PERSIA. PASSPORT APPLICATION OF ABLAHAT ODISHU SAMUEL. No. 31.] Mr. Pearson to Mr. Hay. AMERICAN LEGATION, Teheran, January 20, 1904. SIR: I have the honor to inclose herein the application for a passport of Ablahat Odishu Samuel. I have declined to issue the passport until instructed by the Department. The claim is weakened and clouded by the following circumstances, which appear upon the face of the application: 1. The man resided three years in the United States, and then three years abroad, presumably in Persia, as two of his children whom he asks to be included in the passport were born in Persia during the period in which he claims a domicile in the United States. 2. He then returned to the United States and pieced out broken intervals of time necessary to make five years in order to secure the certificate of naturalization, and almost immediately thereafter he returned to Persia, where he has since resided continuously. He thus leaves the unavoidable inference that the sole purpose of his second journey to the United States was to secure the certificate of naturalization. 3. He expresses an intention to return to the United States within three years, this making the residence of this alleged citizen nine years in Persia and five years in the United States. "To allow such pretensions would be to tolerate a fraud upon both governments, enabling a man to enjoy the advantages of two nationalities and to escape the duties and burdens of each." (Secretary Fish to Mr. Motley October 14, 1869.) The case in question resembles that of Demetrias Chrysanthides, described by Mr. Leishman in Foreign Relations, 1901, page 519 et seq., but in all essential features it is weaker. In that case the residence prior to naturalization was unbroken except by an absence of five months. Chrysanthides remained in the United States more than three years after his naturalization; he was naturalized in the State in which he had resided for five years, and he expressed the intention to return within one year. SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatch No. 31, of the 20th ultimo, reporting your refusal to isue a passport to Ablahat Odishu Samuel, the facts of the case, as appear upon the face of the application, being as follows: Samuel resided three years in the United States-from 1893 to 1896 and then three years abroad-from 1896 to 1899. His residence abroad was presumably in Persia, as two of his children, whom he asks to have included in his passport, were born in that country, one on May 17, 1897, and the other on January 19, 1900. He then returned to the United States and remained here from 1899 to 1901, thus making up, in two periods, the five years' residence necessary for naturalization. Almost immediately thereafter he returned to Persia, where he has since resided continuously. He thus leaves the unavoidable inference that the sole purpose of his second journey to the United States was to secure the certificate of naturalization. Samuel expresses an intention to return to the United States within three years, thus making his residence nine years in Persia and five. years in the United States, since his first arrival in this country. Your action in refusing a passport is approved. As set forth in the Department's circular instruction of March 27, 1899, "a naturalized citizen who returns to the country of his origin and there resides without any tangible manifestation of an intention to return to the United States may, therefore, generally be assumed to have lost the right to receive the protection of the United States." The same circular, in speaking of the peculiar status of residents in a semibarbarous country, or one in which the United States exercises extraterritorial jurisdiction, says: "If they were subjects of such power before they acquired citizenship in the United States, they are amenable, upon returning, to the same restrictions of residence as are laid down in the beginning of this instruction (as quoted above) and for the same reasons." It would appear that Samuel is permanently resident in Persia, and his application may be rejected for that reason, as well as for the reason that his residence in this country before naturalization was not continuous, and, therefore, does not satisfy the requirements of law. I am, etc., JOHN HAY. MURDER OF REV. BENJAMIN W. LABAREE, AN AMERICAN MISSIONARY IN PERSIA. (NOTE. See also under Turkey, page 835.) Mr. Pearson to Mr. Hay. [Telegram.] AMERICAN LEGATION, Teheran, March 13, 1904. American Missionary Labaree was murdered near Urumia, Persia, 9th instant. Motive apparently robbery. Government, at my request, has ordered search for criminal and prompt punishment. a Printed in Foreign Relations, 1902, p. 1. PEARSON. FR 1904 M 42 Mr. Hay to Mr. Pearson. [Telegram.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE Washington, March 23, 1904. Insist on energetic action by Persian authorities to apprehend and punish murderer of Labaree, and urge efficient protection of all American missionaries. Keep Department advised. Mr. Pearson to Mr. Hay. