I therefore ask that your excellency will be so good as to give consideration to that phase of the question to which my note of the 5th instant had mainly reference, whose great importance will, I am sure, be appreciated by your excellency as much as by myself. I avail, etc., EMILIO DE OJEDA. Mr. Hay to Señor Ojeda. No. 26.] DEPARTMENT of State, Washington, January 3, 1903. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 22d ultimo, in which you state that your note of November 5 last did not assume to call in question the justice of the charge brought at Pensacola against members of the crew of the Spanish steamship Leonora, or of the proceedings taken against them on that charge, but that it was desired merely to call attention to the fact that municipal or other authorities of the United States had searched a vessel of a friendly country without the intervention or representation of the latter's consular authority, as is required by international usage. In reply I have the honor to point out that it is stated in the report of the mayor of Pensacola that when the Spanish captain objected to the arrest of Arrana, the officer left the vessel without making the arrest and, in order not to give offense to anyone concerned, pro ceeded to the office of the Spanish vice-consul and explained that he had a warrant for the arrest of the said Captain Bustinza and Mate Arrana," before arresting them. Moreover, the mayor, in the concluding part of his letter, states that he has directed his officers, out of courtesy to the Spanish vice-consul, to notify him when it can be done conveniently before executing warrants for the arrest of persons on board of Spanish vessels. Accept, etc., JOHN HAY. SWEDEN AND NORWAY. PROTECTION OF CUBAN INTERESTS BY UNITED STATES CONSULAR OFFICIALS. Mr. Thomas to Mr. Hay. No. 282.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: Referring to your instructions" of May 24 last, I have the honor to inform you that immediately upon the receipt thereof I proffered the request therein contained to the Government of Sweden and Norway, in a note addressed to the minister for foreign affairs, a copy of which I inclose herewith. I am to-day in receipt of a note from His Excellency Mr. Lagerheim, a copy of which, accompanied by a translation, stating that in response to this request the United States consular officers in Sweden and Norway have received permission to assume the charge of the interests of Cuba and of its citizens until Cuban consuls shall have been appointed. In compliance with your instructions, I have at once notified the United States consul-general and consuls in Sweden and Norway that such permission has been granted. I have, etc., W. W. THOMAS. [Inclosure 1.] Mr. Thomas to Mr. Lagerheim. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, EXCELLENCY: I have the honor to inform you that I am instructed by the Secretary of State, at the request of the President of Cuba, to ask the Government of Sweden and Norway to permit the United States consular officers within its jurisdiction to use their good offices in representation of the interests of Cuba and its citizens until Cuban consuls shall have been appointed. I take this occasion to renew, etc., W. W. THOMAS. [Inclosure 2-Translation.] Mr. Lagerheim to Mr. Thomas. ROYAL FOREIGN OFFICE, MR. MINISTER: Referring to your note of June 23 last, I have the honor to inform you that United States consular officers in Sweden and Norway have received permission to assume the charge of the interests of Cuba and of its citizens until Cuban consuls shall have been appointed. Accept, etc., LAGERHEIM. a Printed, p. 6. No. 43.] SWITZERLAND. PASSPORT APPLICATION OF HELENA PECARE. Mr. Hardy to Mr. Hay. UNITED STATES LEGATION, SIR: I have the honor to inclose herewith the application of Miss Helena Pecare for a passport received from the consular agent at Vevey, Mr. Cuenod, in November last, during my absence on leave. The consul-general preferred not to grant same, and held the papers until my return. The application was renewed in January last, and I extract from my letter of January 22 to Mr. Cuenod so much as refers to this case, viz: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the application of Helena Pecare for a passport, together with the naturalization certificate of her father and three other documents. It appears that the applicant was born abroad and has never been in the United States, although now over 32 years of age. Before this application can be acted upon it will be necessary that the legation should be assured that the applicant has, since her majority, definitely elected to retain the citizenship conferred upon her by the naturalization of her father and that she really intends to go to the United States, there to reside and perform the duties of a citizen. If able to make such declarations under oath, you will attach them to the application in the form of an affidavit, and, I need not add, satisfy yourself that she fully understands the nature of the requirements and of her statement under oath. The papers above referred to are herewith returned. In reply to the above letter, which sets forth the grounds on which the issue of a passport was temporarily refused, Miss Pecare makes the following statement: I can confirm under oath that since my majority I have definitely elected to retain the citizenship of the United States, as it has been my late father's dearest wish and the reason why he was married only by the American consul instead of also under German law. But I can not say under oath that I go to America. It is my intention to go in spring. My brother awaits me at Naples in April. His movements are often so unsettled and we have a sister in Europe who is ill. If you must refuse my application I shall be very grieved. I did hope that the children of an American citizen had a right to citizenship somewhere. If you can not give me the passport, could