411.12P/402
Memorandum by the Under Secretary of State of a Conversation With the Mexican Ambassador (Téllez), April 10, 1928
The Mexican Ambassador came in at his own suggestion and stated that he had come on an unpleasant errand. He said his Government had just advised him that it had been unable to approve any one of the three names suggested by us to fill the vacancies of President of the Claims Commissions. He went on to say that [Page 338] his Government had great difficulty in getting any satisfactory information about these men. He gave me the impression that the results were simply negative. They could not find that the individuals in question were known as international lawyers, or as having any special qualifications for the work. He mentioned the fact that inquiry of the International Law Institute at The Hague elicited the response that these parties were unknown. I expressed considerable surprise at this result, and we discussed the possibility of going further with the investigation. I asked him whether it would do any good if we ascertained the sources of the information which had been passed on to us by our Ministers in Vienna and Budapest. The Ambassador said he did not know whether that would make any difference or not, but that he would be glad to transmit to his Government any further suggestions we had to make. He intimated that perhaps it would be best to leave the selection to the appropriate official at The Hague and I said that while this seemed to be a leap in the dark, it would look as if that might be the only course left open to us. He said he did not think his Government had any further suggestions to make. I finally told the Ambassador that we would reconsider the situation and communicate with him further.