881.00/970
The British Ambassador (Howard) to the Secretary of State
Sir: I have the honour to inform you that His Majesty’s Government have not failed to accord the most careful consideration to the note which you were so good as to address to Mr. Brooks on July 11th last containing the reply of the United States Government to the invitation extended to them by the Governments of Great Britain, France and Spain to accede to the Tangier Convention and to renounce their extra-territorial rights in the Tangier Zone.
I am now instructed by Mr. Secretary MacDonald to communicate to you the following expression of the views of His Majesty’s Government upon the matters discussed therein.
His Majesty’s Government wish at the outset to express their gratification at the friendly terms of your note above-mentioned and their appreciation of the desire avowed by the Government of the United States to place no obstacle in the way of an honest effort to improve existing conditions at Tangier.
At the conclusion of your note it is intimated that the United States Government will consider the possibility of returning a favourable response to the three Powers subject to the receipt of satisfactory assurances on five specific points. His Majesty’s Government desire to offer the following observations on each of the points in question.
1. Definitions of the terms “economic equality among nations” and “regime of economic equality” were intentionally omitted from articles 7 and 30 of the Tangier Convention. It was thought that definitions might obscure rather than clarify the meaning of the terms. In deference to the wish of the Government of the United [Page 464] States, His Majesty’s Government are ready to declare that they interpret articles 7 and 30 of the Convention as requiring inter alia that
(a) in all matters relating to customs or tonnage duties, warehousing, port dues or other charges or taxes of whatever character pertaining to industry, trade or commerce there shall be no discrimination in law or in fact placing or tending to place the nationals, products or ships of one country at any disadvantage as compared with those of another country; (b) as regards the right to acquire and hold property, the pursuit of occupations, industry or professions, and all that pertains to facilities of any kind there shall be no discrimination; (c) in the granting of concessions of all kinds, as well as in the granting of contracts for public works and in the purchase of supplies there shall be suitable opportunity for competition and open bidding free from any condition or provision calculated to give competitors of one nationality any advantage over those of another; (d) no monopoly or exclusive privilege shall be created or granted which would result in monopolisation of the markets, resources or facilities of the Tangier zone for the benefit of any special interests, directly or indirectly or in any exclusion or preferential advantage inconsistent with the principle of complete equality of opportunity. In order to avoid any misunderstanding it should be added that under articles 8 and 9 of the Tangier Convention nationals of Germany, Austria and Hungary are excluded from the enjoyment of economic equality as defined above.
2. There seems to be some misapprehension on this point in the mind of the United States Government. Under the terms of the Convention neither the internal nor external affairs of the zone are in the hands of the signatories, whose powers of intervention are limited to the functions assigned by articles 30 and 31 to the Committee of Control in which all the signatories of the Act of Algeciras are equally represented, and to which is entrusted the task of ensuring the observance of the regime of economic equality and the provisions of the Tangier Convention. The internal administration of the zone is in the hands of the Assembly which is composed of representatives of the various countries in proportion to their number, wealth and commerce and of administrative officials responsible only to the Assembly. The external affairs of the zone are dealt with in article 5 of the Convention, which provides that in diplomatic matters there shall be no derogation from the provisions of article 5 of the Protectorate Treaty of March 30th, 1912. Article 5 of the Protectorate Treaty lays down that the “Resident General is the only intermediary of the Sultan with foreign representatives and in the relations which these representatives have with the Shereefian Government. He is entrusted with the negotiation of all questions affecting foreigners in Morocco”. The signatories of the Tangier Convention have thus recognised the special rights and with them the special responsibility of France in the Tangier zone in so far as diplomatic questions are concerned. It is the special duty of the Committee of Control, on which His Majesty’s Government earnestly hope that the United States will be represented, to ensure that the Tangier administration is not guilty of acts or omissions which would ordinarily give rise to international representations. Should such a situation arise, however, the French Government are obliged [Page 465] under the terms of the Convention to accept, and are understood in fact to be prepared to acknowledge, full responsibility towards the United States or any other government.
3. In framing the Dahir establishing the Mixed Tribunal the representatives of the signatory states were actuated by the almost universally accepted principle of the divorcement of the judicial from the executive authority. For that reason it was provided in the Statute that the magistrates should be appointed by the Sultan on the recommendation of the government concerned without reference to the Tangier Assembly, and that no person holding an official position should sit on the tribunal as an associate judge. His Majesty’s Government feel that a rigid adherence to the above provisions Is in the best interests of Tangier. Nevertheless, in order to meet the wishes of the United States Government, they are willing to interpret the Convention as permitting the designation of an associate judge or judges from amongst the personnel of the United States Consulate at Tangier, excluding only consular officers de carrière and provided that the nominee be an American citizen. They trust that this solution will be satisfactory to the United States Government.
4. His Majesty’s Government confirm that the provisions of article 13 of the convention with respect to semsars are intended in no way, and do not in fact, affect the existing rights of the powers in regard to semsars in other parts of Morocco.
5. His Majesty’s Government agree that the extension to the Tangier Zone of any future international agreement concluded by His Shereefian Majesty shall not in any way prejudice or abridge the rights of American citizens in Tangier without the consent of the United States Government.
His Majesty’s Government note with regret that the United States Government do not propose to participate in the administration of the Tangier zone. They trust, however, that that decision does not mean that the United States Government will not be represented on the Committee of Control. His Majesty’s Government do not aspire to a predominant position at Tangier. They sincerely desire the co-operation of all the powers to secure the principle of economic equality, the maintenance of which is the primary function of the Committee of Control and they believe that the representation of the United States on that body will be no less in the interests of the United States than in those of the inhabitants of the zone.
I should be grateful if you would give these observations of His Majesty’s Government your careful consideration, and inform me at your early convenience of the decision of the United States Government in this matter. I need hardly say that if there is any question in connection with the Treaty requiring further elucidation, I am entirely at your disposal to give such explanation as I can or to make enquiries of the Foreign Office on such points.
I have [etc.]