File No. 881.00/638
The Secretary of State to the Spanish Ambassador
Washington, August 20, 1917.
Excellency: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of July 25, 1917, stating that for about three years there have been in operation at Tetuan, Larache and other points in the Spanish sphere of influence in Morocco, courts of justice consisting of Spanish magistrates and offering the same guaranties as any court in the Spanish peninsula with respect to the trial of Europeans; that the creation of these courts has seemed to France, Belgium, Russia, Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and other countries a sufficient reason for them to renounce the capitulatory régime and privileges in the Spanish sphere of influence in Morocco; and that the Spanish Government would be highly gratified if the Government of the United States would renounce the American capitulatory rights in the Spanish sphere of influence in Morocco.
In reply I have the honor to inform you that under the provisions of the United States Constitution the American capitulatory rights in the Spanish sphere of influence in Morocco can only be renounced by a treaty between Spain and the United States, regularly ratified by the United States Senate.
Accept [etc.]