Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1925, Volume I

875.6363/211

The Chargé in Albania (Kodding) to the Secretary of State

Tirana, March 30, 1925.
[Received April 21.]

No. 419

Sir: I have the honor to report that on March 21st a call was made upon His Excellency Mufid Bey Libohova, Albanian Minister for Foreign Affairs in order to present the representations authorized by the Department’s telegram No. 15 of the 17th instant concerning the state of Albanian-American relations. Before the position taken by the Department was disclosed to him the Minister for Foreign Affairs showed me as he had previously done at the time of my representations on March 11th portions of the confidential agreement signed by the Italian Minister which grants a fifty million gold franc credit to Albania. As the loan was supposed to be secret Mufid Bey did not mention details other than to state that its main purpose other than as consideration for the petroleum concession was to provide for the development in Albania by Italian interests of banking facilities, railways, tramways, bridges and agriculture.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs then listened to the reading of the American representations (as set forth in an enclosure²⁵ with this despatch) concerning (1) the unsatisfactory situation created by the failure of the Albanian Government to carry out the assurances given in its note of June 25, 1922, to Consul-General Blake,^25a (2) the situation created by the unsatisfactory development of the de Long and Coleman murder case. The Minister in informally commenting on the representations showed that he had no real understanding of either situation, presenting the point of view that only one of the murderers of the two Americans remained to be apprehended and punished and offering to permit a representative of the Legation to examine the records of the court which now has the matter in charge. It was pointed out that such an examination could have no influence upon the actual apprehension and trial of the alleged murderers involved whose names are already known.

The fact that the American Government might withhold the sending of a Minister to Tirana providing the unsatisfactory situations did not show improvement apparently affected Mufid Bey but very little, …

The Minister for Foreign Affairs was so perturbed, however, over the fact that the Department had been requested to support a claim for indemnity for Messrs. de Long and Coleman that he refused to accept my written representations until I had had time to consider the fact that should the two unsatisfactory situations be mentioned in the same paper he would be able to use it against the United States in the press and before the League of Nations. After carefully going over the representations again and finding that the two situations were not dependent upon one another in any way I left the above mentioned Note Verbale at the Foreign Office.

The Albanian Government’s reply, copies of which are transmitted herewith both in the original and in translation, was dictated in my presence by the Minister for Foreign Affairs to the Secretary General of the Foreign Office, Djemail Bey Dino, on the 23rd instant. (Legation’s telegram No. 33 of March 24).²⁶ The Minister showed even more by his attitude than by his Note that he did not understand either of the two situations or the serious view which the American Government took of them. He felt that the American Government was in no position to exercise effective pressure upon his Government and actually stated in a cheerful side remark that whatever happened it would not be war. …

I had asked for an appointment with the President of the Republic to follow the delivery of the Department’s representations to the Foreign Office. Ahmet Bey Zogu was not able to receive me, however, until the afternoon of the 24th instant. He seemed to understand both the details and the significance of the unsatisfactory situations better than did his Minister for Foreign Affairs and stated that he regretted that Veisel Idrizi²⁷ had been killed in a fight with gendarmes who were pursuing him in an attempt to take alive this leader of the band of alleged murderers of the Americans. He wished that the Americans had a machine of some kind that could be secured to go into the mountains to round up all the bandits and hoped that even without one all the murderers would be apprehended in the near future but it was beyond his power to command that this be accomplished by a certain date. To his definite knowledge Cub Sul Cana and Elez Hasani^27a were being tracked down.

Concerning the unfulfilled commercial assurances the President gave his promise that he would instruct the Minister for Foreign Affairs to enter into an agreement of such a nature with the representative of the American company in Tirana that the American Government would be satisfied that a very real improvement had been made in the situation. … Mr. Sheffield states that up to the present date he has not been able to come to satisfactory terms with the Albanian Government for even a third choice of areas.

I have [etc.]

Trojan Kodding

[Enclosure—Translation]

The Albanian Minister for Foreign Affairs ad interim (Mufid Bey Libohova) to the American Chargé (Kodding)

No. C IV 964

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterates to the Legation of the United States of America its assurances as to the favorable reception of American requests in the economic and financial field. The Principle of the Open Door, according to the Albanian Government, has never ceased to be respected. The grant of the petroleum concession to the Railway Administration of the Italian State is combined with the institution of a State Bank in Albania and with the contracting of a loan of two million pounds sterling on the Italian market. It concerns, consequently, the existence of an indivisible economic whole. The American companies can without injury to the rights acquired by the Italians obtain other oil concessions on the same terms.

As to the concession granted to the Anglo-Persian the Albanian Government was engaged with regard to that company previous to the recognition of Albania by the Government of the United States.

In the note transmitted by the Legation of the United States to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs mention is made of profits which Albania should have derived from the geological work of American companies. The Albanian Government, as far as this Ministry knows, has not derived to date any profit from these works. As to the expenses incurred by the American companies it is evident that all these were made at their risk and peril.

As for the murder of the two Americans the Albanian Government, strongly moved by that regrettable incident, immediately took all the measures that the situation permitted. In the interval there has been the revolution of last June but for which the Judicial proceedings which resulted would have been finished at the present time. The legal cabinet on its return to the country undertook again with more care the acceleration of the judicial proceedings in question and according to the progress of the trial the expected judgement will shortly be given. Furthermore several of the alleged murderers have been killed not having wished to surrender alive.

Consequently the Albanian Government can not accept any responsibility of either a moral or material order; in a word, justice follows its course without any obstacle from any side. The courts will judge in full independence.

The Albanian Government warmly and sincerely desires the continuation of cordial relations between the United States of America and Albania.

Tirana, March 23, 1925.

25. Note verbale not printed.
26. See despatch No. 3, Aug. 2, 1922, from the Commissioner in Albania, p. 511.
26. Not printed.
27. Charged with the murder of Coleman and De Long.
28. Charged with the murder of Coleman and De Long.