462.00 R 296/2406
The Secretary of State to the Greek Minister ( Simopoulos )
The Secretary of State presents his compliments to the Minister of Greece, and has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of his note of October 10, 1928,40 regarding the desire of the Greek Government that a special charge in its favor be admitted against the fifth Dawes Plan annuity pursuant to Article 10 of the Agreement of January 14, 1925, regarding the distribution of the Dawes annuities. At the request of the Reparation Commission, the American Embassy at Paris has also transmitted for the information of the Department a copy of the letter of the Greek Delegation to the Reparation Commission dated August 8, 1928,40 submitting a similar request to the Reparation Commission. From this letter it appears that the Greek [Page 893] Government requests that the provisions of Article 10 of the Agreement of January 14, 1925, be applied not only with regard to the sum of 116,655,373 drachmas mentioned in your note of October 10, but also for the satisfaction of the claims in respect of the disputes still pending before the Greek-German Mixed Arbitral Tribunal as and when these disputes are settled.
The Greek Government requests that the Government of the United States designate one of its experts in Paris as its representative in a conference of the Governments signatory to the Agreement of January 14, 1925, with the instructions necessary in order that a decision be taken with regard to the payment of the sum of 116,655,373 drachmas to Greece. In this connection the Greek Government refers to the meeting held at Paris on July 13, 1928, in connection with the advance to Greece of its share of the undistributed Bulgarian reparations. In fact, however, the Government of the United States was not represented at that meeting and did not sign the protocol drafted therein.
Similarly this Government sees no occasion for designating an American representative to participate in consideration of the matter presented by the Greek Government in its letter to the Reparation Commission of August 8, 1928. Only in case the Government of Greece and the Allied Governments concerned agree upon some arrangement that would involve some question affecting the rights accorded to the Government of the United States under the terms of the Agreement of January 14, 1925, would it be necessary for the Government of the United States to interest itself in the matter.
The Acting American Observer with the Reparation Commission is being instructed in this sense.