rights be demonstratively aggressive, and calculated from the nature of things in the locality to lead to conflict, is hardly to be expected. "You will, of course, understand that much of this instruction is designed for your personal guidance. The tone of your dispatch, however, leads the Department to place the utmost reliance in your wisdom and discretion in dealing with this class of questions." Mr. Bayard, Sec. of State, to Mr. Jackson, July 17, 1885; MSS. Inst., Mexico. The work of the American missionaries at the Caroline Islands, irrespective of its sectarian relations, with which the Department can manifest no concern, is one of unostentatious and unselfish beneficence which may be properly brought to the notice of the German and Spanish Governments at the time of the controversy between them as to the possession of these islands. Mr. Bayard, Sec. of State, to Mr. Strobel, Sept. 7, 1885; MSS. Inst., Spain. (11) GOOD OFFICES FOR PERSECUTED JEWS. § 55. In 1840, at the time of the maltreatment of Jews at Damascus, our "chargé d'affaires at Constantinople was instructed to interpose his good offices on behalf of the oppressed and persecuted race of the Jews in the Ottoman dominions, among whose kindred are found some of the most worthy and patriotic of our own citizens." Mr. Forsyth, Sec. of State, to Mr. Kurschedt, Aug. 26, 1840; MSS. Dom. Let. The joining by a consul of the United States, in a Mohammedan country, with consuls from other powers in a protest against the conviction and execution of a Jew for blasphemy, meets with the approval of the Government of the United States. Mr. Cass, Sec. of State, to Mr. Chandler, July 29, 1857; MSS. Inst., Barbary "It has been suggested to this Department, and the suggestion is concurred in, that if the sympathy which we entertain for the inhu manly persecuted Hebrews, in the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, were made known to the Government to which you are accred ited, it might quicken and encourage the efforts of that Government to discharge its duty as a protecting power pursuant to the obligations of the treaty between certain European states. Although we are not a party to that instrument, and, as a rule, scrupulously abstain from interfering, directly or indirectly, in the public affairs of that quarter, the grievance adverted to is so enormous as to impart to it, as it were, a cosmopolitan character, in the redress of which all countries, Governments, and creeds are like interested. "You will consequently communicate on this subject with the minister for foreign affairs of Russia, in such a way as you may suppose might be most likely to compass the object in view." Mr. Fish, Sec. of State, to Mr. Curtin, July 22, 1872; MSS. Inst., Russia; For. "I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 4th instant, in which you request that protection be granted by our representatives in the Ottoman dominions to Israelites of Russian birth in and near Jerusalem. "As a rule our representatives abroad are permitted to extend the protection of the United States only to native-born or naturalized citizens thereof, but the sympathy of the United States for all oppressed peoples in foreign countries has been freely manifested in all cases where it could be done in accordance with the spirit of international courtesy and diplomatic usage. In granting such protection it is requisite, of course, that the representatives of the country to which the persons requiring protection owe allegiance should request it, and the authorities of the country in which they are at the time residing consent to it. The desired protection will be extended, if these conditions are complied with." Mr. F.W. Seward, Acting Sec. of State, to Mr. Isaacs, June 29, 1877; MSS. Dom. "At the invitation of the Spanish Government, a conference has recently been held at the city of Madrid to consider the subject of protection by foreign powers of native Moors in the Empire of Morocco. The minister of the United States in Spain was directed to take part in the deliberations of this conference, the result of which is a convention signed on behalf of all the powers represented. The instrument will be laid before the Senate for its consideration. The Government of the United States has also lost no opportunity to urge upon that of the Emperor of Morocco the necessity, in accordance with the humane and enlightened spirit of the age, of putting an end to the persecutions which have been so prevalent in that country of persons of a faith other than the Moslem, and especially of the Hebrew residents of Morocco." President Hayes's Fourth Annual Message, 1880. "No official interposition in behalf of Israelites who are Moorish subjects can be sanctioned, as this would be improper in itself, and would be a precedent against us which could not be gainsaid. Still, there might be cases in which humanity would dictate a disregard of technicalities, if your personal influence would shield Hebrews from oppression." Mr. Evarts, Sec. of State, to Mr. Mathews, March 20, 1878; MSS. Inst., Barb "It is, as you are of course aware, difficult for a foreign Government to make the full force of its influence felt in intervening for the protec tion of native subjects of the state addressed. Nevertheless, in view of the fact that the informal and friendly offices of the United States have, at times before now, been used with good effect, through the informal action of their representatives abroad in the interests of humanity and of that full religious toleration and equity which form so conspicuous a base for our own enlightened institutions, I shall be happy to instruct the United States consul at Tangier that he is at liberty to act, in the sense of your request, so far as may be consistent with his international obligations, and the efficiency of his official relations with the Scheriffian Government." Mr. Evarts, Sec. of State, to Messrs. Isaacs and Wolf, July 1, 1878; MSS. Dom. Although the mitigation of the persecution of the Hebrew race in Roumania could not be made a sine qua non to the establishment of official relations with that country, yet it may be made the subject of kindly representations prior to the establishment of such relations. Mr. Evarts, Sec. of State, to Mr. Kasson, August 9, 1879; MSS. Inst., Austria. "I have received a letter from Messrs. S. Wolf and A. S. Solomons, of this city, representing the Union of American-Hebrew Congregations,' in which they refer to newspaper statements indicating that the Jews in Russia have recently been subjected by the Government there to extraordinary hardships, and expressing a desire that the minister of the United States to Saint Petersburg may be instructed to make such representations to the Czar's Government, in the interest of relig ious freedom and