With assurances of my high regard, I have the honor to be, Your Excellency's obedient servant, In reply to Your Excellency's letter of December 27, relative to conversations held in Paris last September between Colonel Arthur Woods, Special Commissioner for Narcotic Research at Washington, M. Bourgeois, and M. Delange, Controller General of the Service of Judicial Investigation, I have the honor to inform you that I see no objection to the direct exchange of information between the respective French and American offices charged with the suppression of the traffic in narcotics. 1 M. Delange, Controller General of the Service of Judicial Investigation, has been instructed to communicate with Colonel Woods concerning the proposals formulated by Your Excellency. Kindly accept, Mr. Ambassador, the assurances of my high consideration. For the Minister for Foreign Affairs and His Excellency MYRON T. HERRICK, by Delegation The Ambassador of France Secretary General [signature undecipherable] Ambassador of the United States at Paris. 1 The name of Colonel Woods was inadvertently used here. The Foreign Office later informed the Embassy that due note had been taken of the fact that communication was to be with Colonel Nutt. Moreover, by note of Sept. 16, 1929, the Foreign Office informed the Embassy that M. Delange had been replaced by M. Ducloux. ARBITRATION Treaty signed at Washington February 6, 1928; exchange of notes at Senate advice and consent to ratification March 6, 1928 Ratified by the President of the United States March 15, 1928 Ratified by France April 6, 1929 Ratifications exchanged at Washington April 22, 1929 Entered into force April 22, 1929 Proclaimed by the President of the United States April 22, 1929 46 Stat. 2269; Treaty Series 785 TREATY The President of the United States of America and the President of the French Republic Determined to prevent so far as in their power lies any interruption in the peaceful relations that have happily existed between the two nations for more than a century; Desirous of reaffirming their adherence to the policy of submitting to impartial decision all justiciable controversies that may arise between them; Eager by their example not only to demonstrate their condemnation of war as an instrument of national policy in their mutual relations, but also to hasten the time when the perfection of international arrangements for the pacific settlement of international disputes shall have eliminated forever the possibility of war among any of the Powers of the world; Having in mind the treaty signed at Washington on September 15, 1914,1 to facilitate the settlement of disputes between the United States of America and France; Have decided to conclude a new treaty of arbitration enlarging the scope of the arbitration convention signed at Washington on February 10, 1908, which expires by limitation on February 27, 1928, and promoting the cause of arbitration and for that purpose they have appointed as their respective Plenipotentiaries: 1 TS 609, ante, p. 883. TS 490, ante, p. 870. The President of the United States of America: Mr. Robert E. Olds, Acting Secretary of State, and The President of the French Republic: His Excellency Mr. Paul Claudel, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the French Republic to the United States, who, having communicated to one another their full powers found in good and due form, have agreed upon the following articles: ARTICLE I Any disputes arising between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the French Republic of whatever nature they may be, shall, when ordinary diplomatic proceedings have failed and the High Contracting Parties do not have recourse to adjudication by a competent tribunal, be submitted for investigation and report, as prescribed in the treaty signed at Washington, September 15, 1914, to the Permanent International Commission constituted pursuant thereto. ARTICLE II All differences relating to international matters in which the High Contracting Parties are concerned by virtue of a claim of right made by one against the other under treaty or otherwise, which it has not been possible to adjust by diplomacy, which have not been adjusted as a result of reference to the above-mentioned Permanent International Commission, and which are justiciable in their nature by reason of being susceptible of decision by the application of the principles of law or equity, shall be submitted to the Permanent Court of Arbitration established at The Hague by the Convention of October 18, 1907, or to some other competent tribunal, as shall be decided in each case by special agreement, which special agreement shall provide for the organization of such tribunal if necessary, define its powers, state the question or questions at issue, and settle the terms of reference. The special agreement in each case shall be made on the part of the United States of America by the President of the United States of America by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and on the part of France in accordance with the constitutional laws of France. ARTICLE III The provisions of this treaty shall not be invoked in respect of any dispute the subject matter of which (a) is within the domestic jurisdiction of either of the High Contracting (c) depends upon or involves the maintenance of the traditional attitude of the United States concerning American questions, commonly described as the Monroe Doctrine, (d) depends upon or involves the observance of the obligations of France in accordance with the covenant of the League of Nations. ARTICLE IV The present Treaty shall be ratified by the President of the United States of America by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof and by the President of the French Republic in accordance with the constitutional laws of the French Republic. The ratifications shall be exchanged at Washington as soon as possible, and the treaty shall take effect on the date of the exchange of the ratifications. It shall thereafter remain in force continuously unless and until terminated by one year's written notice given by either High Contracting Party to the other. In faith thereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed this treaty in duplicate in the English and French languages, both texts having equal force, and hereunto affix their seals. Done at Washington the sixth day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and twenty-eight. As you are aware it was not the intention or desire of the Government of the United States that the new Arbitration Treaty, which was proposed to your Government last December and signed on February 6, 1928, should be held to affect in any way the provisions of the Treaty for the Advancement of Peace signed by France and the United States on September 15, 1914, and I have understood that the Government of the French Republic was in accord with the Government of the United States on this point. In order to prevent the possibility of any future misunderstanding, however, I desire formally to state that in the opinion of the Government of the United States the provisions of the Arbitration Treaty signed February 6, 1928, do not in the slightest degree affect or modify the provisions of the Treaty signed September 15, 1914. I should be glad to receive a note from you confirming my understanding that your Government's interpretation of the Treaty signed February 6, 1928, is identical with that of the Government of the United States as expressed above. Accept, Excellency, the renewed assurance of my highest consideration. FRANK B. KELLOGG His Excellency Mr. PAUL CLAUDEL Ambassador of the French Republic The French Ambassador to the Secretary of State MR. SECRETARY OF STATE: [TRANSLATION] EMBASSY OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC By a note dated the first of this month Your Excellency has been good enough to inform me that in the opinion of the Federal Government "the provisions of the treaty of arbitration signed February 6, 1928, do not in the slightest degree affect or modify the provisions of the treaty signed September 15, 1914." You added that you would be glad to receive from me a note confirming that my Government shares this point of view. My Government, to which I did not fail to transmit the text of Your Excellency's note, has requested me to assure you that its interpretation of the treaty signed February 6, 1928, is identical with that of the Government of the United States as expressed above. My Government is of the opinion that our recent arbitration treaty not only leaves the 1914 treaty unchanged but even envisages its application. Please accept, Mr. Secretary of State, the assurances of my high consideration. His Excellency The Honorable FRANK B. KELLOGG Secretary of State of the United States CLAUDEL |