Papers relating to the foreign relations of the United States, 1928, Volume II

711.5912 A/3

The Secretary of State to the Danish Minister (Brun)

Washington, March 22, 1928.

Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith for the consideration of your Government and as a basis for negotiation a proposed draft of a treaty of arbitration between Denmark and the United States.¹ The provisions of this draft operate to extend the policy of arbitration enunciated in the convention signed at Washington May 18, 1908² (which expired by limitation on March 29, 1914) and are identical in effect with the provisions of the arbitration treaty signed between the United States and France on February 6, 1928, a copy of which is also enclosed.³

You will observe that Article I of the treaty with France does not appear in the draft submitted herewith. Its language was borrowed from the language of the Treaty for the Advancement of Peace signed in 1914,⁴ and some question having arisen as to whether the new treaty affected the status of the Treaty of 1914, the matter has been resolved in the case of France by an exchange of notes⁵ recording the understanding of both Governments that the earlier conciliation treaty was in no way affected by the later arbitration treaty. In order to obviate further questions of this nature, however, it seems desirable to avoid the incorporation in subsequent arbitration treaties of any portion of the language of the earlier conciliation treaties, and I have therefore eliminated Article I of the French treaty and amended Article II (which is Article I of the draft transmitted herewith) by substituting for the words “the abovementioned Permanent International Commission” the words “the Permanent International Commission constituted pursuant to the treaty signed at Washington, April 17, 1914”.^5a

I feel that by adopting a treaty such as that suggested herein we shall not only promote the friendly relations between the Peoples of our two countries, but also advance materially the cause of arbitration and the pacific settlement of international disputes. If your Government concurs in my views and is prepared to negotiate a treaty along the lines of that transmitted herewith, I shall be glad to enter at once upon such discussions as may be necessary.

Accept [etc.]

Frank B. Kellogg

1. Not printed.
2. Foreign Relations, 1909, p. 239.
3. Post, p. 810.
4. Foreign Relations, 1915, p. 380.
5. Post, p. 819.
6. Foreign Relations, 1915, p. 276.