zen, he is not entitled to a passport declaring him to be a citizen of the United States. Both of these classes of persons, however, may be entitled to some recognition by this Government. The most that can be done for them by your legation is to certify to the genuineness of their papers when presented for attestation and when there can be no reasonable doubt as to their being authentic; and to this simple certificate that, to the best of the belief of the legation, the documents in question are genuine, the European authorities are at perfect liberty to pay such respect as they think proper. "This Government cannot rightfully, and does not, claim of foreign powers the same consideration for a declaration of intention to become a citizen as for a regular passport. The declaration, indeed, is prima facie evidence that the person who made it was at its date domiciled in the United States and entitled thereby, though not to all, to certain rights of a citizen, and to much more consideration when abroad than is due to one who has never been in our country; but the declarant not being a citizen under our laws, even while domiciled here, cannot enjoy all the rights of citizenship either here or abroad. He is entitled to our care, and in most circumstances we have a right to consider him as under our protection; and this Government is disposed and ready to grant him all the benefits he can or ought to receive in such situation. If such individual, however, afterwards leaves this country, goes to another, and there takes up his permanent abode, his connection with the United States is dissolved, and his intention to become a citizen must be considered to have been abandoned. Under the circumstances the previous declaration ceases to be available for any purposes whatever. But when a person with a fair intent has made his declaration and goes abroad for any purpose not incompatible with the objects of the declaration, and the legation has certified to the genuineness of his papers, the Government of the United States has done all that can be required or reasonably expected and can have no just cause of complaint if other governments see fit to refuse to give the same effect to such papers as they usually give to regular passports in the hands of a citizen." Mr. Marey, Sec. of State, to Mr. Siebels, min. to Belgium, No. 6, May 27, 1854, MS. Inst. Belg. I. 82. A substantially identical instruction may be found in Mr. Marcy, Sec, of See, also, Mr. Marcy, Sec. of State, to Mr. Clay, min. to Peru, No. 23, Similar language may also be found in Mr. Marey to Mr. Buchanan, min. "As this Department grants passports only to bona fide citizens of the United States, and as a passport is nothing more than a certificate of citizenship, it follows, necessarily, that you can, with propriety, give a passport neither to an alien who may have become domiciled in the United States nor to a foreigner who has merely declared his intention to become an American citizen, although both of these classes of persons may be entitled to some recognition by this Government. The most that can be done by you is to certify to the genuineness of their papers when presented for your attestation, and when you have no reasonable doubts of their authenticity. The authorities of foreign states may pay such respect to these documents as they may think proper. The verification which should be placed upon the back of the certificate might be in these words: "LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES “I hereby certify that, according to the best of my knowledge and belief, the within document is genuine. (SEAL OF THE LEGATION "' J. A. P.'" Mr. Marcy, Sec. of State, to Mr. Peden, Apr. 10, 1856, MS. Inst. Arg. Rep. This form of certification was given in Mr. Marcy, Sec. of State, to Mr. It will be observed that the instruction to Mr. Peden is an abbreviation "The act of Congress [of Aug. 18, 1856] forbidding the issue of passports except to citizens was passed very soon after the incident of Martin Koszta, and that case was presumably in contemplation of the lawmakers." (Mr. Hunter, Act. Sec. of State, to Mr. Rowean, Sept. 6, 1869, 82 MS. Dom. Let. 39.) "A copy of the regulations of the Department upon the subject of passports is herewith enclosed, from which you will perceive that they are furnished to citizens of the United States only. As Mr. Steinbach has only declared his intention to become a citizen, his case is not embraced by the rule. No other paper than a passport which can lawfully be issued is ever granted by this Department upon such an occasion." Mr. Cass, Sec. of State, to Mr. Stevenson, M. C., Dec. 5, 1860, 53 MS. Dom. "It appears that you are a person of foreign birth, who has declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States, but no evidence is furnished that you have yet been naturalized. It also appears that your age is sixty-four. The only persons of foreign birth not naturalized who are entitled to passports are those who, having declared their intention to become citizens, are liable to military duty. By reason of your age, you are excluded from this class. To entitle you to a passport it will be necessary for you to furnish this Department with proof that you have become a citizen of the United States. The evidence required is a certificate of citizenship, under the seal of the court in which you were naturalized.” Mr. F. W. Seward, Act. Sec. of State, to Mr. Glassman, Nov. 4, 1863, 62 This letter refers to the act of March 3, 1863, 12 Stat. 754, under which See Mr. Fish, Sec. of State, to Mr. Washburne, min. to France, No. 189, Oct. 4, 1870, MS. Inst. France, XVIII. 