711.60i12A/1
The Secretary of State to the Estonian Consul General in New York in Charge of Legation ( Mutt )1
Sir: I beg to transmit herewith for the consideration of your Government and as a basis for negotiation a proposed draft of a treaty of arbitration between Estonia and the United States.2
The provisions of this draft operate to extend the policy of arbitration enunciated in the arbitration conventions concluded in 1908 between the United States and several other countries,3 and are identical in effect with the provisions of the arbitration treaty signed between the United States and France on February 6, 1928, a copy of which is also enclosed.4
You will observe that Article I of the treaty with France does not appear in the draft submitted herewith. Its language was borrowed from the language of the Treaty for the Advancement of Peace signed in 1914,5 and some question having arisen as to whether the new treaty affected the status of the Treaty of 1914, the matter has been resolved in the case of France by an exchange of notes6 recording the understanding of both Governments that the earlier conciliation treaty was in no way affected by the later arbitration treaty. In order to obviate further questions of this nature, however, it seemed desirable to avoid the incorporation in other arbitration treaties of any portion of the language of the earlier conciliation treaties, where such treaties exist, and in such cases I have therefore proposed the elimination of Article I of the French treaty and amended Article II (which is Article I of the draft transmitted herewith) by substituting for the words “the [Page 964] above-mentioned Permanent International Commission” the words “the Permanent International Commission constituted pursuant to” the applicable treaty of conciliation. As no such conciliation treaty is in force between Estonia and the United States, this latter formula cannot of course be used. I have therefore made no mention in Article I of any Permanent International Commission referring instead to “an appropriate commission of conciliation”. The negotiation and conclusion of an arbitration treaty can thus proceed independently of negotiations with respect to a conciliation treaty.
The Government of the United States would be pleased, however, to conclude with the Government of Estonia not only the arbitration treaty referred to above, but also a conciliation treaty modeled after the so-called Bryan treaties which were signed by the United States with many other countries in 1913 and 1914,7 and I take this opportunity to transmit for the consideration of your Government and as a basis of negotiation a proposed draft of a treaty of conciliation identical in effect with other treaties to which the United States is a party.8
I feel that by adopting treaties such as those suggested herein we shall not only promote the friendly relations between the Peoples of our two countries, but also advance materially the cause of arbitration and the pacific settlement of international disputes. If your Government concurs in my views and is prepared to negotiate treaties along the lines of the two drafts transmitted herewith, I shall be glad to enter at once upon such discussions as may be necessary.
Accept [etc.]
- The same, mutatis mutandis, on April 6, 1928, to the Latvian Consul General in New York in chargé of Legation (711.60i12A/l).↩
- Not printed; same as treaty signed August 27, 1929, p. 975.↩
- For index references to treaties of 1908, see Foreign Relations, 1908, p. 832; ibid., 1909, p. 676.↩
- ibid., 1928, vol. ii, p. 816.↩
- Signed September 15, 1914, ibid., 1915, p. 380.↩
- Dated March 1 and 5, 1928, ibid., 1928, vol. ii, p. 819.↩
- For index references to the Bryan treaties, see Foreign Relations, 1914, p. 1130; ibid., 1915, p. 1328; ibid., 1916, p. 1007.↩
- Not printed; same as treaty signed August 27, 1929, p. 977.↩