411.61 Assignments/145: Telegram
The Chargé in the Soviet Union (Henderson) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 9—9:40 a.m.]
6. Your 6, January 8, 5 p.m.82 The following notes were exchanged between Maxim Litvinov and myself on January 7, 1937:
“Embassy of the United States of America,
Moscow, January 7, 1937.
Mr. People’s Commissar: I have the honor to inform you that it is the understanding of the Government of the United States that the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics considers that by and upon the formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the adoption of the Constitution of 1923 of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics acquired the right to dispose of the property, rights, or interests therein located abroad of all corporations and companies which had theretofore been nationalized by decrees of the constituent republics or their predecessors.
[Page 355]The Government of the United States further understands that it was the purpose and intention of the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to assign to the Government of the United States, among other amounts, all the amounts admitted to be due or that may be found to be due not only the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics but also the constituent republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or their predecessors from American nationals, including corporations, companies, partnerships, or associations, and also the claim against the United States of the Russian Volunteer Fleet, in litigation in the United States Court of Claims, and that the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics did release and assign all such amounts to the Government of the United States by virtue of the note addressed by you to the President of the United States on November 16, 1933.
Will you be good enough to confirm the understanding which the Government of the United States has in this matter concerning the law of the Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic, the Constitution and laws of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the intention and purpose of the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the above mentioned assignment?
I am, Mr. People’s Commissar, Very sincerely yours, (signed) Loy W. Henderson, Chargé d’Affaires ad interim of the United States of America.”
“Moscow, January 7, 1937.
Mr. Chargé d’Affaires: In reply to your note of January 7, 1937, I have the honor to inform you that the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics considers that by and upon the formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the adoption of the Constitution of 1923 of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics acquired the right to dispose of the property, rights, or interests therein located abroad of all corporations and companies which had theretofore been nationalized by decrees of the constituent republics or their predecessors.
You are further informed that it was the purpose and intention of the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to assign to the Government of the United States, among other amounts, all the amounts admitted to be due or that may be found to be due not only the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics but also the constituent republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or their predecessors from American nationals, including corporations, companies, partnerships, or associations, and also the claim against the United States of the Russian Volunteer Fleet, in litigation in the United States Court of Claims, and that the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics did release and assign all such amounts to the Government of the United States by virtue of the note addressed by me to the President of the United States on November 16, 1933.
I have the honor, therefore, to confirm the understanding, as expressed in your note of January 7, 1937, which the Government of the United States has in this matter, concerning the law of the Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic, the Constitution and laws of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the intention and purpose [Page 356] of the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the above-mentioned assignment.
I am, Mr. Chargé d’Affaires, Very sincerely yours, (signed) M. Litvinoff, People’s Commissar of Foreign Affairs, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.”
[By instruction No. 127, June 8, 1937 (411.61 Assignments/156), the Chargé in the Soviet Union was requested, on behalf of the Department of Justice, to obtain from the People’s Commissariat of Justice of the R.S.F.S.R. and, if possible, also from the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union, rulings which would establish as a matter of Soviet law that the decrees of nationalization were intended to reach nationalized property of corporations located abroad. In telegram No. 314, December 3, 1937, 4 p.m. (411.61 Assignments/170), the Chargé transmitted a translation of an interpretation by the People’s Commissariat of Justice of the R.S.F.S.R., dated November 28, 1937, received through the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs. The text in translation reads as follows:
“The People’s Commissariat for Justice of the R.S.F.S.R. certifies that by virtue of the laws of the organs of the Soviet Government all nationalized funds and property of former private enterprises and companies, in particular by virtue of the decree of November 28, 1918 (Collection of Laws of the R.S.F.S.R., 1918, No. 86, article 904), the funds and property of the former insurance companies constitute the property of the State, irrespective of the nature of the property and irrespective of whether it was situated within the territorial limits of the R.S.F.S.R. or abroad. People’s Commissar for Justice of the R.S.F.S.R. Dmitriev.”]
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