Mr. Hill to Mr. Hart.
Washington, October 31, 1902.
Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of Your No. 650, of the 9th ultimo, relative to the certification by the legation to the neutrality of citizens of the United States visiting or sojourning in the Republic of Colombia, and transmitting copies of the form of certificate in question, and your note of September 9 last to the minister of foreign affairs on the subject.
In reply I have to say that the form of certificate is objectionable, and contravenes our statutes, because certifying originally to the citizenship of the bearer, which makes it a paper in lieu of a passport. Citizenship can only be certified by a regular passport. The fact of citizenship could have been made to appear through the expedient of certifying that the bearer holds a passport issued by the Department of State (or by a legation, as the case may be), dated so and so, attesting his quality as a citizen of the United States. This should be borne in mind if the question of issuing these or similar certificates should at any time recur.
Your note of September 9 to Dr. Paul appears to be sufficient, under the circumstances, to establish the position taken in the Department’s instruction No. 410, of July 22, 1902.
I am, etc.,
Acting Secretary.
P. S.—In connection with this general subject, you are referred to the Argentine precedent, Foreign Relations, 1894, page 19, and Uruguayan case, Foreign Relations, 1897, page 593.