation.]
Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian
Legation,
Washington, April 26,
1898.
Mr. Secretary of State: I have the honor to
acknowledge the receipt of your note No. 218, of April 25 instant,
and in compliance with the desire expressed therein to advise you,
Mr. Secretary of State, that, in addition to the Austro-Hungarian
consulate-general in New York and Chicago, the imperial and royal
consulates at Pittsburg, Pa., and Richmond, Va., at which places the
French Government maintains no consular representation, have been
intrusted with the protection of Spanish subjects.
The list of names of the Austro-Hungarian officers thus called to the
exercise of this friendly protection is:
- New York, Consul-General Franz Stockinger.
- Chicago, Consul Max von Proskowetz.
- Pittsburg, Consul Thomas von Dessewffy.
- Richmond, Consul Christof. Borchers.
Accept, etc.,
