MONTENEGRO. PRESENTATION OF CREDENTIALS BY THE FIRST AMERICAN MINISTER TO THE PRINCE OF MONTENEGRO. No. 80.] The Acting Secretary of State to Minister Jackson. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I have to inform you that the diplomatic and consular act approved March 3, 1905, establishes Roumania and Servia as a separate diplomatic mission and adds Montenegro to the mission to Greece and diplomatic agency to Bulgaria. The President has nominated and the Senate confirmed Mr. John W. Riddle, at present agent and consul-general at Cairo, as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Roumania and Servia, and yourself as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Greece and Montenegro and diplomatic agent to Bulgaria. These changes will not take effect until July 1 next, and your new credentials will be forwarded to you in due time. Your letters of recall from Roumania and Servia will be delivered by Mr. Riddle when he presents his letters of credence. Presented credentials to-day. Prince requested me to express gratitude to President. Propose leaving Friday for Greece via Italy. Wilson in charge at Athens. Minister Jackson to the Secretary of State. No. 16. Montenegrin series. AMERICAN LEGATION, JACKSON. Athens, November 28, 1905. SIR: Referring to my dispatch from Cettinje of the 30th ultimo, I have now the honor to report more at length in regard to the presentation of my credentials to the Prince of Montenegro. I reached Cattaro about noon on Friday, October 27, and the same afternoon I drove to Cettinje. The next morning I called at the ministry of foreign affairs and made the acquaintance of the secretarygeneral, leaving with him a copy of my credentials and a written request for an audience in which to present the original to the Prince. Later in the day I renewed my acquaintance with the minister, his excellency the Voyevode G. Voucovitch, whom I had met at Belgrade about a year before, and the next day I was informed by the minister verbally that my audience would take place on Monday morning. On Sunday morning I met the Hereditary Prince, whose acquaintance I had also made at Belgrade, at the time of the coronation of King Peter of Servia, and was invited by him to lunch with the Princess and himself. At the time appointed on Monday morning I was called for by the Prince's adjutant and driven to the palace in a court carriage. A military detachment was drawn up in front of the palace, which saluted me upon my arrival and departure, the band playing Hail Columbia on both occasions. Inside the palace I was met by the minister of foreign affairs, who escorted me up stairs to a large reception room in which I found the Prince and the Hereditary Prince surrounded by all the Montenegrin ministers and various generals and other dignitaries, all in the full national dress. In presenting my credentials I paraphrased the words used by the President, adding that it was a personal pleasure to me to be the first representative of a free people in a country which had always been able to maintain its independence. I spoke in French and the Prince replied in the same language in a speech a copy and translation of which I inclose herewith. After receiving the President's letter the Prince presented the ministers and others to me, and then took me into another room where we sat down and where the conversation was of a pleasant informal character. In the course of this conversation the Prince referred repeatedly (as he and other members of the royal family did on various other occasions) to the pleasure it gave him to welcome an American representative to Montenegro and to the compliment paid Montenegro by the American Government in accrediting me to his court. He asked me to thank the President for his action in this matter, and he added that, as a friend of Russia, he felt very grateful to the President for the part taken by him in bringing about peace between that country and Japan. The Prince hoped that my coming to Montenegro would be of advantage to the Montenegrins in the United States and that it would lead as well to increased commercial relations between the two countries. His Royal Highness suggested the negotiation of a commercial treaty. On the evening of the next day, October 30, a dinner was given in my honor at the palace, and on which occasion the Prince read and translated to me the proclamation [call for a national assembly], which was published four days later. That evening I was again sent for and taken back to my hotel by a carriage from the court. On his hearing that I was leaving the next day the Prince sent for and received me in private audience on the morning of November 2, when we had a prolonged conversation of an informal general character, in which His Royal Highness repeated much that he had said before. I left Cettinje en route for Athens, by way of Italy, on November 3. I have, etc., JOHN B. JACKSON. [Inclosure. Translation.] MR. MINISTER: It is with lively satisfaction that I receive the letters by which his Excellency the President of the United States of America has accredited you to me as first American envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary. I can also assure you, Mr. Minister, that all my efforts will be extended to develop and strengthen the friendly and cordial relations which unite my country to the powerful and glorious United States. I am deeply touched by the sentiments which His Excellency President Roosevelt cherishes for me, my family, and my country, and I eagerly seize the occasion to beg you to express to him all my gratitude. While thanking you for the good wishes which you have given me in the name of your eminent President, I beg you, Mr. Minister, to be assured that you will always find with me as well as with my government, the most earnest cooperation in facilitating the accomplishment of your mission which is so precious to me. Welcome. PROCLAMATION OF A CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT IN MONTENEGRO. Chargé Wilson to the Secretary of State. No. 8. Montenegrin series.] AMERICAN LEGATION, SIR: I have the honor to report that the Official