declaration of October 20, are perpetrated, it will confirm the belief that the solemn assurances of the German Government are not given in good faith. In the circumstances, the Government of the United States, to which the declaration of October 20 was made, enters an emphatic protest against the measures contemplated by the German authorities for whose conduct the Government of Germany is wholly responsible. Accept [etc.] File No. 763.72116/606 ROBERT LANSING The Swiss Minister (Sulzer) to the Secretary of State Department of German Interests WASHINGTON, November 11, 1918. SIR: I have been instructed by my Government to transmit to Your Excellency the following communication from the German Government: [Translation] The Imperial Government has fully and faithfully lived up to the assurances given in the note of October 20 to President Wilson. Orders were then immediately issued to the troops to spare private property and to show every possible consideration to the population of the occupied country. When on October 27 it was asserted in neutral and Belgian quarters that destruction had begun with the surface plants of the mines near Mons, the Government upon inquiry made of the Army Command received from it on October 29 the declaration that nowhere in Belgium had the destruction of mines begun. It appears that certain arrangements had simply been made to make certain machinery unserviceable for a term of about three months, for the contingency of a continuation of military operations, by putting it out of gear. Indeed, with a view to saving the sand mines from temporary damage, the Imperial Government on October 31 proposed to the Spanish and Dutch Governments to place the mines entirely intact in their custody. The enemy Government's position with respect to that proposal is not yet known, nevertheless no destruction whatever of Belgian mines has been started up to date. Solf.1 Accept [etc.] HANS SULZER PASSPORT AND VISA REGULATIONS Executive Order No. 2619, May 11, 1917 Paragraph 160 of the Consular Regulations is hereby amended to read as follows: Verification of American passports and visa of Foreign passports. A diplomatic officer or a consular officer, including a consular 1 agent, may verify regularly issued American passports by endorsing thereon the word "Good" in the language of the country and affixing to the endorsement his official signature and seal. Å diplomatic officer shall verify an American passport only when there is no American consulate established in the city where the mission is situated, or when the consular officer is absent, or the Government of the country refuses to acknowledge the validity of the consular verification. Whenever a passport without signature is presented to be verified the holder should be required to sign it before it is verified by a diplomatic or consular officer. No verification of a passport shall be made after its validity has expired. No fee shall be collected for verifying an American passport or, when instructed to do so by the Department of State, for visaing a foreign passport. Consular Forms Nos. 10 and 11 are amended to read as follows: Sections 8 and 9 of the Tariff of United States Consular Fees are hereby amended to read as follows: 8. Issuing a passport-Form No. 9. (No fee shall be collected for extending a passport.) Fee. $1.00 No fee. WOODROW WILSON 9. Verifying an American passport (Form No. 10) or visaing a foreign passport (Form No. 11)--- THE WHITE HOUSE, May 11, 1917. File No. 138/512a, 517a The Secretary of State to the Diplomatic and Principal Consular Officers in Certain Countries 1 [Circular telegram] WASHINGTON, May 29, 1917. All persons coming to the United States, en route through the United States, or on vessels touching at American ports should submit their passports to American diplomatic or consular officers for verification if American, or visa if foreign. Use word "seen" on foreign passports. Charge no fee for either service. If convinced applicant's journey for an improper or inimical purpose decline visa and report to Department. If suspicious, but without definite grounds, visa passport but telegraph Department. Examine each applicant with greatest care to ascertain whether entitled to passport he bears and whether coming to this country for purpose he alleges. Visa no passports for German subjects or subjects of countries with which American diplomatic relations are broken without Department's approval. Instruct consuls. LANSING File No. 138/609 The Secretary of Commerce (Redfield) to Steamship Lines Engaged in Foreign Passenger Service 2 94343-N WASHINGTON, June 5, 1917. SIR: You are hereby formally requested, on and after the receipt of this communication, not to accept as a passenger on any oceangoing vessel of your company, departing from the United States and bound for a foreign port, nor to permit the departure thereon as a passenger, of any citizen of the United States unless such citizen has in his or her possession a valid passport issued by the Department of State of the United States, which passport shall be submitted for examination and approval of the United States Collector of Customs at the port of departure before departure; and not to accept as a passenger on any ocean-going vessel of your company departing from the United States and bound for a foreign port, 1 Greece, Portugal, Rumania, Russia, and all countries outside Europe except Turkey in Asia (to the principal consular officers in countries where there were no diplomatic representatives). Similar instructions had been sent to missions in European countries in reply to specific inquiries, the earliest instruction being a telegram of Apr. 11, 1917, to the Legation in Norway. 