Bryan Admits Balkan Snub.

New York Times 100 years ago today, August 7, 1913:
Special to The New York Times.
    WASHINGTON, Aug. 6.— Secretary Bryan this afternoon confirmed the dispatches telling of the efforts of the United States to insert in the Balkan peace treaty a clause safeguarding the civil and religious liberty of all persons in the territory affected by its provisions. Publication of the rejection of Mr. Bryan's suggestion caused great surprise among public men here, as the action of the State Department had been kept entirely a secret.
    Mr. Bryan said that the request was a perfectly natural one on the part of this Government, inasmuch as many of the inhabitants of the countries concerned had emigrated to the United States, and as citizens here desired to secure protection for themselves and their kin.
    For months protests have been coming to the State Department against the treatment of the Jews in Rumania. It has been charged that Jews in that country are deprived of their civil rights as guaranteed under the Treaty of Berlin. When asked if the refusal of the delegates to the Balkan Peace Conference to comply with the request would lead to further action by this Government, the Secretary of State declined to discuss the matter.
    The suggestion rejected yesterday was conveyed indirectly from the State Department to the plenipotentiaries through the Rumanian and Greek Foreign Offices. The American Ministers to Greece and Rumania, it is said, could not deal officially with the peace conference.
    The State Department acted as the result of strong pressure brought to bear from various quarters by Jewish individuals and organizations in this country. This agitation also found expression in Congress, where Senator Penrose and Representative J. Hampton Moore of Pennsylvania introduced resolutions calling upon the State Department for information as to what had been or would be done to cause the Government of Rumania to respect the rights of Jews guaranteed by the Treaty of Berlin.