711.152/8
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Honduras (Summerlin)
Sir: Following your interviews with officials of the Department on June 22, 1927,8 a comparison has been made of the text of the draft of the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Consular Eights under negotiation between the United States and Honduras with the treaty signed by the United States with Salvador on February 22, 1926.
The Department accepts the proposals that exceptions to the most favored nation treatment be added at the end of Article VII in respect of the treatment which Honduras accords or may hereafter [Page 96] accord to the commerce of other Central American countries and at the end of Article XI in regard to the treatment with respect to the coasting trade of Honduras which may be granted to vessels of other Central American countries, similar to the exceptions in respect to these two matters at the end of Article VII and Article XI, respectively, of the treaty signed by the United States with Salvador.
It is noted that the provisions of the treaty signed with Salvador and the draft under negotiation with Honduras differ slightly in Articles XIX and XXVI. Those articles in the draft and the treaty are as follows, the points of difference being underlined:
[For texts of articles XIX and XXVI which have been omitted, see the draft treaty submitted to Salvador in 1925 and the treaty signed with Salvador, Foreign Relations, 1926, volume II, pages 931 and 940.]
In explanation of these differences it may be said that the drafts submitted to Honduras and Salvador were identical and that the changes were made during the negotiations as a result of the acceptance by the United States of proposals made by Salvador.
The effect of the change in Article XIX is to give to consular officers not nationals of the State by which they are appointed as well as to consular officers who are nationals of such State, the right to address the authorities of the receiving State for the purpose of protecting the nationals of the appointing State. Under the provision of the original draft only the consular officers who are nationals of the appointing State would have this right. The revised provision is useful to a country which appoints others than its own nationals as consular officers.
The expression “although not exempt from the usual warehouse charges for storage and expenses” was inserted in the fourth sentence of the first paragraph of Article XXVI because the Salvadoran Government had some apprehensions that the term “custom house charges” contained in the sentence as originally drafted might be construed to embrace warehouse charges for storage and expenses and that therefore merchandise saved from wrecks would not be subject to them. The Department does not consider, however, that the term “custom house charges” could be construed to include warehouse charges for storage and expenses and therefore considers that the inclusion of the additional phrases effected no change in the meaning of the sentence.
The Department is willing to adopt Articles XIX and XXVI in the treaty with Honduras in whichever of the two forms the Government of Honduras may prefer.
The files of the Legation will show that in 1917 a draft convention to facilitate the work of traveling salesmen was submitted to [Page 97] the Honduran Foreign Office and that negotiations in regard to this convention were pursued for about two years but that the convention was never signed. Such a convention was, however, concluded by the United States with eight Latin American countries, namely,—Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Salvador, Uruguay and Venezuela.9 The provisions contained in these conventions are included as Article XIV of the Treaty of December 8, 1923 between the United States and Germany10 and in Article XI of the Treaty of June 24, 1925, between the United States and Hungary,11 to which is added as Article XV of the Treaty with Germany and Article XII of the Treaty with Hungary, the Protocol to the Convention with Peru.12 The Department of Commerce considers that with most countries it is preferable to include in the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Consular Rights a most favored nation clause in regard to commercial travelers, rather than to continue to use the detailed provisions concerning them in the treaties and conventions just mentioned. The most favored nation article relating to commercial travelers as finally drafted by this Department and now under negotiation with a number of countries is as follows:
Article
“Commercial travelers representing manufacturers, merchants and traders domiciled in the territories of either High Contracting Party shall on their entry into and sojourn in the territories of the other Party and on their departure therefrom be accorded the most favored nation treatment in respect of customs and other privileges and of all charges and taxes of whatever denomination applicable to them or to their samples.
“If either High Contracting Party require the presentation of an authentic document establishing the identity and authority of a commercial traveler, a signed statement by the concern or concerns represented, certified by a consular officer of the country of destination shall be accepted as satisfactory.”
You will observe that the first paragraph of this article provides that commercial travelers representing manufacturers, merchants or traders domiciled in the territories of one of the contracting parties will be accorded the most favored nation treatment upon their entrance into, sojourn within and departure from the territories of the other party. The second paragraph covers the cases where a certificate of identity of a commercial traveler is required, stipulating [Page 98] that in such instances a statement signed by the concerns which he represents certified by a consular officer of the country of destination shall be accepted as satisfactory. The Department desires that you propose to the Honduran Government that this Article be included in the treaty now under negotiation. Under this Article Honduran commercial travelers in the United States would be entitled to the benefit of the provisions of Articles XI and XII of the Treaty of 1925 between the United States and Hungary, of Articles XIV and XV of the Treaty of 1923 between the United States and Germany and of the separate conventions relating to commercial travelers hereinabove listed so long as any of those treaties or conventions remain in force. It is to be noted therefore that Honduran commercial travelers in the United States will enjoy the same treatment under the most favored nation clause as they would enjoy if the detailed articles were included in the treaty under negotiation. The Department would be glad to receive from you a report on the treatment accorded to commercial travelers in Honduras by law or treaty to which American commercial travelers would become entitled under the most favored nation article. Two copies of the article in regard to commercial travelers hereinabove quoted are enclosed. If the Article is accepted by Honduras, it will be included in the Treaty as Article XI, Article XI of the present draft will be renumbered Article XII, and subsequent Articles will be renumbered accordingly.
There are also enclosed13 four copies of the Spanish text of the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Consular Rights signed by the United States and Salvador on February 22, 1926. On two copies are marked certain minor textual changes in Articles III, XI, XIV, XVII, and XX which the Department would be glad to have considered for adoption in the Treaty under negotiation with Honduras, and likewise certain necessary verbal changes in the Preamble, in the fifth paragraph of Article VII and in the reservations at the end of Articles VII and XI. The Department would be glad to have you furnish in collaboration with the Honduran Foreign Office, the Spanish text of the Article in regard to commercial travelers if the Honduran Government agrees to include that Article in the Treaty and the Spanish text of the fourth paragraph of Article XXVIII of the draft which provides for the termination of the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation concluded by the United States and Honduras on July 4, 1864. Drafts of this Article and paragraph in Spanish are enclosed as of possible help in the preparation of a text satisfactory to the Honduran Government.13
Please indicate on one of the enclosed copies of the Treaty with Salvador all the changes which are required to make it correct as the [Page 99] Spanish text of the Treaty under negotiation with Honduras as agreed to by you with the Foreign Office pursuant to this instruction and instruction No. 77 of July 28, 1926, including in the Preamble the name and titles of the Honduran plenipotentiary in the precise form in which it is desired to have them appear in the Treaty; and return the copy thus revised to the Department. On the receipt of your report on the questions hereinabove presented, the Department will have the texts of the Treaty prepared in final form in English and Spanish, as suggested at your conference on June 22 and will forward them to you for signature.
I am [etc.]
- See supra.↩
- Foreign Relations, 1919, vol. i, p. 45.↩
- Ibid., 1923, vol. ii, p. 29.↩
- Ibid., 1925, vol. ii, p. 341.↩
- Malloy, Treaties, 1910–1923, vol. iii, pp. 2800, 2803; also printed as Department of State Treaty Series, No. 692.↩
- Enclosures not printed.↩
- Enclosures not printed.↩