Office of the Historian

462.00 R 296/2550: Telegram

The Chargé in France (Armour) to the Secretary of State

Paris, December 20, 1928—noon.
[Received December 20—9:55 a.m.20]

424. Reparation No. 147. Reference my Reparation 146. Following is rough translation from French text of agreement, dated December 17, 1928, between Poincaré and Von Hoesch:

“After having received the adhesion of all the interested Governments, M. Raymond Poincare, President of the Council of Ministers and M. Von Hoesch, German Ambassador at Paris, in examining the question of setting up the Committee of Experts provided for by the Geneva agreement of September 16, 1928, relative to the settlement of the reparation problem, have reached agreement as follows:

  • “1. It is highly desirable in the general interest that, besides the experts to be designated by each of the six Governments having participated in the above-mentioned Geneva decision, citizens of the United States should also take part in the work of the Committee of Experts.
  • “2. The committee should, following the example of the first Committee of Experts which was established in November 1923, be composed of independent experts enjoying international esteem and authority in their own countries and not being bound by instructions from their goverments. The number of members will be two for each country. It is nevertheless understood that alternates (suppléants) can be associated with them.
  • “3. The committee will meet provisionally at Paris as soon as possible. The final decision concerning the place at which it will be thought advisable to meet will be reserved to the committee.
  • “4. The committee will receive on the part of the six Governments in accordance with the said Geneva agreement of September 16th the mandate ‘to elaborate proposals for a complete and definitive settlement of the reparation problem’. These proposals should include a settlement of the obligations arising from the treaties and agreements existing between Germany and the creditor powers. The committee will communicate its reply to the governments having participated in the Geneva decision as well as the Reparation Commission.
  • “5. As concerns the appointment of the experts the procedure will be as follows:
  • “The experts of the creditor powers having participated in the Geneva decision will be designated by the governments of these powers and appointed according to the convenience of these governments either by them or by the Reparation Commission.
  • “The German experts will be appointed by the German Government.”

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Armour
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