Office of the Historian

File No. 774/703.

Ambassador Hill to the Secretary of State.

American Embassy,
Berlin, February 21, 1910.
No. 610.]

Sir: With reference to the department’s circular instruction of September 1, 1909, relative to the proposed opium conference, I have the honor to inclose herewith, in duplicate, the translation of a note received to-day from the German Foreign Office, the substance of which I have to-day cabled you, stating that the German Government is glad to accept the suggestion of the United States in the matter and, in common with the other Governments of the powers who took part in the International Opium Commission in Shanghai in 1909, to send full-powered delegates to a conference in order to reach an international agreement based on the findings of the above-mentioned commission, and further, that the program submitted by the United States as the basis for a previous exchange of opinion will be taken into consideration by the German Government.

I have, etc.,

David J. Hill.
[Page 300]
[Inclosure—Translation.]

Note verbale from the Imperial German Foreign Office.

Berlin, February 17, 1910.

The Foreign Office has the honor to inform the embassy of the United States of America, in reply to the note verbale of January 8, 1910, that the Imperial Government is willing to follow the suggestion of the United States of America and join the Governments of the powers which took part in the International Opium Commission at Shanghai in 1909 in sending commissioners with full powers to represent it at a conference for the purpose of concluding an international convention on the basis of the resolutions of the said Shanghai Opium Commission.

The tentative program submitted by the Government of the United States of America to serve as a basis of a preliminary exchange of opinions will be subjected to an examination on the part of the Imperial Government.