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No. 38.]

MILITARY SERVICE CASE OF GEORGE HOFERER.

Mr. Tower to Mr. Hay.

EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES,
Berlin, January 29, 1903.

SIR: I have the honor to inform you that in June last one George Hoferer wrote to the embassy stating that he desired to make a visit in Germany. Through correspondence with Hoferer it appeared that he was born in Petersthal, Amt Oberkirch, Baden, on October 8, 1868, emigrated to the United States in April, 1890, where he still resides, at Newark, N. J., and became naturalized, as shown by the certificate submitted by him, in the United States district court for the eastern district of New York, on November 22, 1895.

A communication was accordingly addressed to the foreign office making the request desired, to which a reply has just been received. In this the foreign office states that Hoferer was enrolled as a recruit in the army in 1889, and summoned to appear for service in May, 1890, which summons he failed to obey, and emigrated to America. In consequence he was declared to be deserter by an order of the court-martial of the twenty-eighth division, dated the 20th of December, 1890, and sentenced to pay a fine of 200 marks, which is still unpaid.

This reply has already been communicated to Hoferer. The offense with which he is charged is thus not merely evasion of military service by emigration, but desertion after having been enrolled as a recruit. According to our treaty of naturalization with Baden (article 2, paragraph 1) a naturalized citizen still remains liable to punishment for this offense upon his return.

I shall therefore take no further action in this case unless I am so instructed to do.

I have, etc.,

CHARLEMAGNE TOWER.

No. 31.]

MILITARY-SERVICE CASE OF JACOB ROOS.

Mr. Loomis to Mr. Tower.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, March 11, 1903. SIR: I inclose, in original, a petition, dated the 5th instant, of Jacob Roos, of Dallas, Tex., setting forth that, at the age of 16, he left Germany and came to the United States, and was naturalized; that since then a fine has been imposed upon him for evasion of military service; that his mother is sick and he would like to visit her. He asks the aid of the Department in bringing about a revocation of the judg ment imposing a fine upon him, and in obtaining the desired permission

for him to visit his mother.

You are instructed to do what you properly can to aid Mr. Roos in that behalf.

I inclose in original his certificate of naturalization, his birth certificate, and the pass issued to him on his departure from Germany.

M. Potts, the United States naval attaché at this embassy; and on the evening of Thursday, the 25th of June, the admiral, with his officers, was invited by the Emperor to dine on board the Hohenzollern, at which dinner I was also present, accompanied by Mr. H. Percival Dodge, first secretary; Capt. Templin M. Potts, naval attaché; Mr. R. S. Reynolds Hitt, second secretary; and Mr. Charles Richardson, third secretary of this embassy. Prince and Princess Henry of Prussia. gave also a garden party at the castle in Kiel in honor of the American officers on Friday afternoon, the 26th of June, which was attended by the Emperor and Empress and some six or eight hundred people, among them the Chancellor of the Empire and all the high officials, civil, military, and naval, who were at that time in Kiel.

On Friday evening, the 26th of June, I gave a dinner at the Yacht Club, in Kiel, in honor of Admiral Cotton and his officers, at which the Emperor and Prince Henry were present, as also the Chancellor of the Empire, Count von Bülow; the grand marshal of the court, Count von Eufenburg; Vice-Admiral von Tirpitz, imperial secretary of the navy; Admiral Koester, Vice-Admiral von Senden Bibran, ViceAdmiral von Arnim, Vice-Admiral Büchsel, chief of the naval general staff. There were altogether seventy-two people at table. In the course of the dinner I made an address to the Emperor as follows:

It is with very great pleasure that I have been permitted to present to Your Majesty Admiral Cotton and the officers of the United States Navy who accompany him upon this visit to Kiel. They have come here with their ships of war upon a mission of peace, bringing with them cordial sentiments of friendship from America to Germany. I am convinced that Your Majesty and Your Majesty's people entertain the same sentiments in return toward the resident and the people of the United States of America. Your Majesty's interest in us has proven this upon many memorable occasions, especially, however, upon that of the visit of His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Prussia, who was received throughout the country with demonstrations of hearty and sincere welcome, and who, when he embarked to return across the Atlantic Ocean, left behind him the universal wish that he would come to us and visit us again.