428; Mr. Bayard, Sec. of State, to Mr. Coleman, chargé at Berlin, No. 334, July 10, 1888, For. Rel. 1888, I. 646; Mr. Bayard, Sec. of State, to Mr. Stein, Aug. 28, 1888, 169 MS. Dom. Let. 503. "By law of Congress, passports can be granted to those only who are native-born citizens or who have completed their naturalization. This Government can not, therefore, extend its protection to those who are not recognized by its laws as citizens." Mr. Seward, Sec. of State, to Mr. Walker, Aug. 24, 1868, 79 MS. Dom. Let. 239. "The acts of Mr. Sanford, and the correspondence with Mr. Mason, Mr. Buchanan, and Mr. Belmont, appear to be anterior to the act of 1856, which, with the act of 1866, establishes a positive rule for the guidance of public officers. It is clearly the duty of the Secretary of State not to authorize passports to be granted, issued, or verified in foreign countries by diplomatic or consular officers of the United States to or for any other persons than citizens of the United States. If this law apparently operates harshly upon persons who, by reason of their declaration of intention to become citizens of the United States, suppose themselves entitled to the protection of its representative abroad, it is for the law-making power to determine whether it is wise to change the policy which has so long been established. While the law remains as it is, I can see no 'official' protection which can be extended to persons who are not citizens of the United States. The granting of an official certificate of protection, by an officer of the Government who is authorized to issue such certificates, implies a committal of the Government in advance to enforc ing that protection by official interference and by other acts which may eventually lead to the employment of force. This consideration, taken in connection with the clear provisions of law in that respect and with the well-defined policy of the law, induced the Department to issue the circular of October last, prohibiting the granting of letters of protection except in the form of passports, and prohibiting the granting of passports to any but citizens of the United States." Mr. Fish, Sec. of State, to Mr. Washburne, min. to France, Oct. 4, 1870, MS. Inst. France, XVIII. 428. See Mr. Fish, Sec. of State, to Mr. Boker, min. to Turkey, April 19, 1872, MS. Inst. Turkey, II. 400. In denying a request for a passport for a native British subject who had declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States, Mr. Bayard said: "A declaration of intention does not involve abjuration of original allegiance. That only takes place when the party is finally admitted to citizenship. We have a naturalization treaty with Great Britain, by the first article of which the full effect and validity of lawful naturalization is mutually recognized, and by implication change of allegiance is not recognized until lawful naturalization is complete. There would seem to be, therefore, no obstacle to the party in question quitting this country under a British passport." Mr. Bayard, Sec. of State, to Mr. Wilson, Oct. 17, 1885, 157 MS. Dom. See Mr. Bayard, Sec. of State, to Mr. Melvin, Oct. 26, 1885, 157 MS. Dom. Since passports can be issued only to citizens of the United States, the Secretary of State has no power to issue a certificate of domicil, or a certificate stating that he is "satisfied" that a certain individual "has his domicil in the United States.” Mr. Bayard, Sec. of State, to Mr. Develin, Oct. 21, 1887, For. Rel. 1887, 355. See supra, § 491. "I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 13th ultimo, with which you transmit certain documents in relation to the Reverend Guido F. Verbeck, a native of the Netherlands and a missionary of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Reformed Church of America. Among these documents is a letter written by the Honorable William H. Seward, on the 5th of April, 1859, to Townsend Harris, esq., then minister of the United States to Japan, stating that, while Mr. Verbeck, who was then about to set out for that country, having only declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States and not having been naturalized, was not entitled to receive a passport, yet it was held in the celebrated Koszta case' that a declaration of intention was sufficient to entitle the bearer to the protection of our Government and of its naval authorities abroad.' And in conclusion Mr. Seward said: Mr. Verbeck is a very worthy man, and I beg to commend him to your protection, which may, perhaps, be needed under the peculiar circumstances of his migration to Japan.' "You state that Mr. Verbeck, since his return to the United States in 1889, has made every effort to complete his naturalization and become de facto an American citizen, but without success,' and that you are informed by one of the judges of the court of common pleas of this city and county (New York) that there is no way known to our laws by which his desire can be realized.' As the ground of this opinion is not disclosed, it is supposed that it refers only to the period of residence in the United States which our naturalization laws require. In view, however, of the fact that Mr. Verbeck is unable now to obtain naturalization, you request that the Secretary of State give him a letter similar to that written by Mr. Seward in 1859. "The Department has carefully examined the papers submitted to it and the various rulings on the question presented, and has failed to discover that the law has ever been so construed as to permit the Secretary of State to grant a letter of the purport of that now requested. It may not, perhaps, have been observed that the letter of Mr. Seward was not written by him as Secretary of State, but nearly two years before he came into this office, when Jeremiah S. Black was Secretary of State. It was, therefore, only a letter of personal commendation and not an official guarantee of protection. The duties of the Secretary of State on this subject are well defined. In an instruction to the minister of the United States to the Argentine Republic, of March 27, 1867, Mr. Seward, then Secretary of State, said: Passports are the only protection papers known in the law, or sanctioned in this Department.' Mr. Marcy, who conducted the correspondence in the Koszta case, three years later, in an instruction to one of our ministers of April 10, 1856, said that a passport could with propriety be issued neither to an alien who may have become domiciled in the United States nor to a foreigner who has merely declared his intention to become an American citizen, although both of these classes of persons may be entitled to some recognition by this Government. The most,' he continued, that can be done by you is to certify to the genuineness of their papers when presented for your attestation, and when you have no reasonable doubts of their authenticity. The authorities of foreign states may pay such respect to these documents as they may think proper.' I shall only quote one more ruling of the Department, as follows: It is clearly the duty of the Secretary of State not to authorize passports to be H. Doc. 551-vol 3-57 6 |