881.00/970
The Secretary of State to the British Ambassador (Howard)16
Excellency: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your courteous note of October 10, 1924, regarding the proposal of your Government and the Governments of France and Spain that the United States shall adhere to the Convention signed December 18, 1923, with reference to the Statute of Tangier.
I stated in my note of July 11, 1924, that this Government would, after having had an opportunity to examine the regulations and codes referred to in Articles 32 and 48, respectively, of the Convention, consider the possibility of suspending its extraterritorial rights in the Zone of Tangier, to the extent that such rights might appear to be safeguarded by the new régime on certain conditions specified in the note.
You have been good enough to favor me with the views of your Government on each of the points raised in my note. Those views, as well as the views expressed by the Governments of France and Spain on the same subject, have been given most careful consideration [Page 471] by this Government, and I beg now to submit the following comments thereon in the order in which the different subjects are discussed in your note.
1. I am pleased to note that your Government accepts this Government’s understanding, as expressed in paragraph numbered 1 of my note of July 11, 1924, of the meaning of the terms “economic equality among nations” and “regime of economic equality” employed in Articles 7 and 30, respectively, of the Convention. The replies of the French and Spanish Governments on this point are likewise acceptable to this Government.
2. With respect to the condition indicated in paragraph numbered 2 of my note of July 11, 1924, that the signatories to the Convention shall assume responsibility for any acts or omissions of the administrative authorities of the Zone which would ordinarily give rise to a right of international reclamation, you state the French Government, as the only intermediary of the Sultan with foreign representatives and in the relations which those representatives have with the Shereefian Government, will assume full responsibility in the Tangier Zone toward the United States or any other government, in so far as diplomatic questions are concerned. A similar statement is contained in the notes which I have received from the French Ambassador.
It is not, however, entirely clear to this Government whether it is intended that the French Government should assume this responsibility or whether that Government is merely to act as the intermediary of the Moroccan Government in such matters. In view of this uncertainty I should be pleased to receive a further expression of your Government’s understanding of the situation.
3. With respect to the third point mentioned in my note of July 11 regarding the designation of associate judges from among the personnel of the American Consulate General at Tangier, to sit on the Mixed Courts in cases to which American citizens are parties, you state that in framing the dahir establishing the Mixed Tribunal the representatives of the signatory states were actuated by the principle of the divorcement of the judicial from the executive authority, and that it was, therefore, provided in the statute that no person holding an official position should sit on the Tribunals as an associate judge. You express willingness to interpret the Convention as permitting the designation of an associate judge or judges from among the personnel of the American Consulate General exclusive of officers de carrière.
This Government’s only purpose in desiring the privilege of selecting judges from among its consular personnel in Tangier is to insure proper representation on the Mixed Courts. There are, as your Government is aware, but few American citizens in Tangier and it is probable that at times it might be difficult to find outside of official, circles a person suitable for the important duty of acting as associate judge. It is, therefore, considered that, with a view to assisting, in so far as may be practicable, in maintaining the courts on such a plane as will inspire confidence and promote a proper administration of justice, this Government should be free to designate for this duty any qualified citizen of the United States regardless of the fact that he may hold a position as consular officer de carrière.
[Page 472]I fully share the view of your Government, and this appears also to be the view of the French and Spanish Governments, concerning the desirability of separating the judicial from the executive authority, but I would respectfully suggest that since this Government does not contemplate taking any part in the administration of the Zone of Tangier and since its consular officers will not, therefore, occupy any executive position in connection therewith, not even on the Committee of Control to which you refer, the designation of such consular officers as associate judges would not seem to run counter to the purposes of the Convention in this respect.
I assume, therefore, that in the light of this explanation the objections voiced by the signatories to the Convention with respect to the designation of consular officers de carrière as associate judges will no longer obtain. I should be pleased if I might have the assurance of your Government on this point.
4. I observe with satisfaction your Government’s confirmation of this Government’s understanding, stated in paragraph 4 of my note of July 11, 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. Similar assurances have also been received from the Governments of France and Spain.
5. I also note with satisfaction that your Government agrees that the extension to the Tangier Zone of any future agreement concluded by His Shereefian Majesty with any other Power shall not in any way prejudice or abridge the rights of American citizens in Tangier without the consent of this Government.
In addition to receiving further assurances on the points discussed in paragraphs numbered 2 and 3 above I should be pleased to be informed (1) whether the regulations and codes referred to above have been compiled and whether it is intended that this Government shall be given an opportunity to examine them before steps are taken to put them into operation, and (2) whether it is intended that the diplomatic agencies in Tangier, which it is provided in Article 49 of the Convention shall be replaced by consulates, shall be established elsewhere in Morocco and if not, by what method it is contemplated that diplomatic relations with the Shereefian Empire shall be maintained.
Upon receipt of satisfactory assurances on these remaining points, this Government will, as stated in my note of July 11, 1924, consider the possibility of suspending its extraterritorial rights in Tangier to the extent that they may appear to be adequately safeguarded by the proposed new regime. Your Government will, of course, understand that the Executive Branch of this Government cannot undertake to make the provisions of the Convention applicable to American citizens in Tangier without an appropriate Convention to that end with the approval of the Senate of the United States or appropriate legislative sanction of the suspension of extraterritorial rights.
Accept [etc.]
- The same note, mutatis mutandis, was sent to the French Ambassador; a similar note was sent to the Spanish Ambassador.↩