793.003/746
Memorandum by Mr. Joseph E. Jacobs of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs
Mr Weigh, Third Secretary of the Chinese Legation, and Mr. Jacobs met again by appointment on the mornings of June 26 and June 27, from ten to one o’clock, to revise their draft of proposals of June 2, 1931, in regard to extraterritoriality.
Mr. Weigh stated at the outset that he had been instructed to continue the work of re-drafting with the Department provided that he refrain from discussing the Article in regard to Reserved Areas. The Department had already been informed by minister Johnson in his telegram of June 20, 3 p.m.78 pragraph one, that Mr. Weigh would be so instructed.
Mr. Weigh and Mr. Jacobs have now prepared a new draft in which only three points remain unfinished or controversial as follows:
- Article XVI: Reserved Areas. No effort was made to re-draft this Article. The question of reserved areas is the one outstanding question which still remains to be settled.
- Article XXII: Ratification. The place where the exchange of ratifications is to take place remains to be inserted. It will be either Washington or Nanking.
Exchange of Notes: In the exchange of notes as now drafted, which are to be published, there are found four points which Mr. Weigh states the Minister for Foreign Affairs will not agree to have published. It will be necessary, therefore, to decide whether we shall agree, as the British have done, to relegate these points to “unpublished notes” or “agreed minutes” or to make further efforts to have them remain as they stand in our draft. It is believed that we should for the time being adopt the latter course.
The four points referred to are as follows:
- (1)
- The employment of at least one American Legal Counselor;
- (2)
- The exemption of American lawyers from certain requirements for practice before Chinese courts;
- (3)
- The policy to be followed by Chinese courts in commuting the terms of imprisonment in minor cases for fines, and
- (4)
- The courts outside of China which are to deal with personal status cases.
Mr. Jacobs sought to persuade Mr. Weigh to agree to the incorporation of a joint declaration of a provision with regard to patents and copyrights as suggested by Minister Johnson in his telegram of June 20, 3 p.m. Mr. Weigh stated that he could not agree as he had no instructions on this point. He suggested that we have Minister Johnson discuss this matter with the Minister for Foreign Affairs when our draft comes up for discussion between them.
It is suggested that the Solicitor’s Office be asked to examine the draft prepared by Mr. Weigh and Mr. Jacobs and that, after the comments of the Solicitor have been taken into consideration, the draft be mailed to Minister Johnson. About the time it reaches Peiping, Minister Johnson will be ready to return to Nanking to renew discussions with Dr. Wang, the Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs. In the interim the Department will be considering a draft of Article XVI in regard to Reserved Areas.