711.622/163

The Acting Secretary of State to the German Ambassador (Luther)

The Acting Secretary of State presents his compliments to His Excellency, the German Ambassador, and has the honor to refer to communications dated June 21, August 11 and October 19, 1933, received from [Page 543] the Embassy in regard to Section 84 of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law of the State of New York.

The Acting Secretary of State has been advised by the authorities to whom the matter was referred that it is likely that the provisions of Section 84 of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law of the State of New York will be altered during the coming session of the Legislature which meets in January 1934; but that unless those provisions are altered or repealed by the New York Legislature they will stand until declared invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction.

Should the provision of the New York law not be altered or repealed by the New York Legislature or in the event that in the meantime any German national feels himself aggrieved by the operation of the law, the attention of the German Ambassador is called to the paragraph in Article 1 of the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Consular Rights between the United States and Germany signed December 8, 1923, which provides:

“The nationals of each High Contracting Party shall enjoy freedom of access to the courts of justice of the other on conforming to the local laws, as well for the prosecution as for the defense of their rights, and in all degrees of jurisdiction established by law.”