711.572/62
The Minister in Norway ( Swenson ) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 25.]
Sir: With reference to the Department’s instruction No. 367, of July 7, 1927, I have the honor to report that I brought informally to the attention of the Norwegian Foreign Office the earnest desire of the United States Government to proceed promptly to the completion of the negotiations of the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Consular Rights, which have been carried on for some time. I explained the situation as outlined by the Department, stating that unless progress by December first of this year indicates that the new treaty will be concluded and made effective a short time thereafter, steps would likely have to be taken to terminate the Treaty of 1827. I have made inquiries from time to time regarding the status of the deliberations on this matter by the Norwegian Government and have been assured that the Foreign Office was bringing pressure to bear on the departments most immediately concerned with a view to meeting our wishes. I am now in receipt of a copy [Page 603] of a memorandum forwarded to the Norwegian Legation at Washington, under date of the third instant,16 containing suggestions regarding the final text of certain stipulations in the draft under consideration. It appears that Norway is ready to yield to the representations made by the Department respecting Article VIII, thus eliminating the principal obstacle. In order to avoid violating diplomatic usage the Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs does not wish me to transmit the memorandum under report to the Department of State. However, the Norwegian Chargé d’Affaires at Washington will, as a matter of course, convey to you the contents thereof and I find it unnecessary to add anything to the comments which I have made in the above. I am of the impression that the Norwegian Government is now prepared to conclude a treaty substantially as set forth in the present draft and I take it that some of the proposed modifications may be accepted in part.
In view of the retirement of the Lykke Ministry sometime in the latter part of January I would suggest the desirability of having the pending treaty signed before the change of Government takes place.
I have [etc.]
- See note of December 9, 1927, from the Norwegian Minister, infra.↩