711.5421/25
The Chargé in Switzerland ( Greene ) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 14.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to the Department’s instruction No. 1398 of May 9, 1931, and to previous correspondence in regard to the interpretation of the most favored nation clause in Article VII of the Convention of Friendship, Commerce and Extradition between the United States and Switzerland, signed November 25, 1850.
On June 19, 1931, the Legation addressed to the Federal Political Department an inquiry in the sense of the Department’s instruction No. 1398, and appended thereto a memorandum outlining the views held by the American Government in this connection. Copies of the note and the memorandum are enclosed herewith.28
The Legation is now in receipt of a reply from the Federal Political Department, dated September 9, 1931, a copy and translation of which are enclosed.28 The Political Department’s reply is to the effect that Swiss law does not prevent American consular officers, if authorized to do so, from receiving funds for transmission to their nationals, as provided in Article XXV of the Treaty of 1923 between the United States and Germany, and assumes that under these conditions Swiss consular officers in the United States will be permitted to exercise similar rights. The Political Department therefore requests that this be brought to the attention of the appropriate authorities in the United States, and asks that it be furnished with a copy of the official journal containing the announcement to that effect.
I also invite attention to the last paragraph of the Political Department’s note in which it maintains its view of the unconditional character of the most favored nation treatment in Article VII of the Treaty of 1850.
Respectfully yours,