this post and returned to him. His wife was at Diabekir, in the interior of Asia, about 300 miles from any consul or consular agent. The papers evidencing the citizenship of Jacob Toprahanian were regular in form. Blank forms in duplicate were forwarded to Artin Cassapian and returned, after which a passport was forwarded to the woman. Her application (now before me) states that she was born on the 15th of June, 1858; that her husband emigrated to the United States about the 18th of May, 1883; that he resided seven years uninterruptedly in the United States, from 1883 to 1890, at New York; that he was naturalized as a citizen of the United States before the court of common pleas of New York on the 19th of April, 1893, as shown by an accompanying certificate; that she was his wife; that she resided uninterruptedly in the United States seven years, from 1883 to 1890, at New York; that she is domiciled in the United States and her permanent residence is in New York; that she left the United States on the 15th of June, 1890, on board the La Bourgogne, and reached Havre on the 23d of June, 1890. Her signature to the oath. The certificate of identification was signed by Artin Cassapian. An inquiry among Armenians here confirmed the essential facts regarding the woman's residence in the United States, and that she was the wife of Jacob Toprahanian. She was detained so long at Alexandretta that her money was exhausted. When finally they (herself and children) were permitted to leave her passage was paid to Alexandretta on my order, for which I am personally responsible. I have, etc., A. W. TERRELL. Mr. Gresham to Marroyeni Bey. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, March 27, 1894. SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt, in due course, of your note of the 20th ultimo, in which, referring to interviews theretofore had with me concerning the status of naturalized Armenians returning to Turkey, you informed me, as instructed by a telegram from His Excellency Saïd Pacha, that the silence of the Porte on this subject does not arise from any want of regard for the United States, but from the circumstance that the important question involved had not been determined, owing to the necessity of giving it his mature reflection. In subsequent interviews I have intimated my disappointment at this apparently indefinite postponement of a matter which, in the President's judgment, demands instant adjustment; and I am pleased to believe, from your later statements and communications, that the urgency of the situation is appreciated by the counsellors of His Imperial Majesty. Accept, etc., W. Q. GRESHAM. No. 162.1 Mr. Gresham to Mr. Terrell. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: In my instruction No. 161,' of this date, I give you the views of this Government relative to the general aspects of the Turkish claim of right to expel or deport persons of Armenian origin naturalized abroad without the Sultan's permission and returning to the Ottoman Empire. The case of Atam Aivazian, the more recent aspects of which are presented in your No. 173, of the 1st ultimo, does not seem, so far, to fall within the purview of my instruction, inasmuch as the Turkish Government in this instance appears to assert the bare right to try him for alleged criminal acts against the peace of the state committed in Turkey. The American citizenship of Mr. Aivazian has not been established. Born in Eilindje, in the district of Boghozlian, of Ottoman parents, he claims to have passed eleven years in the United States, during which time he obtained naturalization; but, as stated by the note of the ministry of foreign affairs of January 30, 1894, "he has not been able to produce any authentic act or document to sustain his claim." While you possess information, deemed reliable, that Mr. Aivazian has been in fact naturalized in this country, you likewise appear to lack documentary proof of the fact; and your repeated requests to be furnished with a travel permit that would enable your secretary of legation to go to Yozgad, where this man is imprisoned, there to investigate his claim of citizenship, and at the same time ascertain whether he "had, by his long stay in Asia Minor, or by his declarations, forfeited his claim to American citizenship," have been as repeatedly refused. If Mr. Aivazian ever became an American citizen, that fact should be established, as well as whether he has voluntarily resumed his original status so far as to absolve the United States from the duty of. protecting him. Denial of opportunity to ascertain the facts is hardly conducive to that frank and amicable consideration of this class of international issues which the Government of the United States so earnestly desires. You will, therefore, press for opportunity to visit Aivazian and obtain any evidence he may possess in support of his asserted American citizenship. I am, etc., Mr. Uhl to Mr. Terrell. W. Q. GRESHAM. No. 167.