Washington sentinel. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1855, 1853-10-01
dMasbinqtou Sentlpet.
IMPORTANT DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE
Mn. HULsEMANN TO MIR. MARCY.
translation.


Mn. HULsEMANN TO MIR. MARCY.
[Translaton
AUSTRIAN LEGATION,
Washington, august 30, lsJ3.
The un,lersign ned. Charge d Afaires OF his Ma
iesty the Emperor Of Austria, has been instructed
TO address this official nute to the honorable Sec
retary Of State, in relation 10 the difficulties which
have occurred between the agents OF the two gov
ernlnents at the port of Smyrna.
The facts which came to pass on that occasion
are oi public notoriety, and the undersigned thinks
h. may conine himself la his comments thereon
to the most prominent points. Our consul gene
raj Mr.. dc Wecklecker, exercising the right ui
jurisdiction which has been gn.ranted BY treaties
10 the consular agents Of aaStr. IY til. va>t re-
iatiye to their conntryIncn, had caused 10 be ar
rested. and conveyed ON board the Austrian brig
oEwar liuszar," the Hungarian refugee, Martin
koszta who, residing at one time IN the Interior
at kntahia, had lefl Turkey, in company with A"s-
suth, and who, after having pledged himself in
writing not 10 sci foot again Ottoman territory
broke that pledge by returning some months since
To Smyrna. This arrest gave cause TO some re-
clalnaons which Mr.. Oiley, United States consul
conioinlly with the commander OF the American
sloopoi-war St Louis anchored IN the roads
before Smvrn deemed il incumbent upon them
selves to address 70 Mr.. de Werkbecker bascng
their demands upon the fact that the aforesaid
kosxta, having, according to them, caused himself
TO be naturazed in the United States. was ent-
tied to the protection Of the american authorities
Upon this, the consulgeneral OF the emperor, ar-
compancd.by the American consul and the Amer
lean commanders repaired on board the !" iiuszar,'
and these two ftinctionaries had Il IN their power
To convince themselves, from the declarations OF
the prisoner himself, that the latter had not ac-
CURED the quality OF citizen OF the United States
passport.
On his own part the charge d'atiarcs al interim
OF the United States al Consantinople, addressed
communication on the 27th Of June. 10 the I'M
perial lnternnncio, (minlster) the object OF which
was 10 ask for the release Of kosz,a, upon the
plea that he had taken some steps c be admitted
as an American citizen. Baron de Truck replied
to this request on the same day, refusing 10 com
ply with it, Two days after, Mr.. Brown returned
again to the charge. by forwarding 10 Mr. de
Bruck copy Of declaration purporllng to have
been signed by koszta, III New York, on the 3lst
of July last. and which the charge deailaircs OF
the Union seems 10 regard sufficient to imply the
naturalization of that refugee in America. Thc
internunco replied that il was impossible for hn
Ia alter his determination, as nc could not consider
the individual III question as belonging 10 Tor
foreign jurisdiction so long the ties which
bound him TO his country were not illegally dissolved
The undersigned thinks il proper To inbody with
the very text OF this note. n copy OF the document
above mentioned. which has served as the basis
TO all the extraordinary proceedings both on the
part OF Mr. Brown and that Of the commander OF
the ST. Louis. Here il is
Declaration made 6y Martin Kosst0, Of allegiance
to- the .gorerumrut Of the Tmuel States.
I, Martin koszta, do declare, on oath, that il is
bona fds my intention 10 become citizen Of the
United States, and to reno,'nce forever all ale
glance aud fidelity to all and every foreign prince,
potentate, State. and sovereignty whatever, and
particularly to the emperor Of Austria.
Sworn in open court this 3st day Of July, 1852,
before me, clerk of the court &c.
l. --, clerk Of the court Of -, being a
court Of record, having common law jurisdiction.
and clerk and seal do certify that the above is
true cory Of the gnal declaration OF Mr..
koszta 10 become a citizen Of the United States,
remaining opened in my office.
In testimony Whereof ! have hcreunto sub
scribed my name and affixed the seal OF
r.. ST. the said cour, the alst day'of July, 1892.
------ -, Clerk.
I 1t is difficult to conceive how the representative
of the United States could have sought to found a
proof Of the pretended naturalization OF koszta
upon 4 document destitute of al authentic char
acter, seeing that the form OF rgalIzaton which is
affixed to il. and which alone could have invested
il with that character, leaves IN blanks both the
name of tn, tribunal before which the declaration
Of kuszta must have been made, and the name OF
the clerk who is supposed ~ be the dcsnosltary
OF the original document, and that moreover. tins
pretended legazaiion has neither signature nor
official seal attached to it, But even admitting
the authenticity Of this declaration. and suppos-
ing that koSZla could. withou, Violating the laws
of his country OF his own accord. and without any
other iorn,aliticS have broken asnndrr the ties
which bind linn 10 his native >on, the text of Inc
document shows tha: the author Of II has done
nothing more than to declare his intrnt'on oi be-
coming citizen Of the United states, and, with
that object. in view. OF rcnoun,ing his rights Of
nationality in the States Of the emperor.
-. loto II In ~ IA Ih nIn
occurred to aggravate the question. Tn the morn
ing Of the I'd Of July the commander OF the Amrrl-
can soop-of.war "St. Louis, Mr.. lngraham. sent
a message to the commanding officer OF the Illus
Zar, to the effect that. in pursuance OF instructions
received from the charge daillres Of the nted
States nj Constantnople, he had to call upon him
to deliver the aforesaid koszta INTO his hands ;
adding that if he did not receive satisfactory an
swcr by 4 o'clock in the afternoon, he should
cause the prisoner to be taken away ny main
force. As il was reasonable lo expect. our COM
mander, instead Of complying with this request.
prepared himself to rcpulsc force by force; and
when, nj the hour designated, the American ct"-
mander, getting ready to carry out his threat.
ranged himself alongside vessel. and brought
his guns To bear upon the imperial brig. and was
about to'carry matters to the lnst extremity. our
brave sailors, although much inferior III numbers,
were determined 10 oppose vigorous resistance
10 the act of aggression which was on the point
Of being consummatcd in the neutral port OF
Smyrna, and on the part Of vcsscl-ot-war belong
ing to a power will, which Austria was at peace.
Our consul general only succeeded in preventing
this bloody catastrophe which would probably
have ended in the destruction Of a considerable
portion Of the town Of smyrna and Of vessels Of
all nations in the harhor by conserving that hos
z,a should temporarily and until the settlement Of
the difficulties OF which he was the subject. be
confded TO the custody Of the consulgcncra OF
France, at Smyrna.
The return Of Mr. Marsh to Constan,inoplc. a
few DAYS after these events brought on Discus
sion between himself and our internuncio. OF the
question whether Marin koszta was to be CON
sidcrcd MS an Austrian subject or as a citizen OF
the Tnitcd States Although still ignorant Of this
discussion. the imperial government has come TO
the determination 10 delay any longer address
ing itself TO the government of the United States
through my instrnmcnai,y. There two dis
tine, questions involved IN this discussion. One
is the main question relating TO the dispute nbou,
the rights of jurisdiction which has risen between
the legations Of Austria and Of the United States at
Gonstantnopic, concerning koszta the other qmcs-
ton. a, least fully as important as that which has
reference To those formahcs, in virtue OF which
the agents Of the United States have deemed them
selves authorized in urging their pretensions
.ral.