Mr. Alexander to Mr. Uhl.
Athens, March 25, 1895. (Received April 15.)
Sir: I have the honor to confirm my telegram of the 16th instant and to acknowledge yours of the 23d.
Before sending you my telegram of the 16th instant, following the instructions of your dispatch No. 43, 1 had explained to Mr. Delyanni, the Greek minister of foreign affairs, your reasons for preferring a formal convention on the reciprocal protection of trade-marks, instead of the declaration signed by his predecessor, Mr. Stephanos, and myself on the 19th day of July, 1894. At the same time I handed him the draft for such a convention, which accompanied your dispatch No. 21, of May 16, 1894. Mr. Delyanni fully understood the grounds of your doubt as to whether the declaration followed, as a necessary consequence, from the treaty of 1837. Since our first conversation on the subject he has told me that the Greek department of the interior, to which he referred the matter for its opinion, considers the declaration valid and a natural interpretation of the treaty. Mr. Tricoupi (then prime minister), Mr. Stephanos, and myself discussed the matter in all its bearings last summer, and I was convinced that the Greek department, while thinking that the declaration did not follow, as necessary consequence, from the treaty of 1837, believed that it was a natural interpretation of the spirit of that treaty. For that reason, and because of the delay and uncertainty in connection with the ratification of a formal convention by the Chamber of Deputies, it seemed to me advisable to sign a declaration. And I am still sure that its validity, “as determining in a more explicit manner the text” and interpreting the spirit of our treaty, would never have been questioned in Greece.
Several of the other countries represented here succeeded in arranging the matter in the same way. I inclose the English text of a declaration, identical with ours, signed by the British minister eight days later. His Government preferred a convention, but finding it impracticable, accepted the declaration as the best and probably the only arrangement possible.
I fear that the ratification of a formal convention will meet with serious opposition in the Chamber of Deputies. Greek ministries rarely have a majority of more than eight or ten deputies, and they find it difficult to control that majority in measures which are strongly assailed by the opposition, as the ratification of such a convention certainly will be assailed.
The probable result, then, will be the failure of ratification, and, when once doubt has been cast by a foreign power upon the validity of such declarations, our own and the other Governments which have succeeded in making them will probably lose the advantages which we have already obtained, and gain nothing in their stead. It was for [Page 761] these reasons that I sent to the Department of State my telegram of March 16.
A new Chamber of Deputies will be elected on the 28th day of April, and will meet on the 27th day of May. I shall in the meantime do all in my power to carry out the instructions of your dispatch No. 43 and of your telegram of the 23d instant, and afterwards to secure the ratification of a trade-mark convention by the Chamber of Deputies during its coming session, I am to have another conference with Mr. Delyanni in a few days. As the present ministry will be in power for a short time, it is probable that he will suggest the advisability of postponing definite action until after the appointment of a new ministry.
I have, etc.,