File No. 5727/145.
The Secretary of State to the Russian Ambassador.
Washington, October 31, 1907.
Excellency: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your note of the 25th instant, requesting, on behalf of your Government, that the customs privileges granted by the United States to German chambers of commerce as regards certificates of value for goods shipped to the United States be extended to the committees of Russian exchanges (general and special).
Inasmuch as the Department of the Treasury has required, in the case of previous applications by foreign Governments for these privileges, evidence that the commercial bodies had some governmental standing, I have the honor to request, before referring this matter to the Department of the Treasury, that you will furnish this department with the text of articles 591 to 598 of the Russian Code of Commerce, as well as those statutes of the St. Petersburg Exchange, which define the powers and attributes of the committees of Russian exchanges (general and special).
Accept, etc.,