Gazette of Montenegro published a few days ago a decree of the Prince authorizing a parliament, which will probably meet next December for the first time, and also granting freedom of the press. Until now the legislative power in Montenegro has been in the hands of a council of state, consisting of the crown prince, the metropolitan, and the members of the cabinet. I have, etc., CHARLES S. WILSON. Minister Jackson to the Secretary of State. No. 23. Montenegrin series.] AMERICAN LEGATION, Athens, December 26, 1905. SIR: I have the honor to report the receipt to-day of a note from the minister of foreign affairs at Cettinje, dated the 6/19th instant, informing me that deputies had assembled that day, the Skupshtina had been opened by a speech from the throne delivered by His Royal Highness the Prince of Montenegro, and the constitution had been solemnly proclaimed. I am requested to inform you that "by this act, so important and so memorable for the people of Montenegro, who are filled with gratitude and devotion to their magnanimous master (Maitre), the Principality which has heretofore been governed under an autocratic régime, has become a constitutional monarchy." Mr. Voucovitch writes that, "guided by ardent and profound affection for his subjects, the Prince, during the forty-six years of his reign, has ever been vigilant in behalf of the safety and prosperity of his country, and has never failed to interest himself sincerely in assuring their intellectual and economic development. In accord with the spirit of the age, His Royal Highness came to the conclusion that every man belonging to a cultivated state should at the same time be a free citizen, and in consequence he had decided of his own free will to institute a constitutional and representative régime." The procla mation of the 18/31st of October and subsequent decrees providing for elections on the principle of suffrage, universal, equal, and direct, was the result. In the speech from the throne the Prince refers to the reciprocal confidence between Prince and people which has existed in Montenegro for generations and which has resulted in the formation of a state whose independence has been recognized for centuries. The constitution is granted, the Prince says, not because the development of the state and its prosperity have been hindered by an autocratic government, but because the time has come, in his opinion, when a more progressive régime should be introduced. This constitution the Prince characterized as "an inheritance from his liberal ancestors, who had always been the first to inculcate ideas of liberty upon the hearts and minds of their subjects." In his speech the Prince refers to the good relations existing between Orthodox and Mohammedans in the Principality, while the sufferings of the Serbs in Old Servia and Macedonia "find an echo in the hearts of all Montenegrins." Relations with Turkey are, however, described as friendly. În speaking of foreign relations the Prince mentions Russia first, "to whom, after God, Montenegro owes the most gratitude," and then the Emperor Francis Joseph, with whom his personal relations "have never been troubled." He also refers to the family ties connecting Montenegro and Italy, and to the promise made by the German Emperor to accredit a representative at Cettinje, as well as to the friendly relations existing with Great Britain and France. He adds that among the countries which have shown evidences of friendliness "must not be forgotten the United States of America, which has recently accredited a representative to my court." He also mentions the good relations between Montenegro and Servia and Bulgaria. After reading the speech, the Prince took the oath to support the constitution. The Skupshtina has already adjourned, and the mandates of its members are considered as having expired. New elections are to be held next October for members of the first regular Skupshtina, and in the meantime the government is to be carried on by the ministry just appointed by the Prince. No. 25.] MOROCCO. MOROCCAN CONFERENCE. Minister Gummeré to Acting Secretary of State Loomis. AMERICAN LEGATION, SIR: I beg to report to the Department that I have received from Sid El Hadj Mohammed Ben Arby Torres, minister for foreign affairs, at present with the Shereefian court at Fez, a communication, a translation of which is inclosed, regarding a conference which the Sultan proposes should be held for the consideration of reforms in his Empire and the means of raising the necessary expenses therefor, and which I am requested to place before my government. Awaiting further instructions in the matter, I am, etc., S. R. GUMMERÉ. [Inclosure. Translation.] The Minister for Foreign Affairs to Minister Gummeré. After compliments. We have been ordered by our master the Sultan (God strengthen him) to request all the great powers to hold a conference at Tangier, composed by its honorable representatives and those appointed by the Maghzen to discuss the manner for suitable reforms which His Shereefian Majesty has determined to introduce into his Empire, and the expenses to carry out the We therefore beg to inform your excellency of this, so that you may notify your government and request them to permit your excellency to attend said conference for the above-mentioned purpose and let us know of its answer, and remain in peace and with joy. Written at the Holy Court at Fez on the 25th day of Rabe 1st, 1905; corresponding to May 29, 1905. same. MOHAMMED BEN ARBY TORRES. Ambassador McCormick to Acting Secretary of State Adee. [Telegram.] PARIS, July 10, 1905. France, with agreement of England, accepts invitation of Morocco to a conference on the understanding with Germany that her rights are respected, and that her arrangements with England and Spain will not be questioned nor will the open-door policy be altered. MCCORMICK. Ambassador Tower to Acting Secretary of State Adee. [Telegram.] BERLIN, July 10, 1905. The German minister for foreign affairs announced to me that the agreement between Germany and France in regard to Morocco was signed in Paris last Saturday. He asked me to communicate the |