suggested by you. Consuls say they lack authority. Have foreign office give them full authority to certify and transmit by cable in Russian or English powers of attorney necessary to take appeal. Claimants complain that instructions received from Russian Government through you lack definiteness as to whether powers of attorney must be in Russian or whether English will do, or whether they must be legalized and transmitted by Russian consul-general, or may be, after legalization, transmitted by Department to embassy or Berline. Telegraph most explicit and brief instructions as to exact steps claimants must take. They are anxious to appeal, but have been hampered by difficulty of communication and by alleged want of authority of Russian consuls and consuls-general. LOOMIS. Mr. Eddy to Mr. Hay. [Telegram.] AMERICAN EMBASSY, St. Petersburg, December 18, 1904. Hearing on Knight Commander and Calchas cases has been set back to the 15th January. If powers of attorney are mailed imme-diately they will be in time. The earlier they arrive the better. EDDY. Mr. Eddy to Mr. Hay. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] AMERICAN EMBASSY, St. Petersburg, December 20, 1904. (Mr. Eddy reports that he has requested the foreign office to instruct Russian consuls to give every assistance in telegraphing powers of attorney. All powers of attorney should be telegraphed immediately. It is practically impossible to get anything done in the different ministries during the Christmas holidays up to January 7.) Mr. Eddy to Mr. Hay. [Telegram.] AMERICAN EMBASSY, St. Petersburg, December 22, 1904. Russian Government officially notifies me instructions sent to important Russian consulates throughout the United States to telegraph all powers of attorney in all contraband cases. EDDY. Mr. Hay to Mr. Eddy. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, December 23, 1904. (Mr. Hay instructs Mr. Eddy to inform the Russian Government that the United States Government is deeply interested in the seizures of American-owned goods as contraband of war by the Russian naval authorities; that all possible assistance in taking their appeals from the decisions of the Vladivostok prize court to the council of admiralty has been rendered to the claimants by this Government; that on account of the great distance and the difficulty of communication by reason of warlike operations and the unfamiliarity of Americans with Russian judicial procedure, claimants desiring to take such appeals have found it impossible to do so within the prescribed time limits, and that the United States Government requests that the Russian Government extend the time limits in order that all American claimants may be enabled to take effective appeals and have a decision of each case on its merits. It is expected that the importance of the questions at issue and the interest of the United States Government in a just and satisfactory solution of them will lend all possible weight to this request.) Mr. Eddy to Mr. Hay. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] AMERICAN EMBASSY, St. Petersburg, December 24, 1904. (Mr. Eddy reports that a note practically embodying all the points contained in Department's telegram of the 23d instant, but referring to the Arabia only, had already been presented to the minister of foreign affairs, and that he will send another note to the foreign office including all the vessels. Urges that all powers of attorney be telegraphed without delay.) ARREST OF AMERICAN NEWSPAPER CORRESPONDENTS BY RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES. Mr. Hay to Mr. McCormick. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, (Mr. Hay informs Mr. McCormick that Messrs. Washburn and Little, American newspaper correspondents, have been arrested by Russian authorities and their chartered British boat has been seized at the entrance to the harbor of Niuchwang, and instructs him to ask for their release and protection.) No. 119.] Mr. McCormick to Mr. Hay. AMERICAN EMBASSY, SIR: With reference to Department's telegraphic instruction of April 4, I have the honor to inform you that I am this day officially informed of the release of Messrs. Washburn and Little, correspondents of the Chicago Daily News. I have also to inform you that the Russian Government takes the position that it would have been fully justified in retaining these correspondents as prisoners of war in their capacity as correspondents attached to the army of the enemy. I have, etc., ROBERT S. MCCORMICK. PASSPORT APPLICATION OF MICHAEL SILBERKASTEN. Mr. McCormick to Mr. Hay. [Telegram.] AMERICAN EMBASSY, Was passport issued last March 'Michael Silberkasten? Mr. Hay to Mr. McCormick. [Telegram.] MCCORMICK. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, No record found of passport issued to Michael Silberkasten in last eighteen months. Mr. McCormick to Mr. Hay. HAY. No. 146.] AMERICAN EMBASSY, St. Petersburg, May 27, 1904. SIR: I have the honor to call the Department's attention to the inclosed application for a passport of one Michael Silberkasten, whose inability to give the name of the ship on which he sailed on March 25, 1904, led me to suspect the truth of his statement that he had lost his passport, which he claimed to have received in March in Boston, and either disposed of it to some Russian wishing to leave the country or had perhaps come by the certificate of naturalization on which his application was based through some fraudulent channel. On the strength of my suspicion I telegraphed the Department on May 9 and received reply which convinced me that Silberkasten had never had a passport and led me to write to Mr. Slocum instructing him to closely cross-question the applicant as to his residence in the United States and his naturalization as sworn to in his application. This cross-questioning resulted in Silberkasten's breaking down and confessing that he had never