Minister Clay to the Secretary of State.
Berne, January 8, 1906.
Sir: I have the honor to present to you herewith for consideration and decision the application for a passport of Mrs. Josephine A. Bartning, widow of a German subject.
From her application, herewith inclosed, it appears that she was born in San Francisco, Cal., on the 12th of January, 1863, and that her father was a naturalized citizen of the United States.
The marriage certificate presented to this legation shows that Mr. Julius Carl P. Bartning and the above applicant, Josephine A. L., nee Meyer, were united in marriage on the 4th of September, 1882, by Mr. M. H. My rick, associate justice of the supreme court of California, San Francisco.
In 1892 Mr. Bartning returned with his wife to his native country (Germany) and they resided in Hamburg, where Mr. Bartning died on the 5th of June, 1897. Mrs. Bartning after the death of her husband continued her residence in Germany, and she has only recently decided to take up her temporary residence in Switzerland.
Mrs. Bartning, who seems to be very anxious about reassuming her American citizenship, was informed that a widow could resume her American citizenship by resuming her actual residence in the United States. She, however, claiming that since the death of her husband it has always been her earnest desire to return to the United States and reassume her American citizenship, requested me to present her case to the Department of State for decision. For that purpose she supported her application by a sworn statement of the reasons why she did not return to America immediately after the death of her husband, and a sworn affidavit to return to the United States within two years, there to reside permanently.
In the analogous case of Mrs. Charlotte Dowdall de Arana, Secretary Bayard in his instructions to Mr. Hall of January 6, 1897 (F. E. 1897, p. 92), cited a decision of Mr. Fish, of January 14, 1871, in which it is stated:
The widow to whom you refer may, as a matter of strict law, remain a citizen, but as a citizen has no absolute right to a passport, and as the law of the United States has outside of their jurisdiction only such force as foreign nations may choose to accord it in their own territory, I think it judicious to withhold passports in such cases unless the widow gives evidence of her intention to resume her residence in the United States.
As the latter part of Mr. Fish’s decison may be construed as permitting the issuance of a passport to the American-born widow of a foreigner, upon her sworn declaration to resume her actual residence in the United States, I deemed it proper to refer the case to you before finally refusing a passport to Mrs. Bartning.
Awaiting your instructions in this case,
I have, etc.,