711.60p12A/7
The Minister at Riga (Coleman) to the
Secretary of State
Riga, August 28, 1928.
[Received
September 10.]
No. 5523
Sir: I have the honor to inform the Department
that the Latvian Foreign Minister, Mr. Balodis, after a conference with
the Estonian Foreign Minister, Mr. Rebane, asked me to come to him on
the 24th of August.
It seems that the two Ministers desire to follow a common policy in the
making of international agreements and conventions and have so agreed in
the matter of the Arbitration and Conciliation treaties submitted to
them respectively by the Secretary. Perhaps it is for this reason that
Mr. Balodis handed me the enclosed memorandum, unsigned, “privately and
confidentially.”
When I asked him if he would let me have the two texts which “the Latvian
Government is ready to submit,” he stated that he could not do this
without the consent of Mr. Rebane. What they both desired to know is
whether the Department agreed in principle to the amendments
suggested.
[Page 966]
While it is understood that the Secretary prefers uniformity in the text
of these treaties, the Memorandum is forwarded to the Department for its
consideration.
I have [etc.]
[Enclosure]
The Latvian Minister for Foreign Affairs
(Balodis) to the American
Minister (Coleman)
Memorandum
draft treaty of arbitration
between latvia and the united states
Article I of the Draft provides for the settlement of disputes
between the Contracting Parties either by the Court of Arbitration
constituted in accordance with the Hague Convention (1907) or by a
competent tribunal.
Taking into consideration that the Hague Convention defines in a
detailed way the procedure to be followed for the constitution of
the arbitration tribunal,
Taking into consideration, on the other hand, that the abovementioned
Article of the Draft as submitted by the United States Government
does in no way draw a line of discrimination between cases where
recourse is to be taken to the Hague tribunal and cases to be
settled by what is called a competent tribunal,
The Latvian Government is of the opinion that a separate Article
should be inserted in the Treaty defining the procedure to be
followed for constituting such “competent tribunals”.
If this suggestion meets with the approval of the American Government
the Latvian Government is ready to submit a proposal as to the text
of the respective Article following the international practice in
this matter.
draft treaty of conciliation
between latvia and the united states of america
In the opinion of the Latvian Government it would be advisable to
amend Article 2 of the Draft by inserting adequate stipulations
dealing with the case if the Contracting Parties do not reach
agreement on the fifth member (superarbiter) of the Commission of
Conciliation.
The Latvian Government is ready to submit the respective text.