you kindly give me a paper to say that my father has been an American and that as his daughter I, too, belong to America? The fact that Miss Pecare allowed eleven years to pass after attaining her majority before taking any steps toward claiming American citizenship, that she has resided continuously abroad thirty-two years without visiting the United States, i. e., since her birth in Frankfort, and that she can not declare under oath her intention to go there to reside, has led me to decline to issue her a passport, and I have the honor to ask for the approval of the Department in so doing. While the applicant declares intention to go to the United States within two years, I am satisfied, as was the consul-general, that there is no such intent as is contemplated by the regulations. If so instructed by the Department a passport can be issued with the warning that it will not be renewed on its expiration if the applicant remains abroad. Miss Pecare is, however, leaving Switzerland, and as a proviso such as the above-mentioned does not appear on the passport, it would probably be easy to secure a renewal elsewhere. I have, etc. ARTHUR S. HARDY. Mr. Hay to Mr. Hardy. No. 27.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, February 28, 1902. SIR: Your No. 43 of the 13th instant relative to the application of Helena Pecare for a passport has been received. Under the circumstances detailed in the dispatch your refusal to grant the passport to Miss Pecare has the Department's approval. I am, etc., JOHN HAY. PASSPORT APPLICATION OF BERTHA KNOPF. No. 55.] Mr. Hardy to Mr. Hay. UNITED STATES LEGATION, SIR: I have the honor to report that I have refused an application for a passport made by Mrs. Bertha Knopf under the circumstances set forth below. On August 22, 1895, passport No. 251 was issued to one Dr. Leo Knopf on an application in which he declared he was born in New York on December 2, 1870, his father being a naturalized citizen of the United States, and that he intended to return to the United States within three or four years. He was the bearer of passport No. 1812, issued November 1, 1892, by the legation in Berlin, and desired its renewal for the purpose of finishing his studies. His wife's name and that of his son Richard, born at Altdorf, January 13, 1895, were inserted in passport No. 251. On June 9, 1898, his wife, Bertha Knopf, called at the legation and explained to Mr. Leishman that her husband had left Switzerland, taking with him the passport No. 251 issued as above by Mr. Broadhead, leaving her and her children without money or identification papers. She was accompanied by Dr. Schmid, national councilor of Altdorf, who vouched for the truth of her statements. On these statements and the production of her marriage certificate and the birth cirtificates of her two children, and her declaration to go to the United States (where she had never been) within two years, passport No. 156 was issued her on June 9, 1898. She was then informed that she must not count upon a renewal. On April 12 instant she applied for a renewal through the Zurich consulate, but was unable to declare her intention to go to the United States within any definite time. Copies of Mr. Lieberknecht's letter accompanying her application and of my reply thereto are inclosed herewith. Mr. Lieberknecht wrote again on April 16 instant. A copy of his letter and of my reply declining to renew are also inclosed. Should the reasons set forth in Mr. Lieberknecht's letter, or the statements made in Mrs. Knopf's last letter appealing against my decision, seem in the view of the Department sufficient to warrant the issue of a passport I would ask to be so instructed. Without such instruction I do not see my way clear to do so. I have, etc., [Inclosure 1.] ARTHUR S. HARDY. Mr. Lieberknecht to Mr. Hardy. UNITED STATES CONSULATE, DEAR SIR: Inclosed please find application for passport of Bertha Knopf, together with her old passport. She married an American citizen, and her husband left her without any papers whatsoever. He is a fugitive from justice, and she does not know whether he is alive or dead. Reports have reached her that he committed suicide, but she has no positive proof of this fact. What proof she has furnished that her husband is an American citizen I do not know, but the facts are recorded at your legation. Yours, respectfully, A. LIEBERKNECHT, Consul. [Inclosure 2.] Mr. Hardy to Mr. Lieberknecht. UNITED STATES LEGATION, Berne, April 15, 1902. SIR: Inclosed please find returned the passport application of Mrs. Bertha Knopf, and her expired passport, "canceled.” It appears that Mrs. Knopf married a native citizen of the United States, who has since deserted her; that she has never been in the United States, and can make no declaration of intention to go there. Under these circumstances, as at present set forth, her application is refused. In the application made by her husband in 1895 he declared himself to be a native citizen, and to have been born in New York, December 2, 1870. In such a case the wife should make application on the native form, the words "that I am the wife of a native" being inserted in the proper place. I call your attention to this instruction of the Department for your future guidance. Yours, very respectfully, ARTHUR S. HARDY. [Inclosure 3.] Mr. Lieberknecht to Mr. Hardy. UNITED STATES CONSULATE, DEAR SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of the 15th instant, in regard to passport application of Mrs. Knopf, and note what you say. I should certainly have used a native form had she not given me to understand that her husband was, or had been, a naturalized citizen, but the fact is she knows very little about him. The woman is no doubt an American citizen, and in her unfortunate circumstances it seems she ought to have the protection of her country. As regards her returning to the United States, it is difficult for her to make any pos |