File No. 3507.
Ambassador Meyer to the Secretary of State.
St. Petersburg, December 15, 1906.
Sir: I have the honor to present the following passport case for your consideration:
Clemens Belling was born at Paris, France, on the 14th day of October, 1877. His father was a native American and appears to have been born in Philadelphia about the year 1841. The applicant is a circus performer at present engaged as clown, ring master, etc., with Boroffski’s Courland circus now at Vladivostok, and represents the third generation of the family which has been engaged in the circus business. Our consul in Vladivostok, on being asked to report fully on the case, has not stated whether applicant speaks English.
The applicant has never been in the United States but was nevertheless granted a passport by this embassy in March, 1904. On this occasion he promised to return to the United States within one year and now explains that he was only prevented from doing so by the fact that he is dependent on his salary and must take engagements where they are offered. He now again makes the promise to return to the United States within one year, yet admits that he is contemplating a trip to China, Japan, and Manila. The birth certificate of one of his children issued at Manila in 1902 describes him as an American citizen.
Our consul in Vladivostok being asked as to his personal impression of the applicant, reports that the man seems to be an American citizen.
I have, etc.,