File No. 343/50.
The German Chargé to the Secretary of State.
Washington, March 7, 1908.
Mr. Secretary of State: I have the honor to bring to your excellency’s notice the following incident:
Sometime ago the consul general of the United States of America at Tangier put on board the steamship Prinz Adalbert, of the Hamburg-Amerika [Page 354] Line, for transportation from Tangier to New York, the director of the Milwaukee Avenue State Bank of Chicago, Paul O. Stensland, who had been indicted at Chicago and arrested at Tangier in September, 1906, accompanied by two detectives.
No application for assent to the transportation of Stensland on a German vessel was made either to the German Legation at Tangier or to my Government.
Such an application, however, was needful, as the forcible transportation of a prisoner by sea on board a German vessel is tantamount to outright delivery, in view of the fact that the vessel, especially on the high seas, is to be considered as German territory. But an application of this character can only be assented to through the German Government, and when the assent is obtained it must be carried out through the agency of the German Government, since foreign officers are not permitted to exercise police powers on board German vessels.
While permitting myself, under my instructions, to call your excellency’s attention to this matter, I would be under great obligation to your excellency if the consul general of the United States at Tangier were admonished of the irregularity of the course taken by him. I should also be specially thankful to your excellency for a favorable answer.
Accept, etc.,