512.4 B 2/–
The French Ambassador ( Daeschner ) to the Secretary of State
Mr. Secretary of State: The French Government, which had received on various occasions propositions looking to a revision of [Page 175] the International Sanitary Convention of January 17, 1912, had not up to date been able under the circumstances to gratify those requests. I have the honor to inform Your Excellency that it now seems possible for the French Government to contemplate the meeting of a conference which would be given charge of that revision.
The Committee of the International Office of Public Hygiene conducted at several of its sessions a study of the amendments that it might be advisable to introduce in the text of the said convention.
It was suggested to constitute into a conference the Committee of the International Office of Public Hygiene, whose members furnished with full powers would draw up and sign a new convention. It did not seem possible to proceed in this way as there are countries that are not parties to the Office and as certain States would like to assign technical officers on commercial and navigation questions to their delegates, who are specialists in hygiene questions.
But it would be advantageous to have the countries that belong to the Office of Hygiene include their representatives therein among their delegates. In order to save these last-named gentlemen duplicated travelling expenses the French Government suggests that the date for the opening of the Sanitary Conference be one close to that of the end of one of the sessions of the Committee of the Office.
I should then be very much obliged to Your Excellency if you would kindly let me know whether the Government of the United States intends to send delegates with full powers to a Sanitary Conference that would be held in Paris and whether it accepts the date of Monday, October 26, 1925, as the date of the opening of the said Conference.39
I have the honor to beg you kindly to have the draft of revision, forwarded herewith in seven copies, of the Sanitary Convention of January 17, 1912, as drawn up by the Committee of the International Office of Public Hygiene,40 examined by the hygienic departments of the Federal Government and to forward to me in good time the remarks of such departments, together, as far as possible, with a French translation.
Be pleased [etc.]