ITALY. EXCLUSION OF OLIVE OIL. The Italian Ambassador to the Secretary of State. No. 2278.] [Translation.] ROYAL EMBASSY OF ITALY, Washington, D. C., November 24, 1906. MR. SECRETARY OF STATE: The firm of S. Rae & Co., of Leghorn (Tuscany), has addressed to my Government a protest against the action of the federal Department of Agriculture in prohibiting the importation into the United States of olive oil that the said firm had, for over thirty years, been importing into the United States. It seems that the cause of this prohibition is that the said product is sold as "Lucca oil," while it appears to be neither made in or exported from the province of Lucca. It would seem that the recent regulations issued by the Federal Government in regard to the place of origin of the merchandise being indicated on the label should not apply to this case, inasmuch as the sweet olive oil of Tuscany has, according to a certificate of the Chamber of Commerce of Leghorn, copy of which I have the honor to inclose herewith, been designated and known, from time immemorial, by the name of "Lucca oil," both in Italy and abroad. I shall be thankful to your excellency if you will courteously move your most excellent colleague of the Agriculture Department to give a favorable reception to the protest of the firm of S. Rae & Co. and permit its oil to be admitted into this country as heretofore. Accept, etc. MAYOR. [Inclosure. Translation.] PROVINCE OF LEGHORN, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND ARTS. It is hereby certified, for the sake of truth, that from time immemorial, the sweet olive oil of Tuscany has always been designated and known-both in Italy and abroad-by the name of "Lucca oil," and that the reputable firm of Samuel Rae & Co., established here in 1836, leads in the trade, exporting nothing but the best olive oil of Tuscany under the customary name of “Lucca oil.” F. ARDIZZONE, President. G. BARSANTI, Secretary. LEGHORN, September 29, 1906. The Secretary of State to the Italian Ambassador. No. 425.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, December 27, 1906. EXCELLENCY: In reply to your note of the 24th ultimo, in the matter of the protest of S. Rae & Co., of Leghorn, against the alleged refusal of this Government to admit Tuscan olive oil labeled as Lucca oil unless made in or exported from Lucca, I have the honor to inclose a copy of a letter from the Secretary of Agriculture stating the views of his department. Accept, etc., [Inclosure.] ELIHU ROOT. The Secretary of Agriculture to the Secretary of State. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 30th ultimo, inclosing a copy of a protest from the Leghorn Chamber of Commerce and Arts transmitted through the Italian ambassador. In reply, I beg to say that the notice which was given out by our Boston laboratory relative to a shipment of oil designated as Lucca oil and not manufactured in the immediate neighborhood of Lucca was based on inforamtion which the department had received that the Lucca oil was understood to be that manufactured in the locality mentioned. The statement of S. Rae & Co., in a pamphlet circulated by this firm, marked "Prima arborum," on page 24, is as follows: No olive oil produced elsewhere in Italy, or in any part of France, can compare with the best Tuscan oil, which it is the privilege of the neighboring provinces of Lucca and Pisa to produce. The other sections of Tuscany, namely, Florence, Siena, and Grosseto, produce good qualities, but not equal to the oils of Lucca and Pisa. From the information recently received through your department from various consular officers it appears that the present contention of S. Rae & Co. is correct and that the statement taken from their advertising matter is untrue. As far as practicable it is the desire of this department to restrict the use of geographical names to their proper meaning. It is not intended, however, that an unfair decision shall be made, and pending further inquiry in the matter, no objection will be made to Tuscan olive oil branded as Lucca oil. I have, etc., JAMES WILSON. REGULATIONS REGARDING CERTIFICATE OF ORIGIN OF IMPORTATIONS INTO ITALY. The Italian Chargé to the Secretary of State. [Translation.] ROYAL EMBASSY OF ITALY, Washington, D. C., February 27, 1906. Mr. SECRETARY OF STATE: The ministry of foreign affairs advises me that while there is no change in the former regulations concerning the issuance and authentication of the certificates of origin that have been heretofore required for the admission of certain goods to the benefits of the conventional tariff on their importation into the Kingdom, the requirement of a certificate of origin to be produced upon entry in Italy has been extended to other merchandise. In order to enable your excellency to bring this provision to the knowledge of those who may be interested therein, I have deemed it expedient to acquaint you with the foregoing and to hasten at the same time to submit herein a complete list of the merchandise for which the aforesaid document is required. Silks, wines in casks and bottles, olive oil, oil of turpentine, compounded medicine (exclusive of propriety medicines in original packages and wrappers bearing the name and residence of the maker), velveteens, utensils and other manufactures of common wood in the rough, prunes, beans, peas, mushrooms and asparagus in vinegar, salt and oil, salted fish (sardines and anchovies, inclusive of "Salacchini, boiane," "scoranze," mackerel, "langaroli," "angusigole," "aride," "bobi," ," and "suri"), fish pickled and in oil (exclusive of tunny), cheese, manufactures of horn and bone (exclusive of combs and hairpins), musical instruments (exclusive of organs, pianos, and harmoniums), fans. 99 66 Accept, etc. G. C. MONTAGNA. The Italian Chargé to the Secretary of State. [Translation.] ROYAL EMBASSY OF ITALY, Washington, D. C., March 7, 1906. Mr. SECRETARY OF STATE: In continuation of my note No. 378 of the 27th of February last, I have the honor to transmit herewith to your excellency a copy of the essential part of