[Enclosure—Translation]
The Swedish Acting Minister for Foreign
Affairs (Nothin) to the American
Chargé (Magruder)
Stockholm, July 21,
1925.
Mr. Chargé d’affaires: In a letter dated
May 20th last you were good enough to inform me of the appointment
of Mr. F. X. A. Eble in the capacity of Customs Attaché and of that
of Mr. C. S. Turrill in the capacity of Assistant Customs Attaché to
the Legation of the United States of America, as well as to ask that
the Government of the King be good enough to recognize these
officials in their respective capacities.
After having given a detailed explanation of the duties devolving on
customs attachés, you were good enough to show in your letter that
the more precise manner, in which it is proposed to regulate the
organization of their activity, is the result of earnest efforts
which have been made by the American authorities in order’ to
conform to the desires of the Government of the King, as expressed
in the observations which were recently made on this subject by this
Ministry to Mr. Bliss and by the Minister of the King at Washington
to the State Department.
The Government of the King, which is aware that this passage in your
letter refers to the protest by which it took exception, a short
time ago, to a decision of the Treasury Department not to authorize
the importation into the United States of products of two Swedish
enterprises, owing to the fact that these enterprises had declared
that they could not permit a representative of the said Department
to examine their books and commercial documents, appreciates
thoroughly the good will shown by your Government in order to reach
an agreement in the question at issue. It seems, however, to the
Government of the King that the proposed arrangement is not of such
a nature as to weaken the objections which it has formulated on this
subject.
According to the opinion of the Government of the King, the duties
which would devolve on customs attachés, namely those which would
consist in making investigations of private enterprises abroad, are
[Page 243] hardly of a nature to
be classed among those which, according to established usages, can
be recognized as of a diplomatic character. The extension of
diplomatic immunities in favor of the officials in question would
have an effect the more grave inasmuch as the Government of the
King, in acquiescing to the request of the Government of the United
States of America, might be considered as having indirectly
authorized foreign officials to examine the commercial books of
Swedish houses and as tending to release on Swedish territory an
activity which is not even recognized as pertaining to the
authorities of the country.
Under these conditions the Government of the King regrets that it is
not in a position to give a favorable reply to the desire expressed
by the Government of the United States of America to see its
officials in question recognized as members of your Legation.
Accept [etc.]
