The French Chargé to the Secretary of State.
Washington, April 17, 1910.
Mr. Secretary of State: The minister for foreign affairs has just forwarded to me a note relative to your excellency’s propositions dated October 18, last, in regard to the court of arbitral justice.
By order of my Government I have the honor to transmit to your excellency the text of the said note:
In consequence of Mr. Knox’s identic circular note of October 18, 1909, pourparlers took place in Paris between the delegates of France, Germany, the United States, and Great Britain concerning the prize court and the court of arbitral justice.
As regards the prize court a draft of additional protocol was proposed by the delegates to enable the Government of the United States to avoid constitutional difficulties. Desiring to facilitate the ratification of the prize court by the American Government, the Government of the Republic accepts the proposed protocol, although it has no intention to derive any advantage from its provisions, but stands on the convention of 1907, which vested the prize court with a truly supreme international jurisdiction. While instructing its representative at The Hague in that sense the Government of the Republic will make it known that it holds the prize-court question to be one that must be entered in the program of the third conference at The Hague, where all the powers will be permitted to discuss the modifications made in the convention of 1907 by the declaration of London or the additional protocol.
As regards the court of arbitral justice, the Government of the Republic likewise agrees with that of the United States on the necessity of putting the court into operation. It believes, however, that it is expedient, as decided by the committee of the four delegate powers, to establish a distinction between that and the prize court. When the convention governing the last-named court shall have been ratified by enough States to permit of its going into effect, the putting into operation of the court of arbitral justice ought to be immediately proposed. An additional exchange of views will be necessary on that point before framing the final text that will be submitted to all the powers concerned.
Accept, etc.,