Your Majesty has also given proof of these sentiments in the present of the magnificent casts which Your Majesty has recently sent to Harvard University. These works form so rare a collection of the best examples of sculpture and architecture in Germany that they will establish an art museum by themselves and will afford a splendid opportunity for study to the youth of America, who will henceforth remember Your Majesty as a great public benefactor.

Mutual understanding between nations, as between individuals, is best attained by personal intercourse which leads to better acquaintance; and it is the happy outcome of an occasion like this that friends strengthen the bond of friendship, which, in the case of two great powers like Germany and the United States, is a benefit to the whole civilized world. The efforts of Germany and the United States are con stantly tending toward the same purposes in the development of civilization, the extension of commerce, and the peace of the world. The closer our personal acquaintance becomes, the more we are sure to discover how near our paths lie to each other, how readily we may follow them together, and how much we have each to gain by the maintenance of harmony in the future, as in the present and the past. America wishes this, sir, with all sincerity.

There are hundreds of thousands of people of German birth and German extraction living in the United States who look back from their new home with feelings of tender affection toward the Fatherland. They are among the best of our citizens. They bring with them to us the habits of thrift and industry and the high ideals of domestic life which they have inherited from their ancestors, and which have contributed so much to make America what it is. These people will rejoice, as all Americans rejoice, at the incidents that are taking place at Kiel, and we all are happy at the assurances which we derive from Your Majesty's pres nce here to-night. Speaking for the nation, I have the honor to convey to Your Majesty the cordial greetings and hearty good wishes of the President and the people of the United States of America.

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I then proposed the health of the Emperor and the Empress, the Crown Prince, and the other members of the Emperor's family, to which the Emperor replied:

In responding to your excellency's warm and sympathetic toast, I offer a cordial welcome to the American squadron, Admiral Cotton, and his officers, in the name of the German people. We look upon them as the bearers of friendly sentiments of the citizens of the United States, to which, I can assure your excellency, the whole of Germany heartily responds. I am happy that my hopes for a better mutual understanding between our two countries, through the personal intercourse which my brother, Prince Henry, was able to hold with your excellency's countrymen, have been fully realized and have strengthened the bonds of friendship between Germany and America. That my gift of the casts of medieval German architecture has been received in so gracious a manner by the Harvard University gives me the greatest satisfaction. I hope that the samples relating to our old history will induce many of the young students to come over to Germany to study the originals and the people who live around them. My sincerest wish is that our two peoples may become yet closer acquainted. No serious citizen in America or Germany, I trust, believes that the harmony and continuance of our mutual interest could be disturbed by permanent factors in our relationship. We are knit too closely together in our material interests. Rivalries of trade and commerce will always exist, but the power which draws us together is too strong to allow the development of any antagonism. It is my firmest conviction that the fact of so many hundreds of thousands of Germans living and thriving in the United States, with their hearts still warm with their love of their old Fatherland, will render the task more easy for smoothing the path of undisturbed and progressive relations which are of vital importance to our countries. It is now my duty to beg your excellency to thank His Excellency the President of the United States for the joyous occasion for which we are indebted to his kindness. We all over here admire his firmness of character, his iron will, his devotion to his country, and his indomitable energy, and we readily grasp the hand proffered to us across the sea in cordial friendship, feeling at the same time that blood is thicker than water.

Gentlemen, I propose the toast of His Excellency the President of the United States. God bless him and the United States.

