Mr. Pioda to Mr.
Hay.
[Translation.]
Legation of Switzerland,
Washington, May 23,
1901.
Mr. Secretary of State: Referring to the note
which your excellency was pleased to address to me on the 19th ultimo,
relative to the [Page 505] request
presented by Dr. A. Cérésole and Mr. A. du Souchet, Swiss citizens, to
Mr. Long, agent and consul-general of the United States at Cairo, to
have their names enrolled at the office of the said consulate-general,
with a view to enjoying its protection, if necessary, I hasten herewith
to communicate to you the reply which I have just received from my
Government on this subject.
The circular of the Federal Council of July 8, 1871, a copy of which your
excellency will find herewith, states the point of view of my Government
on the subject of the protection of Swiss citizens in countries where
Switzerland has no diplomatic or consular representatives. It appears
from this circular that in 1871 my Government and the Government of the
United States of America agreed that the latter should instruct its
representatives in foreign countries to take under their protection any
Swiss citizen who desired it, without the necessity of a previous
understanding between the two Governments in each particular case.
Mr. Fish addressed a circular, under date of June 16, 1871, to the
representatives of the United States in foreign countries (see Foreign Relations of the United States for
1871, p. 28) authorizing them to extend their protection to
Swiss citizens with the consent of the authorities of the country in
which they resided.
The contents of the aforesaid note of your excellency have given rise to
a doubt in the mind of my Government whether the instructions given by
Mr. Fish have since then been modified. I should therefore be grateful
to your excellency if you would inform me on this point.
My Government apprises me, moreover, that it will not hesitate to support
the request of the aforesaid gentlemen on condition that they themselves
lay their request before the Federal Council. Messrs. Cérésole and du
Souchet must also be informed that the representatives of the United
States are not authorized by their Government, according to the view set
forth by the Department of State, to assert the claims of foreigners
officially, and that they must confine themselves to lending, when
necessary, their personal and unofficial good offices.
In having the honor to bring the foregoing to your excellency’s notice,
and awaiting such further communications as you may be pleased to make
to me on this subject, I avail, etc.,
J. B. Pioda,
Minister of Switzerland.
[Inclosure.—Translation.]
Circular.
[The Swiss Federal Council to the diplomatic and
consular officers of the Confederation.]
Sir: Petitions have several times been
presented to us by Swiss citizens or commercial firms established in
countries where Switzerland has neither diplomatic officers nor
consuls, asking for our intervention with this or that foreign power
with a view to securing its consular protection for them.
In one case of this kind, the legation of Germany at Berne remarked
that it would be much easier and more expeditious to avoid, by a
general measure, the correspondence that has hitherto been necessary
in each particular case, and suggested that this matter should be
settled once for all. It declared, furthermore, that the Imperial
Government was prepared to issue general instructions to its
diplomatic [Page 506] and consular
officers to grant, in places where there were no official
representatives of the Confederation, their protection to such Swiss
citizens as should make application therefor.
We accepted this offer of the German Government, declaring, however,
that we did not desire thereby to compel Swiss citizens in foreign
countries to place themselves under the consular protection of
Germany, or even specially to recommend them to apply for such
protection.
Similar negotiations having been held between the president of the
Confederation and the United States legation at Berne, the American
Government issued to its diplomatic and consular agents general
instructions identical with those issued by the Imperial German
Government.
In informing you of these arrangements, we would remark that it is
understood that none but those localities are concerned in which
there are no official representatives of the Confederation, and that
a Swiss citizen can in nowise be permitted to renounce the
protection of the consul of his country in order to have recourse to
that of a foreign consul, nor can the latter be permitted to grant
him his protection before it has been asked for.
In conclusion, we repeat: Although a general measure of this kind has
been accepted by us, it has only been with a view to avoiding a long
correspondence in each particular case, and in order to guarantee
efficient protection to Swiss citizens when it is impossible for the
Confederation to furnish such protection to them directly, through
its own agents.
We avail, etc.,
In the name of the Swiss Federal Council:
The President of
the Confederation:
Schenk.
The Chancellor of the
Confederation:
Schiess.