BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. A PROCLAMATION. Whereas by a proclamation of the President of the United States, dated April seventh, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, upon proof then appearing satisfactory that upon vessels of the United States arriving at the island of Trinidad, British West Indies, no due was imposed by the ton as tonnage or as light money and that no other equivalent tax on vessels of the United States was imposed at said island by the British Government, the President did declare and proclaim from and after the date of his said proclamation of April seventh, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, the suspension of the collection of the tonnage duties of three cents per ton, not to exceed fifteen cents per ton per annum, imposed upon vessels entered in ports of the United States from any of the ports of the island of Trinidad by section 14 of the act of Congress approved June twenty-six, eighteen hundred and eighty-four, entitled "An act to remove certain burdens on the American merchant marine and encourage the American foreign carrying trade, and for other purposes;' And whereas it now appears upon satisfactory proof that tonnage or light-house dues, or a tax or taxes equivalent thereto, are in fact imposed upon American vessels and their cargoes entered in ports of the island of Trinidad higher and other than those imposed upon vessels from ports in the island of Trinidad or their cargoes entered in ports of the United States, so that said proclamation of April seventh, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, in its operation and effect contravenes the meaning and intent of section 14 of the act of Congress approved June twenty-six, eighteen hundred and eighty-four, as amended by section 11 of the act of Congress approved June nineteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, entitled "An act to abolish certain fees for official services to American vessels, and to amend the laws relating to shipping commissioners, seamen, and owners of vessels, and for other purposes:" Now, therefore, I, William McKinley, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the aforesaid section 14 of the act of Congress approved June twenty-six, eighteen hundred and eighty-four, as amended by the aforesaid section 11 of the act approved June nineteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, do hereby revoke the said proclamation of April seventh, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, suspending the collection of the whole of the duty of three cents per ton, not to exceed fifteen cents per ton per annum (which is imposed by the aforesaid sections of said acts), upon vessels entered in the ports of the United States from any of the ports of the island of Trinidad; this revocation of said proclamation to take effect on and after the date of this my proclamation. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington this thirteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and twenty-third. [SEAL.] By the President: JOHN HAY, Secretary of State. WILLIAM MCKINLEY. BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. A PROCLAMATION. Whereas by a proclamation of the President of the United States, dated the second day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, upon proof then appearing satisfactory that no tonnage or light-house dues or other equivalent tax or taxes were imposed upon American vessels entering the ports of the island of Tobago, one of the British West India Islands, and that vessels belonging to the United States of America and their cargoes were not required in the ports of the said island of Tobago to pay any fee or due of any kind or nature, or any import due higher than was payable by vessels from ports or places in the said island of Tobago, or their cargoes, in the United States, the President did therefore declare and proclaim, from and after the date of his said proclamation of December second, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, the suspension of the collection of the whole of the duty of three cents per ton, not to exceed fifteen cents per ton per annum, imposed upon vessels entered in the ports of the United States from any of the ports of the island of Tobago by section 11 of the act of Congress approved June nineteenth, eighteen hundred and FR 99- -22 eighty-six, entitled "An act to abolish certain fees for official services to American vessels, and to amend the laws relating to shipping commissioners, seamen, and owners of vessels, and for other purposes;" And whereas the President did further declare and proclaim in his proclamation of December second, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, that the said suspension should continue so long as the reciprocal exemption of vessels belonging to citizens of the United States and their cargoes should be continued in the said ports of the island of Tobago, and no longer; And whereas it now appears upon satisfactory proof that tonnage or light-house dues, or a tax or taxes equivalent thereto, are in fact imposed upon American vessels and their cargoes entered in ports of the island of Tobago higher and other than those imposed upon vessels from ports in the island of Tobago, or their cargoes, entered in ports of the United