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: In connection with your recent dispatches regarding the enforced detention of Mrs. Toprahanian and family at Alexandretta, and especially with your No. 196 of the 24th ultimo, which is hereby acknowledged, I inclose for your information copies of correspondence had with the Turkish minister at this capital on the subject. The order for the deportation of Mrs. Toprahanian and her children at Alexandretta was uncalled for and harsh. She was on her way to the United States when detained and the Turkish Government should have been content with withdrawing the order of detention. You are instructed to communicate to the Turkish minister for foreign affairs the view of this Government regarding the matter. MR. SECRETARY OF STATE: You doubtless remember that in the course of our interviews on the subject of the return to Turkey of certain Ottoman subjects naturalized under the laws of the United States, I had repeatedly expressed my personal confidence-for I was not at that time in possession of positive instructions from my Government-that it was not possible that the Sublime Porte would imprison the said subjects solely for the gratification of so imprisoning them, and that its policy must necessarily be based on justice and law. This confidence of mine, I am happy to say, has just been formally confirmed. Indeed, I have this instant received a telegram from his excellency Saïd Pasha which I hasten to transcribe herewith, begging your excellency to kindly consider its contents as officially expressing the opinion of the Imperial Government touching the matter. Please allow no doubt to remain in the mind of the Government of the United States on the following question: The cabinet of the United States is under the impression that we imprison Ottoman subjects, naturalized citizens of the United States, who return to the empire, because they have changed their nationality. Such, however, is not the case, for, in the first place, such a procedure has never been followed to this day. In the second place, the law directs that all our subjects who have themselves naturalized abroad without complying with the laws and regulations bearing on the question, shall be prohibited from returning to Turkey, and when any of their number return to the country of their origin we are content with expelling them from the Ottoman territory. If, then, some few among these latter are imprisoned, it is certainly not by reason of their naturalization in the United States, but solely for some difficulty they may be involved in with the law. Accept, etc., Mr. Gresham to Mr. Riddle. MAVROYENI. No. 174.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I transmit herewith a copy of a dispatch (No. 8 of the 26th ultimo) from the consul at Beirut in regard to the prolonged detention and final expulsion from Turkish territory of the American citizens, Mr. Arakjinjian and Mrs. Toprahanian, by the authorities at Alexan dretta. Although Mr. Gibson reports having brought the circumstances to the attention of the legation through the consulate-general, his present dispatch so clearly narrates the course of the incident as to make it suitable for preservation on your files. With reference to the Department's instruction No. 167, of 30th ultimo, on the same subject, I desire to lay special stress on the extraordinary harshness of the action of the caimacam of Alexandretta, who, in the face of the orders from Constantinople to permit these unfortunate persons to depart in accordance with their long obstructed plans and at the urgent solicitation of the United States minister, appears to have arbitrarily and with gratuitous cruelty commanded their expulsion within one hour's time. This circumstance abundantly justifies the comments on the whole proceeding contained in the Department's note to Mavroyeni Bey of March 27, and warrants the President's expectation that the Porte will hasten to disavow the act of its local agents and tender to the injured parties redress for the needless wrong they have suffered. I am, etc., W. Q. GRESHAM. No. 8.] [Inclosure in No. 174.] Mr. Gibson to Mr. Uhl. CONSULATE OF THE UNITED STATES, Beirut, March 26, 1894. (Received April 16.) SIR: I have the honor to report that Mr. Frederic Poche, United States consular agent at Aleppo, notified this office in a letter dated the 2d December, 1893, that two naturalized American citizens, Mr. Jacob Arakjinjian and Mrs. Catherine Toprahanian, native born of Armenia, had been arrested by the local authorities of Alexandretta, and, without any alleged motive, prevented them from sailing to the United States. Mr. Poche, who was informed by wire of this incident by the interested parties, considered it necessary, in order to avoid delays and additional telegraphic expenses, to address direct to our legation at Constantinople the telegram of which the following is a literal translation: AMERICAN LEGATION, CONSTANTINOPLE. Jacob Arakjinjian and Catherine Toprahanian. bearing passports from legation dated October 