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] HAY. AMERICAN LEGATION, Teheran, March 25, 1904. (Mr. Pearson reports that the murderer of Labaree, named Seyd Jafer, is identified and located near Mount Ararat on the Turkish frontier. This same man murdered a British subject, and the American and British legations are jointly insisting on energetic action on the part of the Government to bring the murderer to justice. At the request of Mr. Pearson the Persian Government sent stringent telegraphic orders for the protection of Christians.) No. 44.] Mr. Pearson to Mr. Hay. AMERICAN LEGATION, Teheran, April 18, 1904. SIR: It is now forty-one days since the Rev. Benjamin W. Labaree, an American missionary was murdered near Khoi, almost under the shadow of Mount Ararat. I had hoped before this to cable you that one or more of the murderers had been arrested, but I can only report at present that a large expedition, under command of an energetic general who is highly respected and commended by the missionaries, is actually scouring the mountains in search of any and all of the gang who are all known and identified. It will be seen that while only four men actually participated in the killing of Mr. Labaree and his servant, ten other Kurds of the same gang were accomplices. They had simply taken another road for the purpose of entrapping their prey and must be held guilty as accessories before the fact. The brutality and atrocity of the murder remove any doubt as to its motive, and eliminate entirely the suggestion in my first cable that the "motive was apparently robbery." The stealing of the horses and other property was a mere incident. The inspiration of the deed was religious and race hatred, without the slightest personal animosity. The fact that the chief and leader of the criminals is a "Seyid," an alleged lineal decendant of Mahomet, adds greatly to the difficulty of the arrest. These Kurds are all Mohammedans of the Sunni sect, and their fanaticism, which is both ardent and sincere, added to their hereditary and instinctive love of blood and pillage make them a dangerous and difficult population to deal with. The home of the Kurds or " Kurdistan" is an indefinite geographical expression, but may be roughly understood as beginning at Mount Ararat on the north and stretching south to where the mountains fade away into the plains of Mesopotamia above Bagdad, say, 300 miles; the width of the region may be measured by the distance between Lake Urumia in Persia and Lake Van in Turkey-something like 100 miles; the area of this region is as large as the State of South Carolina. It disregards imperial boundaries, as its inhabitants disregard imperial laws and orders; it extends into Persia or Turkey according to the pleasure and habits and wanderings of these wild people. Notwithstanding the strict laws that require passports to enter Turkey or Persia, the Kurd relies with confidence and success upon bis rifle and scimitar rather than upon paper and seals and visas, and so crosses indifferently into either territory to commit crimes, or to escape the consequences of his crimes. This is the Kurd, the creature we have to deal with in this case. AMERICAN LEGATION, (Mr. Tyler reports that the American legation and the British minister presented a joint note to the prime minister insisting upon the immediate dispatch of a fully equipped expedition for the capture of the murderers of Labaree.) a Mr. Tyler to Mr. Hay. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] AMERICAN LEGATION, Teheran, May 18, 1904. (Mr. Tyler reports that Mir Ghaffar, the murderer of Mr. Labaree, was arrested yesterday.) No. 51.] Mr. Tyler to Mr. Hay. AMERICAN LEGATION, Teheran, May 30, 1904. SIR: I have the honor to inform you that I had a long conversation this morning with the minister for foreign affairs concerning the a Printed on page 667. measures taken for the arrest of the accomplices in the murder of the late Mr. Labarre and his servant. I told his excellency that it was some satisfaction to know that Mir Ghaffar, about whose participation in the crime there could be no doubt, had been arrested; but from the information which had been received at the legation and communicated to him, there were still three Kurds, at the least equally culpable with the principal, who must be apprehended. I also told his excellency that there was a rumor that the Madjdes-Sultaneh, commander of the troops in Urumia, who was better acquainted with the whole facts of this and other outrages, and was not only capable but anxious to bring these criminals to justice, was about to be superseded. I urged him to use his influence to have this officer kept in his position until the case was settled. He assured me that he would do all he could and would telegraph to the Crown Prince not to remove him; and that no exertions were to be relaxed until the culprits were arrested. It has on several occasions been reported to this and the English legation that the chief ecclesiastic in Urumia had used his position not only to shelter the criminals, but there were strong suspicions that he had even instigated the crimes. In my conversation I reminded his excellency that it was a most serious responsibility to keep a man in such a position who used his power and opportunities for breaking the law and frustrating the ends of justice, and I considered that if these offenses were proved against him he should not be allowed to escape with impunity. He said he agreed with me and that he would try and find some means of marking the Government's disapproval of his actions. In view of this crime, the periodical outrages, murders, robberies, and destructions of property which took place on the Turkish frontier, I told his excellency that the only effectual remedy would be in disarming the Kurds, and I begged him to take this matter into serious consideration. The minister took notes of the various points we had discussed, and desired me to write and assure you that he agreed with me in these matters and that he would do all in his power to remove the evils which were continually festering and disturbing the safety and tranquillity of those regions. I have, etc., JOHN TYLER. Mr. Hay to Mr. Tyler. No. 30.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, June 20, 1904. SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your telegram of the 18th ultimo, in which you reported the arrest of Mir Ghaffar, the leader of the gang who murdered Mr. Labarre and his servant. The Department expects the legation to continue to be perseveringly attentive to this case, to the end that full justice may be meted out to the participators in the crime. I am, etc., JOHN HAY. |