2 Enclosed in a letter from the Solicitor for the Department of Commerce to the Acting Chief of the Bureau of Citizenship of the Department of State, June 11, 1917. nor to permit the departure thereon as a passenger, of any alien, unless such alien has in his or her possession a valid passport or official document in the nature of a passport satisfactorily establishing his or her identity and nationality, which passport or document shall be submitted for examination and visa to the Collector of Customs of the United States at the port of departure prior to departure. A favorable reply to the above request at your earliest convenience will be appreciated. Respectfully, [No signature indicated] File No. 811.111/733e The Acting Secretary of State to the Diplomatic and Consular No. 535 General Instructions Officers WASHINGTON, July 26, 1917. To the American diplomatic and consular officers: GENTLEMEN: There is annexed a copy of the "Joint order requiring passports and certain information from aliens who desire to enter the United States during the war," which has been signed by the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Labor under date of July 26, 1917. A copy of the "Declaration of alien about to depart for the United States " is also enclosed. Your special attention is directed to the provisions of the abovementioned order and declaration, which you should study with the greatest care and with which you are instructed to comply strictly. For the proper defense of the United States in the present war it is imperative that complete information be furnished as to each proposed traveler or immigrant to the United States, in order that it may be possible to control travel and prevent the admission of those whose attitude might be inimical and whose presence might constitute a danger. At the same time it is equally important to advise prospective immigrants to the United States of the exclusion provisions of Section 3 of the Immigration Act of February 5, 1917, of which you were informed in General Instruction (Consular) No. 514, and to give them due warning when it appears that they are liable to be excluded thereunder. Diplomatic and consular officers should understand that in matters relating solely to immigration their functions are advisory only and not administrative. They have no power to exclude a prospective immigrant because he ap pears to be excludible under the law just mentioned. The decision in each case rests with the immigration authorities in the United States. For your guidance in the carrying out of this order, and also in connection with the verification of passports for American citizens proceeding to the United States, the following rules are set forth. INSTALLATION OF SYSTEM (1) Translation and publication of requirements.—A translation or translations of Section 3 of the Immigration Act of February 5, 1917 (see General Instruction, Consular, No. 514), and of the enclosed form of declaration (see par. 19), into the language or languages of the country to which you are assigned will be made immediately by the mission, or, in the absence of a mission, by the principal consular officer in the country. Printed copies of these translations should be forwarded to all American consular officers in such country for distribution upon request among prospective immigrants. The translations should be published as far as possible in local newspapers, particularly those read by persons of the immigrant classes, and copies in large print should be posted in all consular offices, including consular agencies, although consular agents should not take declarations or make visas. The newspapers and proper officials in the country or district, except in Canada, should be notified that all persons about to journey to the United States must carry passports and have them verified or visaed by American consular officers in the country from which they start upon their journey, at least two weeks before the time of their departure, as well as in the country from which they embark, or from which they enter the United States if they come by land. The cost of such necessary advertisements and notices may be included in the contingent expenses of the various offices. (2) Distribution of declaration forms.-The form of declaration enclosed should be translated as stated above, and such translation printed in lines parallel with English text upon sheets the size of the enclosed form, and in similar type, by the mission or principal consular office and furnished in sufficient numbers immediately to all consular offices, except consular agencies. These forms, printed both in English and the language of the country, are the forms to be used by the aliens. (3) Department to be notified.-Upon publication of notice as above and distribution of necessary declaration forms, the mission or principal consular office should notify the Department by telegraph of that fact and that compliance is being made with the requirements of this circular regarding declaration and visa. |