Ambassador Francis to the Secretary of State.

No. 97.]

Sir: The department, in No. 199, dated February 12, 1906, addressed my predecessor in the case of Mrs. Nic. Roman, of Chicago, Ill., who, returning to the United States, was arrested at Budapest by the police authorities. A prepaid steamship ticket via Rotterdam was taken from her and she was told that she could not proceed to her destination except by way of Fiume and the Cunard Line.

[Page 50]

This embassy, under date of March 1, called the attention of the imperial and royal minister of foreign affairs to the facts in the case, requested an investigation as soon as possible, and that suitable reparation be made to Mrs. Roman.

The inclosed tardy communication, received by me to-day from the ministry of foreign affairs, is self-explanatory; and as no word has reached this embassy to the contrary, it is believed that Mrs. Roman’s steamship ticket was restored to her and that she was permitted to proceed on her journey without further molestation.

I am, etc.,

Charles S. Francis.

[Inclosure.—Translation.]

88.447/8.]

Referring to the esteemed communication of March 1, 1906, F. O., No. 184, the undersigned has the honor to inform his excellency the ambassador of the United States of America, Mr. Charles S. Francis, of the result of the investigations made in the case of Mrs. Nikolaus Roman, which has been communicated to this department by the royal Hungarian ministry.

Mrs. Nikolaus Roman, when she arrived at Budapest on her journey to the United States, did not produce an American, but a Hungarian, passport; she also failed to mention the circumstance that her husband had acquired American citizenship, and furthermore she was not able to prove that the prepaid ticket which she held was sent to her by her husband from America.

If, therefore, the Hungarian authorities have proceeded against Mrs. Roman in accordance with the decree of the royal Hungarian ministry of the interior, No. 40000 of the year 1904, which is based on the Hungarian law of the year 1903, Article IV, the said lady has to bear all the blame of the misfortune she has suffered.

The royal Hungarian ministry of the interior, as soon as it received knowledge of the contents of the esteemed communication above referred to, issued the necessary orders to have the confiscated ship’s ticket returned to Mrs. Roman without delay in case the same had not already been returned to her before.

The undersigned avails, etc.,


For the Minister:
Lad Müller.