781.003/177b

The Secretary of State to the French Ambassador ( Saint-Quentin )

Excellency: Your Excellency will recall that in my note of August 23, 1938,2 the intention of this Government was expressed to submit to your Government the drafts of a capitulations convention and a treaty of establishment, commerce and navigation concerning the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire.

In now transmitting drafts of those instruments, it has been considered useful, with a view to facilitating examination of the proposed texts, to include certain comments concerning their respective provisions. These comments are given below, beginning with a seriatim examination of the provisions of each article of the proposed capitulations convention and continuing with a general examination of the proposed treaty of establishment, commerce and navigation.

Capitulations Convention

Article 1

Article 1 is more detailed in character than the corresponding article of the British Convention3 The first paragraph is identical, mutatis mutandis, with the single paragraph of the British Convention but the article includes, besides, a subsection (2) of paragraph 2 which corresponds to paragraph 4 of the Protocol annexed to the British Convention and subsection (3) of paragraph 2 which corresponds to paragraph 3 of Article 16 of that Convention.

It will be noted that Article 15 of the Convention of Madrid of 18804 relates to the change of nationality by naturalization. In view of the proposed termination of this article, along with the other articles of that Convention, it is believed appropriate to suggest the conclusion [Page 632] of a treaty of naturalization and military obligations applicable to the United States of America and the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire. A draft of such a treaty, identical in substance with treaties in force between the United States and several other countries, is accordingly enclosed.5

The articles of the Act of Algeciras,6 which it is proposed to abrogate, so far as concerns the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire, are identical with those mentioned in the British Convention, with the exception of Articles 51–53 which this Government does not consider necessary for retention. It may be added that, in the event the French Government is disposed to accept the text of subsection (7) of paragraph 2 of Article 6 of the draft convention this Government would be prepared to include among the abrogated articles of the Act of Algeciras all those contained in Chapter V of that Act, namely, Articles 77–104, inclusive, in addition to those now specifically mentioned as subject to abrogation.

Article 2

Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article are identical, mutatis mutandis, with the corresponding paragraphs of the British Convention. Paragraph 4 of the draft is intended to confer the same rights upon American Chambers of Commerce in French Morocco as are granted to British Chambers of Commerce in the exchange of notes nos. 7–8 annexed to the British Convention. While paragraphs of Article 2 of the British Convention makes the continuance of the provisions of the article after an expiry of ten years subject to the granting of most-favored-nation treatment to subjects and companies of the French Zone as regards the matter referred to in the second paragraph of the article, the fifth paragraph of the present draft proposes to grant such treatment at once.

The third paragraph of the draft convention has no precise counterpart in the British Convention. However, the legislative and administrative non-discrimination therein provided for as affecting American nationals, American-protected persons, American companies, American ships, American aircraft and American goods is but a more explicit interpretation of the principle of economic liberty without any inequality already affirmed in the Act of Algeciras and reaffirmed elsewhere in the draft convention. The emphasis given that principle is a measure of the importance which this Government attaches to its maintenance in Morocco.

[Page 633]

Article 3

Article 3 is, mutatis mutandis, identical with Article 3 of the British Convention.

Article 4

This article is practically identical with Article 4 of the British Convention except that the second sentence of the final paragraph has been slightly revised to conform with a similar provision in the Montreux Capitulations Convention of May 8, 1937,7 providing for a period of twelve years rather than an indefinite term for the retention of American consular court records. Article 4 has been further modified to provide that such records shall be “open for inspection by” rather than “made available to” the tribunals of the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire.

Article 5

This article is conformable with Article 5 of the British Convention with the addition of provisions corresponding to those embodied in paragraph (2) of the Minute and of notes nos. 3–4, annexed to the British Convention. To obviate the necessity of an annex such as that mentioned in paragraph 3 of Article 5 of the British Convention, American protégés for signal services have been included as entitled to the benefits of the provisions of this article.

Article 6

The first paragraph of this article corresponds to the first paragraph of Article 7 of the British Convention, with the addition of a reference to internal taxes, and the interpolation of “and Moroccan” between “French” and “nationals”, as well as between “French” and “companies”.

Paragraph 2 of Article 6 is a more explicit rendering of the provisions of paragraph 2 of the Protocol of Signature annexed to the British Convention. Moreover, the definition of economic liberty without any inequality herein proposed represents in substance the terms of a similar definition which was accepted verbatim by the British, French and Spanish Governments in 1924 as one of the conditions made by this Government as prerequisite to its adherence to the Tangier Statute. You will recall that the French Government accepted these stipulations in a note dated October 31, 1924 from the French Embassy to the Department.8

In the redrafting of the definition, this Government, while conforming as far as possible with the formula agreed upon in 1924, has naturally been moved to take into account forms of economic control [Page 634] which have developed since that time and were not then contemplated. The previous agreement of the French Government to a provision substantially similar in tenor, in relation to the international zone of Tangier, should insure, it is believed, its acceptability under the present circumstances, the more particularly as the general principle of equality of treatment not only forms a part of the existing Act of Algeciras but is embodied in the Protocol of Signature annexed to the British Convention.

