817.00 H 35/20
The Secretary of State to the Mexican Ambassador (Téllez)
Excellency: I have the honor to refer to your courteous note of December 14, 1927, informing this Government of the willingness of your Government to cooperate in the investigation being conducted by a Special Committee of the Senate of the United States into certain [Page 253] documents, reproductions of which have been published in the Washington Herald and other papers, and outlining the circumstances in which your Government would find it possible to instruct the Mexican Consul General in New York to appear in a personal capacity before the Committee and give certain testimony. The cooperation of your Government in this matter is greatly appreciated and I am pleased to know from your telephone message on the afternoon of December 14, 1927, that appropriate instructions have been issued to Señor Elias.
While the arrangements which have thus been made with respect to the appearance of Señor Elias before the Committee make it unnecessary to consider further at this time the extent of the privileges and immunities enjoyed under general principles of international law by a foreign Consul General in the United States, I feel, nevertheless, that in order to avoid possible future misunderstanding I should, with all respect, record the fact that the views of the Government of the United States on the relevant questions of international law do not coincide with those expressed through you by the Government of Mexico, and that the position of my Government is, therefore, to be regarded as fully reserved.
Accept [etc.]