881.6463/17
The Ambassador in Great Britain (Dawes) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 20.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to the Department’s instruction No. 486, August 26, 1930,18 concerning the prospective violation of the Act of Algeciras by the Tangier Administration, and to state that this matter was discussed with the Foreign Office today, subsequent, however, to the receipt of despatch No. 538, August 29, 1930, from the American Diplomatic Agent at Tangier. This last mentioned despatch sets forth the remarks of the British Vice Consul at the meeting of the Committee of Control. It was stated at the Foreign Office that there was little to add for the moment, since the legal representative of the Foreign Office was investigating the British position, more especially as to how far the hands of the British Government were tied by British adhesion to the Franco-German Agreement of 1911. The Foreign Office have promised to communicate with me again at an early date but stated informally in the course of the conversation that they did not feel they could accept the view of the Italian Minister as expressed before the Committee of Control, reported in the American Diplomatic Agent’s despatch No. 538, August 29. Furthermore, the Foreign Office stated their full desire for open adjudication of contracts, and intimated that to obtain this result, if the British position were in any way constrained by existing agreements, they would be doubly prepared to stress the position of the United States Government, which was deemed most happy in this instance.
Respectfully yours,
Counselor of Embassy