711.5112 U.S./31
The Secretary of State to the French Ambassador (Claudel)
Excellency: As you are aware it was not the intention or desire of the Government of the United States that the new Arbitration Treaty, which was proposed to your Government last December and signed on February 6, 1928, should be held to affect in any way the provisions of the Treaty for the Advancement of Peace signed by France and the United States on September 15, 1914, and I have understood that the Government of the French Republic was in accord with the Government of the United States on this point.
In order to prevent the possibility of any future misunderstanding, however, I desire formally to state that in the opinion of the Government of the United States the provisions of the Arbitration Treaty signed February 6, 1928, do not in the slightest degree affect or modify the provisions of the Treaty signed September 15, 1914. I should be glad to receive a note from you confirming my understanding that your Government’s interpretation of the Treaty signed February 6, 1928, is identical with that of the Government of the United States as expressed above.
Accept [etc.]