had a passport and that he had purchased the certificate of naturalization, which I also inclose herewith, for the sum of $2, it having been offered to him originally for $7. He further stated that this transaction took place in the Boston City Hall. also inclose a copy of Mr. Slocum's letter giving details about Silberkasten, according to which he left Warsaw, the place of his birth, on October 10, 1900, without giving his new address and, according to the statement of the care taker of the house where Silberkasten lodged, it was at this time that the latter left for the United States, as the care taker had been told that Silberkasten had spent three years there. The investigation further developed the fact that on August 8, 1903, Silberkasten returned to Warsaw registering himself as a permanent resident and producing, to accomplish this registration, the usual local Russian passport, which is presumably now in his possession. I inclose the certificate of naturalization with the above statement in order that the Department may cause an investigation to be made as to the issue of the certificate and whether or not it is genuine. I have, etc., [Inclosure.] ROBERT S. MCCORMICK. Mr. Slocum to Mr. McCormick. AMERICAN CONSULATE, Warsaw, Russia, May 10/23, 1904. SIR: I have to acknowledge receipt of the embassy's communications in the matter of Michael Silberkasten, dated May 11 and 14, respectively. In this matter I have to report as follows, and incidentally to thank the embassy for preventing what would, it now appears, have been a clear case of fraud. Upon advice from the embassy that no passport had been issued in the name of Michael Silberkasten within the last eighteen months, after some delay Mr. Silberkasten's presence at the consulate was obtained. After a good deal of bluster, he finally broke down and confessed that he had never had a passport. It is superfluous to mention the various excuses the man gave for making the misstatement. Urging upon him the necessity of at last speaking the truth in regard to the naturalization certificate, he proceeded to maintain that it is his property and was issued to him as stated, with, however, the additional information that it had first been offered to him for $7 but finally obtained for $2. This transaction took place in the Boston City Hall, so he alleges. Being, of course, dissatisfied with this state of affairs, I had recourse to the books of the lodging at Twarda 12, where he resides with his father. The record stands as follows: Michael, son of Hersh Silberkasten, Twarda 12, apartment 42, living with his father, born 1878 at Warsaw, permanent residence. October 10, 1900, was reported to the police as having left Twarda 12 without giving his new address." The caretaker of the property (Uprawliajusxcozij) told me that it was at this time that he left for America, as he had been told that Silberkasten had spent three years there. The book bears witness again to the fact that on August 8, 1903, Silberkasten again became registered as a permanent resident of Warsaw, offering for such purpose his usual local passport (Russian), which is presumably now in his possession. * May I ask, is it the intention of the embassy to return the certificate to Mr. Silberkasten? It seems to me this would only give him an opportunity to repeat the operation elsewhere, under perhaps more favorable conditions. I have, etc., CLARENCE RICE SLOCUM. No. 164.] Mr. Hay to Mr. Eddy. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, October 28, 1904. SIR: In reply to your dispatch No. 146 of May 27 last, in relation to the apparently fraudulent naturalization of Michael Silberkasten, I inclose for your information a copy of a letter from the AttorneyGeneral, to whom the matter was referred. Silberkasten's application for a passport and his certificate of naturalization, transmitted to the Department with your said dispatch, are returned herewith. I am, etc., JOHN HAY. [Inclosure.] Mr. Moody to Mr. Hay. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, September 27, 1904. SIR Referring to previous correspondence, relative to the alleged fraudulent naturalization of one Michael Silberkasten in the United States circuit court for the district of Massachusetts, I have the honor to say that the Department is advised by the United States attorney for that district, that after investigation he finds that the certificate taken from the Russian applicant for passport is a valid instrument. He further states, however, that the signature of the applicant for passport does not appear to be in the same handwriting as the signature to the application for citizenship, and that the statements contained in the application for passport regarding the date of birth and the date of arrival in the United States are not the same as those in the application for admission to citizenship. The action of the consul, therefore, in taking up the certificate was perfectly proper. The application for passport and the certificate of citizenship are herewith returned. W. H. MOODY. Respectfully, NEUTRALITY OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE WAR BETWEEN RUSSIA AND JAPAN. No. 132.] Mr. McCormick to Mr. Hay. AMERICAN EMBASSY, SIR: I have the honor to inclose herewith some extracts from the report of the Russian minister to Korea, Mr. Pavloff, with reference to the naval action off the Bay of Chemulpo and the action. of Captain Marshall of the Vicksburg, which I am sure will be of interest both to the Department of State and the Navy Department. I have, etc., ROBERT S. MCCORMICK. [Inclosure. Translation.] Extracts from the report of the Russian minister to Korea, M. Pavloff. SHANGHAI, February 16/29, 1904. * At 7.30 a. m. (of 27/9th. Feb). the commanders of the foreign men-of-war at anchor in the harbor, of the English cruiser Talbot, the French cruiser Pascal, and the Italian cruiser Elba, and of the American |