856d. 6363/498
The Secretary of State to the Netherlands Minister (Van Royen)
Sir: I have the honor to refer to your note, dated November 14, 1927, and to the Department’s reply, dated November 28th, regarding [Page 377] oil concessions in the Netherlands East Indies and reciprocity between the United States and the Netherlands under the provisions of the Act of February 25, 1920.4
The Department is now in receipt of a letter from the Department of the Interior, dated December 14th, the pertinent portions of which are quoted for your information as follows:
“It is the disposition of the Department of the Interior to accord to the citizens of any country whatsoever, when organized as a corporation under the laws of the United States, or any State or Territory thereof, precisely the same treatment as regards the mineral leasing law of February 25, 1920 (41 Stat., 437), as though they were citizens of the United States similarly organized, but that in order that such citizens of a foreign country may be eligible to receive such action from this Department it is requisite that like privileges shall be accorded by their Government to citizens of the United States. The privilege accorded to duly qualified citizens of foreign countries by the mineral leasing law is not restricted to any one group or company but is as broad as the citizenship of the country concerned.
“If it be made to appear that laws, customs, and regulations of the Government of the Netherlands do not deny to citizens of this country the privileges offered by our laws to citizens of that country, the Department of the Interior will take full cognizance of such laws, customs and regulations in considering applications falling within the purview of the proviso of Section 1 of the Act of February 25, 1920.”
Accept [etc.]
- Department’s reply of November 28, 1927, not printed.↩