Mr. Hale to Mr.
Hay.
United
States Embassy,
Vienna, November 4,
1902.
No. 32.]
Sir: Referring to the Department’s No. 63 of
November 3, 1902, inclosing copy of a letter from Anthony S. Ambrose,
esq., supreme president of the National Slavonic Society of the United
States of America, alleging that a delegation of Magyars was then on
their way to the United States with a costly Hungarian national banner,
on which are inscribed the words “Be dauntlessly loyal to your
fatherland, oh, Magyars!” that this banner was being sent as the gift of
the Hungarian National League to Hungarians living in the United States;
that the gift was prompted by the Hungarian Government and partly paid
for by official representatives of that Government, and that it was
intended to carry this banner through the United States, the object
sought being to preserve the Hungarian nationality of Magyars living in
the United States, and instructing this embassy to say to the Hungarian
Government that such a report had reached the Department and to inquire
whether such a flag, so inscribed, had in fact been sent to go on a tour
through the United States, I have the honor to inform you that in reply
to my note of September 17, 1902, presenting as per instructions said
inquiries, the Imperial and Royal ministry for foreign affairs informs
this embassy that such a flag has in fact been sent on a tour through
the United States; that the sum necessary to defray the expenses in
connection therewith was subscribed to by all classes of Hungarian
society, including Government officials, but that the Hungarian National
League, which first started and carried out this idea, has been actuated
in so doing by patriotic, and not political, motives, Referring to the
motto inscribed upon the flag in question, which words are a quotation,
being the first line of the Hungarian national anthem, the Imperial and
Royal ministry for foreign affairs contends that said appeal is solely
directed to the Hungarians in the United States who are not citizens
thereof, but who have retained their allegiance to their native land and
that “no blame can be attached to anyone who exhorts his countrymen,
even when living in a foreign land, to be faithful to their native home
and to cherish it, and who appeals to their patriotism.”
For the Department’s fuller information I have further the honor to
inclose herewith a copy of said reply, together with a translation
therof in full.
I have, etc.,
[Page 48]
[Inclosure.—Translation.]
Ministry for foreign
affairs to Mr. Hale.
Vienna, October 31,
1902.
In the esteemed note of September 17 last, numbered F. O. 20, the
honorable chargé d’affaires ad interim of the United States was
pleased to make inquiry, in compliance with instructions received
from the State Department at Washington, as to the meaning and
purpose of the donation of a Hungarian flag sent by the Hungarian
National League to the Hungarian associations in the United States,
and a circular tour proposed in connection therewith through the
United States.
In reply to inquiries made to this end the Royal Hungarian minister
president now reports as follows:
The Hungarian National League which first started the idea of sending
such a flag, and which first collected the necessary sum to defray
the expenses from all classes of Hungarian society, including
Government officials, is a Hungarian association actuated by
patriotic motives, without political tendencies.
The impulse in donating a national flag was started by the fact that
numerous charitable Hungarian associations, whose principal head
office was at Bridgeport, Conn., intended to celebrate the tenth
anniversary of their founding in New York.
There are no political motives which prompted this donation; it is
simply a manifestation of a sentiment of unity and of sympathy which
the Hungarian National League desires to convey to their countrymen
living in the United States.
The bearer of the flag, Mr. Josef Zseny, is not an official person,
but is simply a retired municipal employee who, as a member of the
above-mentioned league, has been chosen as a delegate by the latter
to present this flag and to convey at the same time the greetings of
the league to the Hungarian associations in the United States.
As far as the circular tour is concerned which it is proposed to make
with the flag through some of the States of the Union, Mr. Széll
observes that the above-mentioned league has not given any special
directions to the delegates, and that this proposition in all
probability emanates from the leading persons at the head of the
Hungarian associations in America.
Official as well as newspaper reports at hand agree in saying that
the celebrations connected with this donation of the flag passed off
with due decorum. The celebrations reached their height at the
unveiling of the Kossuth monument in Cleveland, Ohio, at which such
distinguished public men as Senator Mark Hanna and Governor Nash
took part, which would not have been the case if the unfolding of
the flag on the part of the delegation had been construed as a
manifestation directed against the United States.
The words to be read on the flag are the first line of the patriotic
poem, “Remember, Hungarians, to be faithful to thy native land.”
This quotation shows that the appeal is directed solely to the sons
of the country under St. Stefan’s Crown and not to the citizens of
the United States. No blame can be attached to anyone who exhorts
his countrymen, even when living in a foreign land, to be faithful
to their native home and to cherish it, and who appeals to their
patriotism.
For these reasons the Imperial and Royal Government is at a loss to
conceive what motives could actuate the State Department to take
such steps. It trusts, however, that the explanation here given will
remove any doubts which might have been entertained by the leading
authorities of the United States.
The undersigned avails himself of this opportunity, etc.
