890D.01/423
The Chargé in France (Wilson) to the
Secretary of State
No. 3021
Paris, August 27, 1936.
[Received
September 8.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to your
Instruction No. 1440 of August 4, 1936, regarding the negotiations
between the French Government and a Syrian delegation looking toward the
termination of the mandatory régime and the entrance of Syria, and
possibly the Lebanon, into the League of Nations as independent states,
and requesting that the matter be brought to the attention of the French
Government with pertinent inquiries as to the arrangements contemplated
for consultation with the United States regarding the termination of the
Mandate, the disposition of the territories in question and the
conditions under which these territories would be administered upon the
cessation of the mandatory régime.
I called on August 19 on M. de Saint Quentin, Chief of the Africa-Levant
Section of the Foreign Office, and discussed the matter with him,
leaving with him an Aide-Mémoire, a copy of which
is enclosed herewith. M. de Saint Quentin said that the Foreign Office
had not yet given any detailed consideration to the matter of
consultation with other Powers, that the negotiations going on with the
Syrian delegation were for the purpose of drawing up a treaty which
would be signed after elections had taken place in Syria and the setting
up of a parliamentary government, and it would probably be two or three
years before matters would progress so far as to permit of the entrance
of Syria, and possibly the Lebanon, into the League of Nations. He said,
however, that it was of course in the mind of the French Government [Page 499] to communicate at the
appropriate time the text of the treaty reached with Syria to the League
of Nations and also to the United States. He said that, without wishing
to express a final view, he supposed that the same procedure would be
followed vis-à-vis the United States respecting Syria and the Lebanon as
had been followed by Great Britain in the case of Iraq. I took occasion,
in this connection, to explain to M. de Saint Quentin the difference in
the position of the United States with respect to Iraq and our position
with respect to Syria and the Lebanon, as set out in the Department’s
Instruction under reference.
I have now received a memorandum from the Foreign Office, dated August
25, 1936, in reply to the Aide-Mémoire which I
left with M. de Saint Quentin; copies in French and an office
translation of this memorandum are transmitted herewith.
Respectfully yours,
[Enclosure 1]
The American Embassy
to the French Ministry for Foreign
Affairs
Aide-Mémoire
In view of the current negotiations between the French Government and
a Syrian delegation, looking toward the termination of the mandatory
régime and the entrance of Syria, and possibly the Lebanon, into the
League of Nations as independent states, it becomes important to
make provision for the future respecting the rights of the United
States and its nationals in those states under the new conditions
which will prevail. The Government of the United States, therefore,
desires to bring this matter to the attention of the French
Government and to inquire what arrangements the French Government
contemplates with respect to consultation with the United States
concerning the termination of the Mandate, the disposition of the
territories of Syria and the Lebanon, and the conditions under which
those territories are to be administered upon the cessation of the
mandatory régime.
In connection with this matter, reference is made to Article 6 of the
Convention between the United States and France, signed at Paris on
April 4, 1924, regarding the rights of the two Governments and their
respective nationals in Syria and the Lebanon, which reads as
follows:
“Nothing contained in the present convention shall be
affected by any modification which may be made in the terms
of the mandate as recited above unless such modification
shall have been assented to by the United States.”
Paris, August 19, 1936.
[Page 500]
[Enclosure 2—Translation]
The French Ministry for
Foreign Affairs to the American
Embassy
In an Aide-Mémoire dated the 19th of this
month the Embassy of the United States of America, in view of the
current negotiations between the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and
the Syrian Delegation, was good enough to inquire what arrangements
the French Government contemplates with respect to consultation with
the Government of the United States concerning the termination of
the Mandate and the consequences of this termination.
The foregoing Aide-Mémoire refers to Article 6
of the Franco-American Convention of April 4, 1924.
In reply to this Aide-Mémoire, the Ministry
for Foreign Affairs has the honor to inform the Embassy of the
United States of America that the informal negotiations at present
in course with the Syrian Delegation have as their essential object
the preparation of official negotiations which can only be opened
after the Syrian elections and the constitution at Damascus of a
parliamentary government.
At the close of these official negotiations and after the
ratification of the agreements which will mark their conclusion, the
text of these agreements will be communicated to the League of
Nations. The French Government intends, at the same time, to
communicate the text thereof to the Government of the United States
of America.
Without awaiting, however, this communication, the Ministry for
Foreign Affairs is already in a position to inform the Embassy of
the United States that the Franco-Syrian and Franco-Lebanon treaties
will be closely inspired by the Anglo-Iraq Treaty of 1932 [1930].53 In conformity with the Iraq precedent, the two
treaties will include a transfer clause to the Syrian Government of
the rights and obligations resulting from any treaties, conventions
or other international acts concluded by the French Government as
regards Syria, or in its name.
