No. 667.] Mr. Porter to Mr. Hay. EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: Referring to previous correspondence touching the violation of the consular dwelling of Mr. Tourgée, our consul at Bordeaux, and particularly to your No. 757, of April 9, asking what is the present status of the matter, I have to report that on April 24 1 addressed a note to Mr. Delcassé, recalling the question to him and inquiring whether the French Republic was now prepared to adhere to the construction given by my Government to the clause of the treaty of 1853 concerning the inviolability of consular dwellings. A reply came under date of the 15th instant in which Mr. Delcassé states that, after having consulted his legal counsels and in conformity with the opinion expressed by them, the Government of the French Republic considers that, by stipulating in article 3 of the treaty of 1853 that chancelleries and consular dwellings are inviolable, France intended to attribute the great privilege of inviolability only to the offices and to the dwellings of the consuls in the place of their official residence that is to say, in the city where, according to the terms of their exequatur, they are admitted to discharge their functions. The minister then goes on to state that the fact that the exequatur extends the jurisdiction of a consul beyond the limits of the city which is his official residence has only for object of determining where he is competent to act officially. Mr. Delcassé insists particularly on this consideration, that, if the treaty was read as we read it, American consuls in France and French consuls in the United States would be vested with privileges which belong only to the diplomatic representatives of the two countries. I inclose a copy and a translation of Mr. Delcassé's note, together with a copy of mine of April 24, to which he replies. I have, etc., [Inclosure 1.] HORACE PORTER. Mr. Porter to Mr. Delcassé. EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I am in receipt of a dispatch from my Government asking what is the present status of the case submitted to your excellency in my communication of September 19, 1899, touching the violation of the consular dwelling of Mr. Tourgée, consul of the United States at Bordeaux while he was temporarily stopping at Arcachon. Your excellency will remember that our two Governments disagree as to the meaning of the language of Article III of the consular convention of February 23, 1853, as applied to the premises occupied by Mr. Tourgée at Arcachon, and that in your note to me of November 8, 1899, I was informed that it was your intention to obtain legal advice on the subject. In view of the time which has elapsed since writing my letter of September 19, 1899, above mentioned, I shall feel obliged if you will kindly inform me at your earliest convenience whether the French Government is now prepared to adhere to the construction given to the clause in question of the treaty by my Government. I avail, etc., HORACE PORTER. [Inclosure 2.-Translation.] MR. DELCASSÉ TO MR. PORTER. MR. AMBASSADOR: In your letter of April 24, last, you did me the honor to refer me to the question of the interpretation of Article 3 of the Franco-American consular convention of February 23, 1853, which was brought up in the course of the communication of your excellency of September 19, last. Your excellency will remember that in my reply of November 8, I had to show that a difference of opinion existed between the Government of the Republic and the Government of the United States concerning the purport of one of the dispositions of Article 3. So, according to the communication of your excellency of September 19, last, the American Government thought that by inserting in the consular convention of February 23, 1853, the stipulation which we are discussing, the high contracting parties had decided that the inviolability of the chancelleries and consular dwellings applied to whatever habitation the consul happened to be occupying for the moment and for his pleasure, and without official motive, in another town than the one indicated in his exequatur, as the one where the consul is admitted to reside in his official capacity. For my part, I informed your excellency in my reply of November 8, last, that the interpretation given by your Government to this stipulation of the FrancoAmerican consular convention, differed from the principles which had been admitted by the Government of the Republic in the different consular conventions signed by France, and that it was not possible for me to adhere to this interpretation without taking the advice of competent counsel in regard to the import which, in their opinion, should be attributed to the disposition in question, of article 3 of the FrancoAmerican Convention of February 23, 1853. After having caused the examination of which we are speaking to be undertaken, I have now the honor to inform Your Excellency that the Government of the Republic, conformably to the advice given by the jurists who were consulted, considers that by stipulating in article 3 of the above-mentioned convention of February 23, 1853, that "the chancelleries and consular residences are inviolable," France did not understand that she attributed the great privilege of inviolability, except to the consular officers and to the consular residences in their several official posts; that is to say, in the city where they are recognized to reside according to the terms of their exequatur for the performance of their official duties. The fact that the exequatur states that the jurisdiction of the consul shall extend over a wider radius than the limits of the city, only has reference to a question of