On Saturday, the 27th of June, Admiral Cotton gave a luncheon on board the flagship Kearsarge, which was attended by the Emperor and Prince Henry. There were also present the Chancellor of the Empire, Count Eulenburg, Vice-Admiral von Tirpitz, and all the other German admirals then at Kiel, as well as other high officers of the German service and the captains of the American squadron. I was also present at table, accompanied by Captain Potts, Mr. Hitt, and Mr. Richardson. At the close of the luncheon the Emperor arose and, thanking Admiral Cotton for the reception which had been accorded to him on board the Kearsarge, presented to the captain and officers of the Kearsarge a fine piece of silver in the form of a large bowl with a cover and handles, which he asked them to accept as a souvenir of their visit to Kiel.

On Tuesday afternoon, the 30th of June, the American squadron left Kiel. Before leaving, Admiral Cotton wrote me the following

letter:

KIEL, June 29, 1903.

SIR: I have the honor to inform you that, in accordance with the order of the honorable Secretary of the Navy, the United States European Squadron, under my command, will sail from this port to-morrow afternoon at 6 o'clock.

May I ask that you will take such steps as may be necessary to convey the information to His Majesty the Emperor, and to express to him for myself and the captains and officers under my command our sincere and cordial thanks for, and our deep appreciation of, the boundless courtesy and cordial and charming hospitality extended to us by His Majesty, by his Royal and Imperial Highness, Admiral Prince Henry of Prussia, and by all the other admirals, captains, and officers of his splendid fleet present in this harbor, and also by those officers who are on duty on shore.

We depart with profound regret, and shall ever bear in memory the delightful week passed by the United States squadron in the harbor of Kiel, as the guests of His Majesty the Emperor.

I have, etc.,

C. S. COTTON.

I have communicated this message from Admiral Cotton to the Imperial minister for foreign affairs with the request that it may be presented to the Emperor.

I am happy to report to you that the whole of the visit of this squadron was eminently successful in every respect. I believe that it has drawn the two nations together in a way which will do lasting good, and I am convinced that it will have the happiest results in the intercourse between Germany and the United States.

I have, etc.,

CHARLEMAGNE TOWER

GREAT BRITAIN.

DIFFICULTY WITH VENEZUELA GROWING OUT OF NONPAYMENT OF CLAIMS AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT OF THAT COUNTRY OF NATIONALS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND OTHER COUNTRIES. «

Mr. Hay to Mr. White.

[Telegram.-Paraphrase.]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, December 5, 1902.

(Mr. Hay states that, at the request of J. and W. Seligman & Co., bankers, New York, who are trying to make an arrangement to effect a settlement of the Venezuelan debt, it gives him pleasure to say that the President would be glad if such an arrangement could be made as might obviate the necessity of any exhibition of force on the part of Germany and Great Britain. Mr. White will understand, however, that the United States Government assumes no obligation whatever in the nature either of a material or moral guaranty of any liabilities created by the transaction.

This instruction is sent for Mr. White's information in case anyone in interest makes inquiry of him.)

Mr. Hay to Mr. White.

[Telegram.-Paraphrase.]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, December 12, 1902.

(Mr. Hay, referring to the pro-memoria of the Imperial German embassy of December 20, 1901, stating that the proposed pacific blockade of Venezuelan harbors "would touch likewise the ships of neutral powers, inasmuch as such ships, although a confiscation of them would not have to be considered, would have to be turned away and prohibited until the blockade should be raised," directs Mr. White to say to the British Government that the United States adheres to the position taken by it in relation to the Cretan blockade in 1897 [see Foreign Relations, 1897, p. 255], and therefore does not acquiesce in any extension of the doctrine of pacific blockade which may adversely affect the rights of states not parties to the controversy, or discriminate against the commerce of neutral nations; and that the Government of the United States reserves all of its rights in the premises.)

a For other correspondence on this subject, see under Germany, page 417; Italy, page 601; and Venezuela, page 788.

Printed Foreign Relations, 1901, p. 196.

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