suffering humanity, as will best accord with the most emphasized liberal sentiments of the American people.' The writers of the letter observe at the same time that they are well aware of the impropriety of one nation interfering with the internal affairs of another in matters of a purely local character.' "You are sufficiently well informed of the liberal sentiments of this Government to perceive that whenever any pertinent occasion may arise its attitude must always be in complete harmony with the principle of extending all rights and privileges without distinction on account of creed, and cannot fail, therefore, to conduct any affair of business or negotiation with the Government to which you are accredited which may involve any expression of the views of this Government on the subject in a manner which will subserve the interests of religious freedom. It would, of course, be inadmissible for the Government of the United States to approach the Government of Russia in criticism of its laws and regulations, except so far as such laws and regulations may injuriously affect citizens of this country in violation of natural rights, treaty obligations, or the provisions of international law, but it is desired that the attitude of the minister as regards questions of diplomatic contro- Mr. Evarts, Sec. of State, to Mr. Foster, April 14, 1880; MSS. Inst., Russia; Although official interference on behalf of Hebrews in Tangier, not citizens of the United States, is not permissible, yet the consul of the United States at that place may not improperly take such steps of inquiry as to the condition of Hebrews in Morocco as may tend to the amelioration of their condition and may not be inconsistent with international obligations. Mr. Evarts, Sec. of State, to Mr. Mathews, April 22, 1880, March 2, 1881; MSS. "I have to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Hoffman's No. 205 and 208, in relation to the expulsion of foreign Jews from certain large towns and cities of Russia, and the expulsion of Mr. Henry Pinkos, a Jew and an American citizen, from St. Petersburg in particular. It ap pears from the latter dispatch that Pinkos has been allowed to remain three months. Mr. Hoffman does not specifically state that Mr. Pinkos or the other Jews referred to have been ordered to leave Russia as well as St. Petersburg, but that is the implication of the dispatches. "In reply I have to observe that in the presence of this fact, that an American citizen has been ordered to leave Russia on no other ground than that he is the professor of a particular creed, or the holder of certain religious views, it becomes the duty of the Government of the United States, which impartially seeks to protect all its citizens of whatever origin or faith, solemnly, but with all respect to the Government of His Majesty, to protest. As this order of expulsion applies to all foreign Jews, in certain towns or localities, at least, of Russia, it is of course apparent that the same is not directed especially against the Government of which Mr. Pinkos is a citizen, and, indeed, the longstanding amity which has united the interests of Russia with those of this Government would of itself forbid a remote supposition that such might be the case. Notwithstanding this aspect of the matter, the United States could not fail to look upon the expulsion of one of its citizens from Russia, on the simple ground of his religious ideas or convictions, except as a grievance, akin to that which Russia would doubtless find in the expulsion of one of her own citizens from the United States on the ground of his attachment to the faith of his fathers. "It is intimated in Mr. Hoffman's No. 205 that the reason of this order may be found in the supposed implication of Jews in the plots formed against the life of the Emperor, and in so far as this may be true the Government of Russia has the entire sympathy of the Government of the United States in all just preventive efforts; and if there exists good evidence that Mr. Pinkos has been connected with any of these attempts the Government of the United States cannot object to his expulsion on that ground. But such a charge does not appear to have been brought against Mr. Pinkos; and it is confidently submitted to His Majesty's Government whether in the event Mr. Pinkos should finally be expelled from Russia, or be otherwise interrupted in his peaceful occupations, on the sole ground that his religious views are of one kind rather than another, he would not be justly entitled to make reclamation for the damage and loss to which he might thereby be subjected." Mr. Evarts, Sec. of State, to Mr. Foster, June 28, 1880; MSS. Inst., Russia; For. "Your several dispatches, numbered 73, 74, and 75 of the 30th and 31st of December, ultimo, in relation to the treatment of American Jews in Russia, have been received, and I have pleasure in commending your zealous presentation of the cases of Pinkos and Wilczynski, and of the general questions involved. The assurances you have received as to the liberal treatment hereafter to be accorded, as an act of comity. and courtesy by the military authorities, to American citizens visiting Russia, are fully appreciated. "I have observed, however, that in some of your conversations and writings with the foreign office, you give prominence to the natural American sympathy with oppressed Jews elsewhere as a motive for our solicitude as to the treatment of Jews in Russia. Such solicitude might very properly exist; but in your presentation of the facts you should be careful to impress that we ask treaty treatment for our aggrieved citizens, not because they are Jews, but because they are Americans. Russia's treatment of her own Jews, or of other foreign Jews resorting thither, may, in determinate cases, attract the sympathy of the American people, but the aim of the Government of the United States is the specific one of protecting its own citizens. If the hardships to which Russian and foreign Jews are subjected involves our citizens, we think we have just grounds for remonstrance and expectancy of better treatment. "This Government does not know or inquire the religion of the Amer ican citizens it protects. It cannot take cognizance of the methods by which the Russian authorities may arrive at the conclusion or conjecture that any given American citizen professes the Israelitish faith. The discussion of the recent cases has not as yet developed auy judicial procedure whereby an American citizen, otherwise unoffending against the laws, is to be convicted of Judaism, if that be an offense under Russian law; and we are indisposed to regard it as a maintainable point that a religious belief is, or can be, a military offense, to be dealt with under the arbitrary methods incident to the existence of a 'state of siege.' |