the right for consular intervention, and for the acts which this agent might be called upon to perform, from the moment when the exequatur determines the place where the consulate is established and consequently the official residence of the consul. Also if inviolability has been accorded to the consular residence, it is only because it might be sometimes difficult to make a distinction between the consular office and residence in the city where the consul exercises his functions, from the point of view of the immunity granted by article 3 of the convention of February 23, 1853. By this stipulation it was desired that since that time all misunderstandings and frictions should be avoided. But to desire that this inviolability be extended to all houses which a consul of the United States might inhabit in France, in his consular district and in a city other than that in which he has his chancellery, and where he is expected to reside according to his exequatur, would be to place a consular agent, in so far as his privileges are concerned, on a ground of absolute equality with foreign ambassadors and ministers, clothed with a diplomatic character, and accredited to the Government of the French Republic, or to the Government of the United States; this would be, in a certain way, to decide that the American consuls in France and the French consuls in the United States, are to be given the position of "public ministers," by the stipulation of article 3 of the consular convention between France and the United States. The courts of France have never admitted that this quality can be recognized in foreign consuls who are admitted to exercise their functions in the territory of the Republic, and they have always interpreted, in the narrowest and strictest sense, the extent of the privileges which result from the stipulations of the consular conventions. may I believe I am right in stating, moreover, that the jurisprudence of the American courts is, in this respect, the same as that of the French courts, and, taking as authorities on international law, such writers as Wheaton and Lawrence, they likewise refuse to recognize in foreign consuls in the United States the character of "public ministers." Basing itself upon the conditions aforementioned the Government of the Republic finds itself under the unavoidable necessity of not being able to concur in the inter pretation which, according to the note of your excellency of the 19th of September, 1899, the Government of the United States gives to the clause of article 3 of the Franco-American convention of February 23, 1853. I am pleased by the thought that after the examination of these considerations the Secretary of State of the Union will see their value, and will on his part adhere to the import attributed by the French Government to the stipulation in question. It is in this hope that I pray your excellency to have the kindness to transmit this present communication to your Government. I beg, etc., DELCASSÉ. Mr. Hay to Mr. Porter. No. 808.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: Your No. 667, of the 19th of May last, with inclosures, relating to the construction of Article III of the consular convention of February 23, 1853, has been received. It is to be regretted that the French Government is unable to concur in the construction placed by this Government upon Article III of the convention as far as regards the inviolability of the consular dwelling and office when they happen temporarily to be located at a place within the consul's district other than the one which is principally occupied by him. The construction placed by France upon the article in question seems to this Government not to be consistent either with the letter or with the obvious intendment of the convention. The construction adopted by this Government would secure diplomatic privileges to a consul only to a degree limited by the convention and would not entitle him to all the privileges pertaining to diplomatic representatives. But the differences between the respective interpretations by the two Governments of the article in question are so radical that it would not seem profitable further to prolong the discussion. This Government therefore contents itself with expressing its regret that it is unable to acquiesce in the view of the French Government or in the soundness of the argument by which that view is supported. The Government of France will not, of course, expect a more liberal interpretation of the convention in favor of its consuls, should such a case arise, than it accords in favor of the consuls of the United States. I am, etc., JOHN HAY. LAFAYETTE STATUE. UNVEILING AT PARIS, JULY 4, 1900. Mr. Hay to Mr. Porter. No. 789.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: The President being requested by the joint resolution approved June 6, 1900, respecting the unveiling of the statue of Lafayette at Paris, July 4, 1900, to transmit a copy thereof to the Government of France, I inclose herewith, by the President's direction, a copy for that purpose. I am, sir, etc., JOHN HAY. [Inclosure.] [PUBLIC RESOLUTION-NO. 35.] Joint Resolution Respecting the unveiling of the statue of Lafayette, at Paris, France, July fourth, nineteen hundred. Whereas the school children of the United States have, by their contributions of the sum of fifty thousand dollars, provided a statue of Lafayette, which, with the approval of the French Government, is to be unveiled at Paris, France, on the fourth day of July, nineteen hundred; and Whereas the United States, by an act of Congress approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, appropriated the sum of fifty thousand silver dollars of the United