Treaty Series No. 679
The Secretary of State to the French Ambassador ( Jusserand )
Excellency: In connection with the signing today of an agreement for the renewal of the Convention of Arbitration concluded between the United States and France, February 10, 1908, and renewed from time to time, I have the honor, in pursuance of our informal conversations, to state the following understanding which I shall be glad to have you confirm on behalf of your Government.
On February 24 last the President proposed to the Senate that it consent under certain stated conditions to the adhesion by the United States to the Protocol of December 16, 1920, under which the Permanent Court of International Justice has been created at The Hague.24 As the Senate does not convene in its regular session until December next, action upon this proposal will necessarily be delayed. In the event that the Senate gives its assent to the proposal, I understand that the Government of the French Republic will not be averse to considering a modification of the Convention of Arbitration which we are renewing, or the making of a separate agreement under which the disputes mentioned in the Convention could be referred to the Permanent Court of International Justice.
Accept [etc.]
- See vol. i, pp. 1 ff.↩