711.60p4/6
The Secretary of State to the Chargé in Latvia (Cole)
Sir: Reference is made to the Department’s instructions Nos. 584 and 632 of December 1, 1928, and May 29, 1929,9 respectively, in regard to the negotiation of a treaty between the United States and Latvia providing that persons born in the United States of Latvian parentage, and naturalized American citizens of former Latvian nationality, shall not be held liable for military service or any other act of allegiance during a stay in territory subject to the jurisdiction of Latvia while citizens of the United States under the laws thereof.
You are requested to inform the Department at an early date of the present status of the negotiations initiated by the Legation with the Latvian authorities under the provisions of the above-mentioned instructions. As soon as circumstances will permit, the Department would appreciate receiving a report setting forth in detail the attitude of the Latvian Government towards the provisions of the draft of the proposed treaty which was forwarded to the Legation under cover of instruction No. 584 of December 1, 1928, and toward the several proposals with regard to this matter outlined for the guidance of the Legation in the same instruction.
The Department attaches importance to the early conclusion of a treaty of naturalization and military service between the United States and Latvia, and it is hoped that the Legation will endeavor to facilitate in every appropriate manner the negotiations which have already been undertaken for that purpose at Riga.
Very truly yours,
- Instruction No. 584 not printed, but see instruction No. 583 of December 1, 1928, to the Chargé in Estonia, and footnote 56, ibid., 1928, vol. i, p. 500; instruction No. 632 not printed.↩