File No. 9871/–11.
Chargé Brown to the Secretary of State.
Constantinople , November 2, 1907 .
Sir: I have the honor to submit herewitha copies of recent correspondence in regard to the complaints of Nicholas and Theodore S. Theodore against the Turkish authorities of Mytilene for violation of an alleged American domicile.
Both brothers claim citizenship by right of birth in the United States after the naturalization of their father, and possess passports from the State Department, dated July 7, 1906. Both have lived in Turkey since early childhood, though Theodore asserts having been in the United States from 1902 to 1906. They have evidently established their business in Mytilene, that of butchers, and apparently can not with justice claim domicile in the United States. One of them, Theodore, evidently speaks but little English, and this is probably true of Nicholas, who does not appear to have been to the United States since childhood. In 1904 he was charged with smuggling in Mytilene, and the embassy at that time declined to issue him a passport, though willing to facilitate his departure for the United States.
I would respectfully submit whether it may or may not be fairly presumed that the Theodore brothers have virtually established their domicile in Turkey and assimilated themselves into the original nationality of their father, who, in 1876, resumed his residence in Turkey with his family, only a few years after his naturalization.
I have, etc.,
- Inclosures not printed.↩