611.6831/60

The Minister in Greece (Laughlin) to the Secretary of State

No. 197

Sir: My telegram No. 111, December 8th, 9 P.M.,21 will have informed you that I had found reason to believe that Mr. Roussos had not carried out the promise I reported in my No. 110, December 5th, 5 P.M.,21 to instruct the Greek Legation in Washington to effect the exchange of notes you desired for establishing a modus vivendi to cover the period between the lapse on the 10th instant of the commercial treaty with Greece and the conclusion of another treaty to replace it.

I confirmed this by questioning the Chief of the Treaty Section of the Foreign Office, as I was unable to have immediate access to the Foreign Minister, and after making clear to him my feelings and intentions he consented to accompany me forthwith to the Minister whom I found assisting at the sitting of the National Assembly then in progress.

I succeeded without much difficulty in convincing Mr. Roussos of your fixed desire to arrange the modus vivendi according to the draft note you had communicated to him through the Greek Legation in Washington and through this Legation, and expressed my surprise at his failure to fulfil the promise I had had the honor to report to you. In these circumstances I felt it necessary to insist that he rectify the omission forthwith, but as the telegram he wrote in my presence and read to me seemed to me not altogether certain to bring about the result you desired, since it was susceptible of the construction that the instructions to make the exchange of notes in Washington might be dependent upon future action by the Greek National Assembly, I expressed my dissatisfaction so forcibly that he himself proposed to reassure me by making the exchange in Athens to-day after the action he affirmed the Assembly was on the point of taking to postpone the operation of the new customs tariff for some weeks.

Being convinced of your anxiety to arrange definitely a modus vivendi before December 10th apart from any problematical Greek legislative action, I felt that this was the only way to make sure of such a result and I therefore took it upon myself to make the exchange with him to-day, not contingent upon any action of the Greek Assembly, but as a positive engagement, subject however to your subsequent confirmation since I had to take account of the [Page 278] arrangement you expected to carry out of exchanging the notes in Washington. I felt that in view of this intention you perhaps had omitted to inform me as fully as you might have done had your original desire been for me to conclude the business here, so I took the precaution of stating that I would make the exchange subject to your later approval.

The exchange of notes was accordingly effected this morning as reported in my No. 112, December 9th, 4 P.M.,23 and I have the honor to enclose herewith the two notes establishing the modus vivendi of which the Greek note is the original and mine the copy, and the copy of the note by which I provided for your explicit assent to it.

I also enclose the copy of a Greek note23 presented to me at the time of the exchange which tells of the passage last night by the National Assembly of a bill giving the Government power to negotiate with other countries commercial agreements to have a maximum duration of six months. During the discussion of this bill the Finance Minister stated that he had no objection to the postponement of the new tariff until the 1st of March, the Assembly thereafter deciding to follow that course. The Department will form its own conclusion as to the bearing, if any there be, that this note may have upon the modus vivendi just concluded. My telegram No. 113, December 9th, 5 P.M.,23 reported this tariff postponement.

In view of the many objections to the new duties raised during the discussion in the Assembly yesterday evening the Government as well as the party leaders agreed to the appointment of a Parliamentary Committee to study the matter and to make any changes they might consider necessary. One of the reasons for the delay in the application of the tariff is the necessity of giving this Commission a reasonable time for the completion of its work.

I take the liberty, in concluding, to express the hope that in examining my action in this case you will consider the fact that it was determined by your anxiously expressed desire to establish a modus vivendi without fail on or before December 10th and that in making the exchange of notes here without your instructions, and in fact with the knowledge that it should have been done in Washington, I knew that unless I assumed this responsibility your wishes could not be carried through.

I have [etc.]

Irwin Laughlin
[Page 279]
[Enclosure 1]

The American Minister (Laughlin) to the Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs (Roussos)

No. 73

Your Excellency: As your Excellency is aware the Secretary of State has communicated to the Hellenic Chargé d’Affaires in Washington the desire of the Government of the United States to conclude in the near future with the Hellenic Government a comprehensive treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Consular Rights which may serve as a lasting basis for economic and other intercourse between the two countries and their nationals.

