Mr. Tower to Mr. Hay.
Vienna, December 6, 1898.
Sir: I have the honor to report to you, for your information, the case of Julius Graber, a naturalized citizen of the United States, who was arrested in Hungary for nonperformance of military duty and released upon the intervention of this legation in his behalf.
Julius Graber was born at Vag-Bestertze, in Hungary, on the 10th of November, 1868. He emigrated to America in the year 1891, after having served in the Austro-Hungarian army according to the conscription laws of the Empire, being at that time enrolled in the national reserve force, though not in active service and not under summons to perform active service. Having resided five years in Dayton, Ohio, Mr. Graber was admitted to citizenship in the United States by the probate court of Dayton, Ohio, on the 1st day of October, 1896.
He left America in June, 1897, to travel in Europe in the interests of his employers, the National Cash Register Company, having a passport, No. 1708, issued to him by the Department of State; and in the course of a short stay in Vienna, he decided to go to Hungary to visit the place of his birth. Upon putting this decision into effect, in August, 1898, he was arrested by the military authorities at Trencsen, charged with being a deserter, and was condemned to an imprisonment of fifteen days. He then appealed to this legation for assistance, which was given to him immediately.
Representations were made in his behalf to the Austro-Hungarian ministry of foreign affairs, whereupon an official inquiry was instituted into the facts of his case with the result that Mr. Graber’s American citizenship has been recognized and he has been freed from obligation to serve in the army of Austria-Hungary. The minister of foreign affairs has replied to this legation that Mr. Graber did not declare himself to be an American citizen at the time of his arrest, but that this fact now having been proved the entry of his condemnation to imprisonment has been erased from the military records in Hungary and his name stricken from the lists of those liable to perform military service. This exemption is to date from the day of his naturalization in the United States.
I have, etc.