a communication from the royal ministry of foreign affairs relative to the new measures taken in the Kingdom in regard to certificates of origin. Accept, etc., G. C. MONTAGNA. [Inclosure. Translation.] I hasten to advise you, in accordance with a further communication received from the royal ministry of finance, that, regards cheese, the certificate of origin is required in our custom-house only when it is imported by sea. Further, in regard to silk fabrics, the requirement of a certificate of origin does not apply to mixed goods in which there is not more than 50 per cent or less than 12 per cent of silk and silk waste, nor to mixed linen, cotton, or woolen trimmings with less than 12 per cent of silk in the visible part. Finally, cognac is to be added to the list, already communicated with the aforesaid circular, of the products for which a certificate of origin is required. The Italian Chargé to the Secretary of State. [Translation. ] ROYAL EMBASSY OF ITALY, Washington, D. C., May 20, 1906. Mr. SECRETARY OF STATE: In continuation of my notes Nos. 378 and 407, dated, respectively, February 27 and March 7 last, respecting certificates of origin, I have the honor to inform your excellency that on the 1st of March last, upon the inauguration of the customs administration flowing from the enforcement of the new treaties of commerce, the olive oils and kinds of salt fish named in the first of the said circulars came under the general tariff. These products, therefore, need no longer be accompanied by a certificate of origin, since they will not hereafter enjoy any conventional treatment. The various existing provisions governing certificates of origin remain nevertheless in force, among others that which stipulates that in the case of merchandise coming from non-European countries beyond the canal of Suez and the Straits of Gibraltar the presentation of the original through bills of lading for Italy will be accepted in lieu of certificates of origin. Accept, etc., G. C. MONTAGNA. FUNCTION IN HONOR OF PROFESSOR BACCELLI. The Acting Secretary of State to Chargé Hitt. [Telegram.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, In response to invitation just received from Italian embassy you are authorized to be present at royal function in honor of Prof. Guido Baccelli, Policlinico Humberto I, April 8, to represent the department of education this Government. BACON. COMMERCIAL TREATY BETWEEN AUSTRIA-HUNGARY AND ITALY. Chargé Hitt to the Secretary of State. No. 140.] AMERICAN EMBASSY, a SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy of the new commercial treaty between this country and Austria-Hungary, signed at Rome on the 11th ultimo and proclaimed by the King on the 28th ultimo. Although the "Bollettino Ufficiale del Ministero d'Agricoltura, Industria e Commercio," Anno V. vol. 11, fasc. 1, in which it is contained bears date of the 3d instant, the copies were not distributed until to-day. I have, etc., R. S. REYNOLDS HITT. ISSUANCE OF PASSPORTS. ANGLICIZING FOREIGN NAMES IN NATURALIZATION CERTIFICATES. No. 64.] The Acting Secretary of State to Chargé Hitt. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. Washington, January 26, 1906. SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. White's No. 90, of the 23d ultimo,' requesting instructions as to the issue of a passport a Not printed. Filed in the Department of State. to a person where a discrepancy exists, as is often the case with naturalized American citizens of Italian origin, between the original Italian name and an Anglicized form thereof under which the person has been naturalized. You cite as instances Antonio Bartoletta, who became by naturalization Anthony Bartlett, and Giovani Ventimiglia, who endeavored to be naturalized as John Twentymiles, but who became in the certificate John Twontymill. In reply I have to say that the rule is (rule 6): "The signature to the application should conform in orthography to the applicant's name as written in his certificate of naturalization, or an explanation of the difference should be submitted." If the identity of the applicant is well established and there is no reason to suspect attempted fraud, there would seem to be no objection to giving him a passport in the name by which he is known, if his name has merely undergone a colloquial modification without being absolutely changed. It would manifestly be unjust to make naturalized citizens who are so situated that they can not find relief by going to the naturalizing courts suffer because courts have naturalized them under incorrectly written names; nor is the Anglicizing of foreign names in naturalization certificates by itself sufficient ground for refusing passports to naturalized citizens. SIR: I have the honor to submit for your consideration the application for a passport of one Giovanni Caprio, and to request your instructions relative thereto. The material facts of the case are as follows: The applicant was born in Italy on November 29, 1877, and emigrated to the United States about April 15, 1895, while still several months under the age of 18 years. He was admitted to citizenship by the circuit court of the United States for the district of Massachusetts on November 14, 1904, as an alien who had arrived in the United States under the age of 18 years. In his application he claims an uninterrupted residence in the United States of nine years and seven months. It is with respect to this last-mentioned point that I have the honor to request your instructions, as it appears from a certificate of identity issued by the mayor of Caprio's native town, which accompanied his application and which may be considered as worthy of credit, that the applicant produced four persons with a view to proving the period of his residence outside of Italy, and that these persons affirmed that Caprio emigrated from Italy, bound for Boston, Mass., in 1895; that he returned to Italy for the first time in 1898; that he emigrated a second time for the same designation, Boston, Mass., in April, 1901, and returned to Italy in 1904. |