States for the purpose of aiding in defraying the cost of a pedestal to said statue: Therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the people of the United States anticipate and appreciate this ceremony with feelings of the greatest satisfaction, and that they regard the statue as expressing the honor and gratitude with which they cherish the memory of Lafayette and those of his countrymen who, by their arms and counsel, assisted in securing the independence of the United States. Resolved further, That the President of the United States is hereby requested to transmit a copy of these resolutions to the Government of France. Approved, June 6, 1900. Mr. Thiebaut to Mr. Hay. [Translation.] EMBASSY OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC IN THE UNITED STATES, MR. SECRETARY OF STATE: As you are aware, the statue of Lafayette, which the Congress at Washington and the children of the American schools have presented to France, will be inaugurated at Paris on the 4th of this month. On the eve of this ceremony the minister of foreign affairs directs me to express to the American Government the gratitude felt by the Government of the Republic in receiving this monument, destined to perpetuate souvenirs of glory to which France and the United States have been and will remain equally attached. I am happy to be the interpreter to your excellency of these sentiments, and I avail myself of this occasion to renew, etc. THIÉBAUT. No. 685.] Mr. Porter to Mr. IIay. EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: Your instruction No. 789, of June 12, directing me to transmit to the French Government a copy of the joint resolution approved June 6, 1900, respecting the unveiling of the statue of Lafayette at Paris on July 4 was complied with upon its receipt, and under date of the 2d instant it was acknowledged by M. Delcassé in a note, of which a copy and a translation are herewith inclosed. A day or two after, M. Destournelles, a well-known deputy, for merly a member of the diplomatic corps, called at my house to confer with me with regard to the wording of a resolution which M. Bourgeois, late prime minister, and himself, intended to introduce in the Chamber in response to ours. The form of the resolution being agreed upon, it was understood that M. Bourgeois would introduce it in the Chamber before the inauguration of the statue. He did so on the 2d instant, and began by reading the joint resolution of the 6th, and then said: Thus, gentlemen, the monument erected to the memory of Lafayette, which is to be inaugurated at Paris on the Fourth of July next, is due to a double subscription, one coming from the children of the schools of the United States, the other coming from Congress. To this homage rendered to the Frenchmen who fought for the independence of America the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States have added, in the name of the American nation, another evidence of faithful and unanimous remembrance. We are certain that the Chamber of Deputies will respond with dignity to this manifestation. Therefore, gentlemen, in the name of my honorable colleague, M. Destournelles, and in mine, I have the honor to propose the following resolution, for which I ask urgency: The Chamber of Deputies expresses to the American nation the gratitude of France for the gift of a monument which will perpetuate between the two Republics memories which are equally dear to both. The reading of this resolution was hailed with loud applause, after which M. Delcassé, minister for foreign affairs, said that the French Government had already sent to Washington the expression of its gratitude and associated itself with the resolution. The Government, he added, was only too happy to see the national representation of the country manifest its convictions that this monument, which is intended to recall to the people of France and of the United States remembrances equally dear and glorious, will also in the future be a token of fruitful understanding for the mutual interests of both countries, interests which are in perfect harmony on so many points, and which happily are not irreconcilable. The resolution was carried unanimously. The president of the Chamber said he was happy to see this unanimity of sentiment, and that he would transmit the resolution through the diplomatic channel. MM. Chaumié, D'Aunay, Morellet, and Maxime Lecomte introduced in the Senate the following resolutions: The Senate expresses to the American nation the gratitude of France for the gift of a monument which will perpetuate between the two Republics memories which are equally dear to both. The keeper of the seals and minister of justice, M. Monies, said he was happy to see two French Chambers associate themselves with the sentiments of gratitude expressed by the French Government to the United States. The memories, a hundred years old, which we are about to commemorate, he added, are the living ties which united the French and the American people." The resolution was carried unanimously. The statue was inaugurated yesterday on a square of the Place du Carrousel, which is hereafter to bear the name of Square Lafayette, in the presence of M. Loubet, President of the French Republic; the presidents of the Senate and of the Chamber of Deputies, MM. Falliéres and Deschanel; the minister of foreign affairs, M. Delcassé, and of other members of the cabinet and high officials of the French Government. The ceremony was a brilliant one, the number of persons present being estimated at between 5,000 and 6,000, the majority being Americans. I had the honor of presiding at the ceremony, making the opening address. Commissioner - General Ferdinand W. Peck, |