File No. 566/13.
The Secretary of State to Chargé Harvey.
Washington, February 9, 1910.
Sir: The department has received and read with interest your No. 49, Bulgarian series, of the 25th ultimo,1 relative to the trip which you took to Sofia for the purpose of ascertaining the exact attitude of the Bulgarian authorities with reference to the collection of a supplemental income tax from foreigners engaged in business in Bulgaria, and its effect on American merchants and agents there.
It appears from your dispatch that several of the powers have opposed the collection of this tax for the reason that the capitulations existing under the Turkish régime are still in force in Bulgaria, [Page 129] and therefore the Bulgarian Government would appear to have no right to enforce the collection of any new taxes upon foreign residents without the consent of their respective governments.
The department approves the representations made by you to the Bulgarian minister for foreign affairs, namely, that American citizens be accorded the same treatment given to other foreigners engaged in business in Bulgaria, and that British consular officers be permitted to continue to act in the interests of American citizens.
The courtesy extended to you by Mr. Lindley, His Britannic Majesty’s chargé d’affaires at Sofia, who accompanied you to the foreign office and who on several occasions has interfered to protect American citizens, is greatly appreciated, and the embassy at London has been instructed suitably to express to the foreign office the appreciation felt by this department and to ask that its thanks may be conveyed to Mr. Lindley for his services.
I am, etc.,
- Not printed.↩