10, 1893, Nos. 195 and 196, are forbidden to depart for New York by the local authorities of Alexandretta. Please obtain telegraphic order to Aleppo Vilayet to permit them to pass. РОСНЕ, Consular Agent. Notwithstanding the steps taken by the United States consular agent in Aleppo, this consulate made it its duty to report the case with full details to the Honorable W. B. Hess, ex-consul-general at Constantinople, with request to use his kind offices and secure through the United States legation peremptory orders from the Sublime Porte for the release of Jacob Arakjinjian and Mrs. Toprahanian and her children. Later on Mr. Poche informed this office that in obedience to telegraphic instructions addressed to him by the honorable Minister Terrell he asked the vali of Aleppo to declare to him what were the charges brought against the American parties that gave rise to the oppressive measures taken to their detriment by the caimacam of Alexandretta. In reply to Mr. Poche's communication the vali of Aleppo notified him that the vilayet had no official knowledge that the persons in question had repudiated their Ottoman nationality, and consequently the caimacam of Alexandretta, not being aware of their real status, considered it his duty to detain them pending the receipt by him of some reliable information on their account from the authorities of Diarbekir, and that upon the receipt of the same they would be treated in conformity with the expected orders and the regulations in force. The true facts in the case would, however, appear to be as follows: Mr. Arakjinjian and Mrs. Toprahanian being Armenians, the authorities of Diarbekir declined either to visa their American passports or to furnish them with a Turkish voyage teskeré. In the absence of the latter document the caimacam of Alexandretta thought that he would be justified in preventing them from leaving the country and sailing for New York. It is notorious how the Armenian population is being suspected, worried, and harassed by the agents of the Turkish Government, and it can be easily understood why they do not favorably countenance the emigration of Armenian refugees to the United States. In this connection it is worth reporting that the caimacam of Alexandretta, after taking possession of the passports of Mr. Arakjinjian and Mrs. Toprahanian, attempted to subject them to interrogatories which they positively objected to undergo without the assistance of the consular dragoman, as required by treaties and regulations. In consequence of this refusal they were placed under the inspection of a police agent to watch them in their domicile and detain them therein. On the 9th instant intelligence was received from Mr. Poche to the effect that after prolonged and much complicated negotiations between the United States legation at Constantinople, the Sublime Porte, himself, and the governor-general of Aleppo, the latter-thanks to the ener getic pressure which was brought to bear by the honorable Minister Terrell upon the Turkish Government-has at last issued positive orders to the caimacam of Alexandretta to release the Americans detained by him and to let them continue their journey to the United States. The caimacam, however, instead of carrying out implicitly and in good faith the instructions transmitted to him, summoned Mr. Arakjinjian and Mrs. Toprahanian and informed them that they were allowed but one hour to leave the country and on board a Turkish steamer that was in the port. Having spent all their money during their long detention, and being afraid to go on board an Ottoman vessel, the distressed parties in question, in the absence of a United States consular representative at Alexandretta, appealed to Mr. Daniel Walker, agent of the American Stamford Manufacturing Company in that city, who took up their cause and succeeded after much difficulty in persuading the caimacam to allow them sufficient time to get ready for the voyage. In conclusion, it affords me pleasure to be able to report to the Department, from verbal communication recently obtained from Mr. Walker that Mr. Arakjinjian, Mrs. Toprahanian and her children have at last left Alexandretta on board an English steamer, bound for Alexandria, on their way to the United States. All of the foregoing facts have been duly brought to the notice of our consulate-general at Constantinople and through it to the knowledge of the honorable minister, Mr. Terrell, who has taken a deep interest in the concerns of the American parties referred to above. In this connection it is most appropriate to observe that the recent visit of the United States flagship Chicago, with Rear-Admiral Erben on board, to the port of Alexandretta proved to be a most fitting close to this incident by showing that the United States Government is ready to fully support and back its representatives with the magnificent men-of-war placed at its disposition and to protect the rights and interest of its citizens residing abroad. I am, etc., THOMAS R. GIBSON, |