Your Excellency has also been apprised that pending the conclusion of such a treaty the Government of the United States desires to effect with the Hellenic Government a modus vivendi by means of an exchange of notes.

I have therefore the honor to make to your Excellency the communication embodied in my note No. 74 of to-day’s date which is identical with the text I have received from my Government of the draft note proposed to the Hellenic Legation in Washington, and to add that I propose that this exchange of notes be effected in Athens to-day in default of the exchange of notes that might have taken, place in Washington before the 10th day of December 1924, or in addition to such exchange there, should it occur, with the understanding that in the former case the exchange is effected subject to the confirmation of the Secretary of State in Washington and that in the latter case the exchange of notes in Washington is to be regarded as superseding that of to-day in Athens.

I embrace this opportunity to renew to your Excellency the assurances of my highest consideration.

Irwin Laughlin
[Enclosure 2]

The American Minister (Laughlin) to the Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs (Roussos)24

No. 74

Your Excellency: I have the honor to make the following statement of my understanding of the agreement reached through recent conversations held at Washington on behalf of the Government of the United States and the Government of Greece with reference to the treatment which the United States shall accord to the commerce [Page 280] of Greece and which Greece shall accord to the commerce of the United States:

These conversations have disclosed a mutual understanding between the two governments which is that in respect to import, export and other duties and charges affecting commerce as well as in respect to transit, warehousing and other facilities and the treatment of commercial travelers samples, the United States will accord to Greece and Greece will accord to the United States, its territories and possessions, unconditional most favored nation treatment, and that in the matter of licensing or prohibitions of imports and exports, each country, so far as it at any time maintains such a system, shall accord to the commerce of the other treatment as favorable, with respect to commodities, valuations and quantities, as may be accorded to the commerce of any other country. It is understood that no higher or other duties shall be imposed on the importation into or disposition in the United States, its territories or possessions, of any articles, the produce or manufacture of Greece, than are or shall be payable on like articles, the produce or manufacture of any foreign country; no higher or other duties shall be imposed on the importation into or disposition in Greece of articles, the produce or manufacture of the United States, its territories or possessions than are or shall be payable on like articles, the produce or manufacture of any foreign country; similarly, no higher or other duties shall be imposed in the United States, its territories or possessions, or in Greece on the exportation of any articles to the other or to any territory or possession of the other than are payable on the exportation of like articles to any foreign country; every concession with respect to any duty, charge or regulation affecting commerce now accorded or that may hereafter be accorded by the United States or by Greece, by law, proclamation, decree or commercial treaty or agreement, to any third country will become immediately applicable without request and without compensation to the commerce of Greece and of the United States and its territories and possessions respectively;

Provided that this understanding does not relate to

1)
The treatment which the United States accords or may hereafter accord to the commerce of Cuba, or any of the territories or possessions of the United States, or the Panama Canal Zone, or to the treatment which is or may hereafter be accorded to the commerce of the United States with any of its territories or possessions, or to the commerce of its territories or possessions with one another;
2)
Prohibitions or restrictions of a sanitary character or designed to protect human, animal or plant life or regulations for the enforcement of police or revenue laws.

The present arrangement shall become operative on the day of signature, and, unless sooner terminated by mutual agreement, shall [Page 281] continue in force until thirty days after notice of its termination shall have been given by either party, but should either party be prevented by future action of its legislature from carrying out the terms of this arrangement, the obligations thereof shall thereupon lapse.

I shall be glad to have your confirmation of the accord thus reached.

I avail myself [etc.]

Irwin Laughin
  1. Not printed.
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  6. The Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs replied in note no. 44543, Dec. 9, 1924, which differed only on very minor points from the note presented by the American Minister. The French text of the Greek note is printed in Treaty Series No. 706.