Mr. Uhl to Mr. Runyon.
Washington, April 3, 1894.
Sir: Your dispatch No. 58, of the 10th ultimo, in relation to your action in issuing a passport to an American citizen upon an application taken before the vice-commercial agent of the United States at Luxemburg, has been received.
In reply I have to say that no question of territorial jurisdiction is necessarily involved in the case. When there is no representative of the United States competent to issue a passport in a small sovereign state, the nearest embassy or legation can be applied to. Thus an application from Monaco might be made indifferently to Paris or Rome; from Andorra to Madrid or Paris, and so forth.
It would seem, however, that the commercial agent at Luxemburg had authority to issue a passport. The statutes provide for the issuance of passports in foreign countries by consular officers, and commercial agents are declared to be full consular officers by section 1674 of the Revised Statutes.
I am, sir, etc.,
Acting Secretary.