Office of the Historian

Mr. Wurts to Mr. Foster.

Legation of the United States,
St. Petersburg, October 17, 1892. (Received November 4.)
No. 249.]

Sir: Referring to my dispatch, No. 239, of the 7th ultimo, in relation to the case of the alleged citizen of the United States, Jacob Goldstein, held in arrest at Kharkov, I have the honor to transmit to you herewith a copy and translation of a note from the Imperial foreign office in response to my communication on the subject, by which it will be seen that there is a conflict of testimony as to the identity of the person in question, the Russian authorities affirming that he is not Jacob Goldstein but Yankel Zlotow, and that he is accused of coming to Russia with a false passport.

Mr. Heenan, our consul at Odessa, has sent me copies of his correspondence in this case with the authorities at Kharkov, which, it appears, has also been transmitted to the Department. In this correspondence Goldstein states that he is a native of Germany; that he emigrated when very young to the United States, and that he came to Kharkov on business last June. He does not state whether this was his first visit or not to Russia. The inspector of the Kharkov prison points out, however, in his letter to Mr. Heenan that Goldstein speaks Russian fluently, which is a very suspicious circumstance. Awaiting further instructions from you in the matter,

I am, etc.,

George W. Wurts,
Chargé d’Affaires ad interim,
[Page 529]
[Inclosure in No. 249—Translation.]

Mr. Chichkine to Mr. Wurts.

Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Department of the Home Relations, St. Petersburg, October 3–15, 1892.

Mr. Charge d’Affairs: You addressed yourself to the Imperial ministry in order to know what reasons had determined the Imperial authorities to arrest, at Kharkov, Mr. Goldstein.

I have, in consequence, the honor to inform you that the individual in question, who pretends to be an American citizen, is accused, by the terms of article 977 of the penal code, of having arrived in Russia with a false passport, his real name being Yankel Zlotow.

Accept, etc.,

Chichkine.