462.11W892/2439
The German Ambassador (Luther) to the Secretary of State
Mr. Secretary of State: In the name of and by direction of my Government, I have the honor to make the following response to Your Excellency with respect to the valued note of the 20th of last month (file number 462.11W898/2412 [2420]), which was handed to me personally:
The material submitted to the German-American Mixed Commission during the past month by the American Agent has been carefully examined by Germany and, in fact, with special haste, as the German Government feels at one with the American Government in the wish that the proceedings before the German-American Mixed Claims Commission should be brought to a close as soon as possible.
Examination of the material has confirmed the conviction of the German Government that the charge that the Commission has been misled by untrue statements of German witnesses is without justification.
In view of the extraordinary volume of the material, the German Government finds itself, however, to its regret, not in a position to make a statement in reply to the question asked by Your Excellency [Page 489] as to whether counter-material will be submitted by Germany and when the German written statement can be ready, until a written statement of the American Agent is at hand, from which it can be seen what conclusions the American Agent wishes to draw from the material submitted as evidence and what parts of this material he intends to use.
In justification of this attitude, permit me to point out that the proposal of the American Agent for reopening of the proceedings was handed in on May 4, 1933, without being substantiated in detail and that the material submitted by the American Agent as evidence was collected, in the main, before the umpire limited the questions in dispute by his decision of December 15th of last year. The request that the American Agent first draw up more closely substantiated single claims in the form of a written statement therefore appears justified. In this connection, special emphasis is laid by Germany on the declaration by the American Agent, in view of the grave character of the charges brought by him, of the extent to which he believes he can, on the basis of his discoveries, maintain the charges made in his proposal of May 4, 1933.
Assuring Your Excellency once more that the German Government lays great stress on having the proceedings before the German-American Mixed Commission ended as soon as possible, I venture to make the request that the American Agent be held to the substantiation of his claims.
Accept [etc.]