File No. 763.72111/551
The Acting Secretary of State to the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador ( Dumba )
Washington , November 5, 1914.
No. 124]
Excellency: Referring to your notes of the 25th and 28th ultimo,1 in regard to the activities of certain Servians in Chicago alleged to be in contravention of the neutrality laws of the United States, I have now the honor to advise you of the receipt of a letter on the subject from the Attorney General, who states that he finds no evidence in the papers submitted, so far as they contain an appeal for subscriptions, which would constitute any violation of the penal laws of the United States in general, or of those sections of the Federal penal code constituting the so-called neutrality laws.
It is added that if a case should arise in which there was any evidence that the subscriptions raised by the Slavic gymnastic societies were to be made and used for the purposes of any military expedition or enterprise to be carried on from the territory of the United States, it is possible that a person making such a subscription would be criminally liable under section 13 of the said Federal penal code, on the ground that he does thus “provide or prepare the means [Page 583] for any military expedition or enterprise.” The Attorney General points out that there appears to be no such evidence in the papers submitted nor in the facts as stated by your excellency’s notes.
Accept, [etc.]