Mr. Hardy to Mr.
Hay.
Legation of the United States,
Athens, May 19,
1900.
No. 39, Greek series.]
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of your No. 20 of April 28 last approving my note of April 3 to
Mr. Romanos in the case of Economopoulos. My note remains as yet
unanswered. From unofficial sources, however, I have reason to believe
that the war office desires to assert the principle of the French law on
nationality of June 26, 1889, and to maintain that all Greek subjects
naturalized abroad without royal assent, who, at the date of their
naturalization, were subject to military service, are still Greek, and
as such amenable to the military laws of the Kingdom. No such law on
nationality, however, has as yet been enacted in Greece, and in its
absence it is difficult to see how such a position could be maintained
in face of the decisions of the legal council quoted in my note of April
3 to Mr. Romanos, according to which a Greek subject duly naturalized
abroad is not, on
[Page 643]
his return,
liable to military duty although subject to the penalties prescribed by
the penal code unless the council should be convened and should revoke
its former rulings.
Prior to the receipt of your No. 18 of April 6 authorizing me to propose
a naturalization convention on the basis of that between the United
States and Austria, and as a result of the conversation with Mr. Romanos
reported in my No. 30 of March 1 on the desirability of some such
convention, Mr. Romanos wrote me an informal letter, a copy of which is
inclosed herewith, on the refusal of the minister of war to release
Economopoulos and explaining why a convention on the basis of that with
Austria could not be concluded by Greece. He inclosed at the same time a
notice setting forth the conditions on which such a convention should be
based. This notice was received prior to my note of April 3, in which
for the first time I called attention to the legal aspect of
Economopoulos’s case as defined by the decisions of the legal council,
and as these decisions differ so radically from the notice in principle
I waited the result of my note of April 3 before transmitting the notice
to the Department. Reply to my note has, however, been so long delayed
that I now forward herewith the notice. While admitting the right of the
Greek Government to take ground similar to that of the French law of
1889, I do not suppose the Department would favor any convention framed
on such a basis.
It seems impracticable to take any further action before receiving a
reply to my appeal to the decisions of the legal council.
I have, etc.,
[Inclosure.]
Mr. Romanos to
Mr. Hardy.
Ministry for Foreign Affairs,
Athens, March 18/31, 1900.
My Dear Minister: By my note No. 3261/389
of this date I inform you that my colleague in the war department
finds himself unable to release Mr. Economopoulos from military
service.
To avoid in the future regrettable misunderstandings, I hasten to
send you the inclosed notice, which establishes the basis of an
arrangement such as you have proposed to me and which would put an
end to the present state of things.
You will also find in the same note the reasons why, to my regret, I
can not conclude a convention which would accord American
citizenship to Greek subjects in conformity with the terms of
similar conventions with other European countries.
The American citizenship of Greek emigrants can not be recognized in
Greece unless they have requested and obtained the prescribed
permission of the Government and discharged their military
obligations to the country of their origin.
Accept, etc.,
[Subinclosure.]
Notice.
The age of majority in Greece is fixed at 21. Before this age no
Greek subject is capable of performing any civil act. Consequently,
minors can not tender their submission to or acquire nationality in
a foreign state.
Military service being obligatory in Greece, Greek subjects are
called to the flag at the age of 21; that is, when they attain their
majority.
[Page 644]
Every person who in any way whatsoever evades his military
obligations is considered insoumis or a deserter, and incurs the
penalties fixed by the recruiting laws. Hence, the acquisition of a
foreign nationality in nowise relieves from military duty Greek
subjects, who, on their return to Greece, are bound to submit to the
laws of the country of their origin. Were it otherwise, anyone who
wished to evade military service in Greece would only have to become
naturalized abroad.
A full and complete individual liberty is assured Greek subjects by
the constitutional law of the Kingdom. Thus the Greek Government has
never refused to any applicant permission to renounce his Greek
nationality and to acquire a foreign one. But this permission can
not be obtained unless the applicant has satisfied his military
obligations and discharged the duties which he might eventually
incur toward the State.
Agreeably to the terms of the Greek civil code the prescribed
permission of the Government is granted the applicant by royal
decree, which, after its publication in the official journal, is
sent to the person concerned. In default of this, anyone who becomes
naturalized abroad incurs the penalties prescribed in article 527 of
the penal code, and, on the other hand, also, is considered insoumis
or a deserter and punished as such by the military laws of the
State.
To avoid in the future misunderstandings to be regretted, it is
necessary to provide by an exchange by notes that every Greek
subject who wishes to acquire American nationality should deposit,
with the proper American authorities, a duly certified copy of the
royal decree authorizing him to abandon his Greek allegiance. The
accomplishment of this formality should be stated in an official
report drawn up on the occasion.
No Greek subject who has failed to comply with this formality can
make good in Greece his claim to American citizenship.