States, so that said proclamation of December second, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, in its operation and effect contravenes the meaning and intent of said section 11 of the act of Congress approved June nineteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six: Now, therefore, I, William McKinley, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the aforesaid section 11 of the act aforesaid, as well as in pursuance of the terms of said proclamation itself, do hereby revoke the said proclamation of December second, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, suspending the collection of the whole of the duty of three cents per ton, not to exceed fifteen cents per ton per annum (which is imposed by the aforesaid section of said act), upon vessels entered in the ports of the United States from any of the ports of the island of Tobago; this revocation of said proclamation to take effect on and after the date of this my proclamation. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington this thirteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and twenty-third. [SEAL.] By the President: JOHN HAY, Secretary of Stale. WILLIAM MCKINLEY. PASSPORTS NOT REQUIRED TO ENTER CUBA AND PORTO RICO. Sir Julian Pauncefote to Mr. Hay. WASHINGTON, January 19, 1899. SIR: By direction of the Marquis of Salisbury, I have the honor to inquire whether passengers leaving Spain for Cuba and Porto Rico are required to provide themselves with passports. I shall be greatly obliged if you will kindly furnish me with this information in order that I may reply to the telegraphic inquiry from Lord Salisbury. I have, etc., No. 1323.] JULIAN PAUNCEFOTE. Mr. Hay to Sir Julian Pauncefote. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, January 21, 1899. EXCELLENCY: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 19th instant, in which inquiry is made as to whether passengers leaving Spain for Cuba and Porto Rico are required to provide themselves with passports. In reply I beg to state that no passports are necessary for the entrance into Cuba and Porto Rico of passengers from Spain and elsewhere. I have, etc., JOHN HAY, PASSPORTS, ISSUE OF, IN CASES WHERE APPLICANT FIXES NO DATE OF INTENDED RETURN TO UNITED STATES. Mr. White to Mr. Hay. No. 660.] AMERICAN EMBASSY, London, January 27, 1899. SIR: I have the honor to inclose herewith a letter which I have received from Mr. Van Duzer, secretary of the American society, suggesting that Americans sojourning in foreign countries be not compelled, in order to obtain passports at our embassies and legations, to declare that it is their intention within two years to return to the United States and take up the duties of citizenship. The paragraph in question in the declaration which all applicants for passports are compelled to sign does undoubtedly act occasionally as a bar to the issue of passports to those who are bona fide nativeborn Americans and who pay their taxes, often to a large amount, at home, but who, on account of business, health, or for some reason, are unable to remain long enough in the United States, for a period of time more or less protracted, to perform the duties of citizenship; and if any means could be found of enabling such persons to forego signing that clause it would be a boon to them. I have, etc. HENRY WHITE. [Inclosure in No. 660.] Mr. Van Duzer to Mr. White. THE AMERICAN SOCIETY IN LONDON, SIR: After a lengthy discussion to-day at an executive committee meeting of our society, I was requested to communicate with you in regard to the difficulties experienced by Americans sojourning abroad in obtaining a passport from our ambassadors, the difficulty arising from the clause appearing on the application form, to which all Americans applying for passports have to subscribe, namely, that it is their intention within two years to return to America and take up the duties of citizenship. Mr. Frederick Alvah Miller, who has for some years resided in Torquay, and whose father was, until his death, a partner in the firm of H. B. Claflin & Co., of New York (and I may mention that Mr. Miller is a member of our society and has been known to me for more than twenty years, as well as to many other members of the society), is desirous of traveling abroad, and it is quite possible that he may, on account of Mrs. Miller's health, visit Egypt. While he is residing in England for the time being, he still is an American citizen, often visiting America for lengthened periods, and he can not consider that the regulations of the State Department should prevent him from receiving from his ambassador a passport, which document it is absolutely necessary for him to have before visiting Egypt. At the same time he can not honestly declare it to be his intention within two years to return to America and take up the duties of citizenship. I may mention that this same difficulty arose in regard to myself some years ago, when the Hon. James G. Blaine was Secretary of State and Mr. Lincoln was our minister, and upon my communicating to Mr. Blaine the facts of the case Mr. Lincoln was advised to issue a passport to me. The main object of this letter is, with all courtesy, to suggest to the State Department that in cases where Americans (identified and vouched for by well-known Americans) apply for passports the ambassador should be given some latitude, so that the difficulty now experienced by Mr. Miller-and at one time by myselfshould be met by the ambassador being given the power to grant, in exceptional circumstances, individual passports where the clause mentioned can not be honestly subscribed to. More especially does this seem necessary from the fact that a naturalized American citizen, not particular as to subscribing to said clause, could demand and would receive a passport which is denied to the honest native-born citizen. Trusting that the State Department will take such action as will remedy this evil, which I am sure will be readily recognized by them, I am, etc., F. C. VAN DUzer, Mr. Hay to Mr. White. No. 1095.