Mr. Draper to Mr. Hay.

No. 539.]

Sir: I have the honor to report that yesterday afternoon I received from the minister for foreign affairs, the Marquis Visconti Venosta, a [Page 434] personal note, a translation of which I inclose, together with certain quotations from the original. The telegram from Baron Fava, which the minister refers to, stated that, in spite of his earnest exertions to induce the Secretary of the Treasury to suspend the abolition of the Italian Emigration Bureau, the Secretary of State had written to the ambassador that, after mature examination, the Government did not think it expedient to revoke the abolition. On receipt of this note I telegraphed you as follows:

(Confidential.)

Minister for foreign affairs tells me he has received dispatch from Fava, saying that our Government has informed him that it does not deem it expedient to reconsider the determination to abolish Ellis Island bureau. Is this correct? Minister for foreign affairs also requests me to ask by telegraph if a delay can not be granted at least until he can be made acquainted with reasons for abolishing the bureau. I can not conceal from you my fear that the amicable relations between the two countries will be affected if this request be not granted.

I sincerely hope that this request for delay will be granted. I fear that the strong Italian sentiment involved in the question is not fully understood or appreciated in Washington. Should not consideration be given to the combined effects of the Tallulah lynching and the abolishment of the Ellis Island bureau? I believe that to decline to grant the delay asked for will cause a feeling with the Italian Government, whether justifiable or not, that it has not been courteously treated, and that the refusal will have a detrimental effect on our relations with Italy in many directions. I am not informed as to the facts and arguments on the other side, but I think it my duty to describe the situation here clearly and emphatically.

I have, etc.,

William F. Draper.
[Inclosure.—Private letter from Marquis Visconti Venosta dated December 7, 1899.]

Inclosed is a telegram which I have received from Washington. I am convinced that your excellency will not be less disturbed by it than I am. At the bottom, what we ask is very simple, that the measure taken against our Barge Office bureau be suspended to give us the time on both sides to discuss mutually and amicably the reasons which have actuated the decision of the minister of the Treasury. Of these reasons I am entirely ignorant, and it is difficult for me to comprehend that in place of stating them to me, and of putting us in position to examine them in common one persists in closing the question without saying anything to us except the announcement of the accomplished fact (on persiste la question sans rien nous dire, sauf l’annonce du fait accompli). If your excellency believes it possible to intervene again usefully by a telegram to the Federal Government, I shall be very grateful to you. It seems impossible to me that they will not accord a delay—a simple delay (il me semble impossible qu’on ne veuille pas accorder un sursis, un simple sursis).