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

462.00 R 296/2323

The Ambassador in France (Herrick) to the Secretary of State

Paris, July 19, 1928.
[Received July 30.]

Reparation

Sir: I have the honor to refer to my letter of May 9, 1928, the Department’s Reparation telegram No. 53 of June 7, 1928, and other correspondence in regard to the draft protocol concerning the disposal of the unused balances of the Rhineland High Commission.

As a result of various meetings of the representatives of the interested Powers, the last of which was held on June 14th, agreement was reached on a final text, which conforms, with minor alterations, to that transmitted with my letter of May 9th. Certain representatives not being at that time in possession of authorization to sign, the Protocol, which bears the date of June 14, 1928, was not in fact signed by all concerned until within the last few days.

In this connection I am transmitting herewith copies of Annexes 3524 a–d1–3,³⁵ as follows:

• Annex 3524 a is a copy of a Note from the French Delegation to the Secretary General of the Reparation Commission, dated July 17, 1928, communicating, on behalf of the French Government, a certified copy of the Protocol of June 14, 1928;
• Annex 3524 b is a copy of the Protocol;
• Annex 3524 c is a report by the Finance Section resuming the steps leading up to the signature of the Protocol, and attaching a statement (Annex 3524 d1) giving expenditures and savings of the Rhineland Commission to the close of the Third Annuity Year. As will be noted, the amount now available for distribution as Reparations as a result of the Protocol of June 14th is 1,463,048.02 gold marks (the amount given in my letter of May 9th last);
• Annexes 3524 d2–3 are draft letters to be sent to the Agent General for Reparation Payments and to the Rhineland Commission advising them of the signature of the Protocol in order that the necessary arrangements may be made for the unused balances to be distributed.

The Reparation Commission, at its meeting on July 18th, approved the conclusions of the Finance Section in Annex 3524 c, i. e., took note of the Protocol of June 14th, 1928, and decided to forward the letters above mentioned (Annexes 3524 d2–3).

The changes which have been made in the Protocol as signed, as compared with the draft³⁶ transmitted with my May 9th letter, may be resumed as follows:

1. The final sentence in sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph 1 of the old draft, reading “The provisions of this paragraph do not modify any of the stipulations of the Agreement of 14th January, 1925”, (which was added at my request, see top page 3, my letter May 9th), has been changed to read “The provisions of the present Protocol do not modify any of the stipulations of the Agreement of 14th January, 1925”, and placed as a sub-paragraph under paragraph 5 of the Protocol.

2. Paragraph 3 of the former text reads the same up to the words “may be proved to be justified”. The new text following these words now reads as follows: “These amounts will be made available out of the Annuity current when the Interallied Rhineland High Commission requests payment of the claims and will rank with the annual charge fixed in Article 2 of the Agreement of 13th January, 1927. Moreover the sums which can be required for the payment of the claims of any given year or years shall not exceed the amounts still available in respect of that year or years.” This change reproduces the pertinent wording in the first paragraph of the Protocol.

3. A new paragraph 4 has been added which reads: “The provisions of this Protocol shall in no event have the effect of increasing the annual allocation of any of the High Commissariats beyond the limits thereto assigned by the 1st paragraph of Article 2 of the Agreement of the 13th January 1927.” This is an additional safeguard suggested by the Belgian Delegation.

4. Paragraph 4 of the old text is now paragraph 5.

I will forward the certified copy of the Protocol as soon as I receive it from the French Government.³⁷

I have [etc.]

For the Ambassador,

Edwin C. Wilson

[Enclosure—Annex 3524 B]

Protocol of June 14, 1928, Regarding the Disposal of the Unused Balances of the Sums Allocated to the Interallied Rhineland High Commission for Its Administrative Expenses Under Article 2 of the Agreement of the 13th January 1927

In order to complete the provisions of the Agreement of 13th January 1927 regarding the disposal of the unused balances of the sums allocated to the Interallied Rhineland High Commission for its administrative expenses, the signatories to that Agreement have agreed as follows:—

1. In addition to the annual charge fixed in Article 2 of the Agreement of 13th January 1927 for the period up to 10th January 1930, the Allied and Associated Governments will, at the request of the Interallied Rhineland High Commission, place at its disposal in the annuity current when the request is made, an amount which will rank with the annual charge referred to above and will not exceed the unused balances of the administrative funds of the High Commission for the second, third, fourth and fifth years of the Experts’ Plan distributed as reparation, to meet:—

(A) such of the outstanding claims of the German Government against the Interallied Rhineland High Commission under Article 6 of the Rhineland Agreement for those years as may be proved to be justified, and—

(B) any difference in favour of Germany between the provisional lump sums paid in respect of deliveries and supplies made to the Interallied Rhineland High Commission under Articles 8–12 of the Rhineland Agreement for those years and the definite value of those deliveries and supplies as fixed by the competent Assessment Commissions.

2. In the event of an agreement being reached regarding the amounts payable for the claims under 1 (A) and (B) above for one or several of those years only, the amount which the Allied and Associated Powers will make available for the payment of these claims will not exceed the unused balances of the Interallied Rhineland High Commission for the year or years in question.

3. Should any of the claims in respect of the second, third, fourth and fifth years be outstanding as at 10th January 1930, amounts not exceeding the difference between the unused balances of the Interallied Rhineland High Commission for those years and the sums already used for the settlement of claims in respect of those years will be made available by the Allied and Associated Powers after 10th January 1930 for the payment of such of those outstanding claims as may be proved to be justified. These amounts will be made available out of the Annuity current when the Interallied Rhineland High Commission requests payment of the claims and will rank with the annual charge fixed in Article 2 of the Agreement of 13th January 1927. Moreover the sums which can be required for the payment of the claims of any given year or years shall not exceed the amounts still available in respect of that year or years.

4. The provisions of this Protocol shall in no event have the effect of increasing the annual allocation of any of the High Commissariats beyond the limits thereto assigned by the 1st paragraph of Article 2 of the Agreement of the 13th January 1927.

5. The provisions of paragraph 5 of Article 2 of the Agreement of 13th January 1927 and the above provisions are an undertaking between the Allied and Associated Governments concerned and the Interallied Rhineland High Commission which only becomes effective if and when the latter informs those Governments that certain claims under Article 6 or Articles 8–12 of the Rhineland Agreement have become payable. It is the intention of the Powers signatory to the present Protocol that these provisions shall not result in the blocking of the funds in question pending the receipt of the information referred to above.

The provisions of the present Protocol do not modify any of the stipulations of the Agreement of 14th January 1925.

The present Protocol done in English and French (the English and French texts both being authentic) in a single copy will be deposited in the archives of the Government of the French Republic which will supply certified copies thereof to each of the signatory Powers.

Paris, 14 June, 1928.

• M. de Pimentel-Brandao
• Mauclere
• D. Cavadias
• Gutt
• D. Ploj
• Edwin C. Wilson
• Tomas Fernandes
• W. A. C. Goodchild
• J. D. Conduraki
• Corsi
• J. Mrozoswki
• Shizuo Yamaji
• Stefan Osusky

35. Of the six annexes, only annex 352413 is printed.
36. Not printed.
37. On Aug. 17, 1928, the Secretary of State acknowledged receipt of a note dated August 10 from the French Chargé enclosing a certified copy of the protocol of June 14 (462.00 R 296/2337).