Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, The Paris Peace Conference, 1919, Volume II

873.00/28

The Montenegrin Minister ( Gvosdenovitch ) to the Assistant Secretary of State ( Phillips )

[Translation]

No. 124

Washington , December 4, 1918.

Dear Sir: I have the honor to forward herewith to you a copy of a dispatch which I have just received from my Government.

Accept [etc.]

General

A. Gvosdenovitch

[Enclosure—Translation]

The Montenegrin Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs ( Chotch ) to the Montenegrin Minister ( Gvosdenovitch )

Cablegram:

“Your telegram of December 2, at hand.

Report from Germany that the Skoupchtina (National Assembly) assembled at Podgoritza, deposed the Bang and dynasty and voted that Montenegro and Serbia be under the sceptre of King Peter, is groundless.”

The Government adds in the telegram: “Under the Montenegrin Constitution the National Parliament, whose members are elected by the people, has the sole right of making decisions with regard to the sovereignty of the state and dynasty. From the constitutional standpoint Skoupchtina is non-existent as many deputies are still confined in Austrian jails and others are in allied or neutral countries. The parliament cannot possibly be convened at present. Adversaries of Montenegro are endeavoring to spread ill intended reports for the purpose of injuring the vital interests of the country and paralyze its role at the Peace Conference.”

Minister Chotch