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, February 23, 1899. SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your No. 660, of the 27th ultimo, inclosing a letter received by you from the secretary of the American society in London, suggesting that Americans sojourning in foreign countries be not compelled, in order to obtain passports, to declare their intention to return to the United States to take up the duties of citizenship within two years. You observe that this requirement undoubtedly acts occasionally as a bar to the issue of passports to persons who are bona fide nativeborn Americans, and who pay their taxes, often to a large amount, in the United States, but who, on account of business, health, or other reasons, are unable to remain long in the United States to perform the duties of citizenship. In reply I have to say that is has been the consistent ruling of the Department that the declaration by an applicant for a passport of intention to return to the United States does not require a statement of a fixed date of return, but the manifestation of a fixed intention to return within some reasonable time, which intention shall not be conspicuously negatived by the circumstances of the foreign domicile of the claimant. The domicile of a person depends upon his intention, which is to be determined upon all the facts of the case. The Department is always well disposed toward those Americans, whether by birth or naturalization, who sojourn abroad in representation of American commercial interests. I am, etc., JOHN HAY. DEATH OF LORD HERSCHELL. No. 1368.] Mr. Hay to Sir Julian Pauncefote. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, March 2, 1899. EXCELLENCY: I have the honor to communicate to you a copy of a resolution, adopted in the Senate of the United States March 1, 1899, expressing the sympathy of that body in the great loss which Her Majesty and the people of Great Britain have sustained by the death of Lord Herschell. I also send, for your information, copy of the letter addressed to me by the honorable the President of the Senate in communicating to me the resolution for conveyance through the proper channel. I shall by to-morrow's mail send a copy of the resolution to the United States ambassador in London, with instructions to communicate it to Lord Salisbury as an additional proof, if one were needed, of the high esteem in which Lord Herschell was held in this country. I am, etc., [Inclosure.] JOHN HAY. Senate resolution, March 1, 1899. Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sensibility of the death of Lord Herschell, an eminent jurist and statesman of Great Britain, formerly lord high chancellor; a member of the United States and British joint high commission. Resolved, That the President of the Senate is requested to convey to Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain the sympathy of the Senate of the United States in the great loss which she and the people of Great Britain have sustained by the death of Lord Herschell. Sir Julian Pauncefote to Mr. Hay. BRITISH EMBASSY, Washington, March 4, 1899. DEAR MR. HAY: I called at the Department of State this afternoon to inform you of the reply which I had just received from Lord Salisbury to the kind offer of the President to convey the remains of the late Lord Herschell to England in a vessel of the United States Navy. Lord Salisbury telegraphs that, while Her Majesty's Government appreciate in the highest degree the respect shown to Lord Herschell's memory by that gracious proposal, they are unable to avail themselves of it, as arrangements have already been made with the family for the conveyance of the remains in a British ship of war. Accordingly Her Majesty's ship Talbot, which has been detached for that service, will be at New York on Monday, and all preparations have been made by her commander for carrying out this mournful duty. I am desired to convey to the President the cordial thanks of Her Majesty's Government. I remain, etc., JULIAN PAUNCEFOTE. Mr. Hay to Sir Julian Pauncefote. [Personal.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, DEAR SIR JULIAN: I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your courteous note of the 4th instant, in which you inform me that Her Majesty's Government, having made arrangements for sending the remains of the late Lord Herschell to England by a ship of war, it will not be in their power to accept the President's offer to send, as he so earnestly desired to do, an American man-of-war to perform the mournful office in question. I remain, etc., JOHN HAY. |