The expression “régime of economic liberty without any inequality” has been substituted for the original phrase “regime of economic equality” for the reason that the former, incorporated as it is in the preamble of the Act of Algeciras, has come to have an accepted connotation in respect of Morocco. The interpolations relative to quotas and exchange control do not, it is believed, require any special comment. The provision concerning monopolies is identical with that proposed in 1924.

The final provision of Article 6 relates to customs valuation. Subsection (a) is an adaptation in more precise terms of the principle of customs valuation embodied in Article 95 of the Act of Algeciras and in the interpretative paragraph concerning customs valuation included in the Anglo-French Commercial Treaty on French Morocco of July 18, 1938.9 Moreover, the formula “purchase value” is based on Article 82 of the official French Observations Preliminaires, edition 1933, setting forth the basis of customs valuation in France, while the subsection as a whole follows very closely the first paragraph of Article 6, relating to customs valuation, in the Commercial Agreement between France and Belgium of February 23, 1928.10 Subsection (b) calls for no comment but, of subsection (c), it may be noted that it is an adaptation of Article 85 of the Act of Algeciras. Accordingly, it is presumed that these provisions of Article 6 will commend themselves to the French Government, based as they are either on French practice or on methods defined by the Act of Algeciras.

Article 7

Article 7 corresponds to Article 8 of the British Convention but provides for immediate most-favored-nation treatment for Moroccan subjects in the United States.

Article 8

Article 8 is identical, mutatis mutandis, with Article 9 of the British Convention.

[Page 635]

Article 9

Article 9 corresponds in general to Article 10 of the British Convention. The first paragraph has been modified to provide that this Government shall have the right to maintain consulates at any place in the French Zone “which is open to the consular representatives of any foreign country”. Moreover, the second paragraph reserves to American consular officers, pending the conclusion of a consular convention, the rights, privileges and immunities which they possess at present, other than those of a judicial character under the capitulations.

Article 10

The first paragraph of Article 10 corresponds to the whole of Article 11 of the British Convention. A new paragraph has been added providing for most-favored-nation treatment for American missionaries. There is also added a provision reserving the operation of Article 11 of the Convention revising the General Act of Berlin of February 26, 1885, and the General Act and Declaration of Brussels of July 2, 1890, signed at St. Germain-en-Laye, September 10, 1919.11

Article 11

Article 11 is identical, mutatis mutandis, with Article 12 of the British Convention.

Articles 12 and 13

Article 13 of the British Convention was not deemed to be a suitable model for use in a treaty of the United States and, accordingly, this Government proposes two articles relating to estate cases which are standard in the consular conventions of the United States. Articles similar to Articles 12 and 13 are now in force between the United States and many other countries. The United States is prepared to offer Moroccan subjects immediate most-favored-nation treatment in the matter of consular rights in relation to the settlement of estates and transmission of proceeds of estates.

Articles 14 and 15

Articles 14 and 15 are identical, mutatis mutandis, with Articles 14 and 15 of the British Convention.

Article 16

The first and second paragraphs of Article 16 correspond to the first two paragraphs of Article 24 of the British Convention, except that the expression “companies” has been given a more comprehensive interpretation in order to make it inclusive both of commercial associations as well as companies.

[Page 636]

A third paragraph has been added defining Moroccan companies, while the fourth paragraph corresponds to the third paragraph of Article 24 of the British Convention with the addition of a clause made necessary by the nonadherence of this Government to the Tangier Statute.

Article 17

Article 17 corresponds to Article 25 of the British Convention. It provides for arbitration under the existing treaty of the United States and France,12 unless the High Contracting Parties agree on another method of settlement.

Article 18

Article 18 is practically identical with Article 26 of the British Convention.

Treaty of Establishment, Commerce and Navigation

It will be observed that the enclosed draft treaty of establishment, commerce and navigation13 includes provisions relating to establishment and navigation, as well as to commerce. While establishment and navigation provisions are also included in the draft capitulations convention, the nature of that instrument precludes the extension, in all respects, of such provisions to the subjects of His Majesty the Sultan of Morocco in the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire on a basis of reciprocity. However, the enclosed draft treaty of establishment, commerce and navigation accords rights in the United States to Moroccan nationals, corporations, goods and ships of the French Zone of Morocco, as well as to American nationals, corporations, goods and ships in that Zone.

As the treaty conforms in general with treaties of establishment, commerce and navigation concluded by this Government with many other countries, its provisions are not believed to require any extended comment.

Owing to the non-adherence of this Government to the convention signed at Paris on December 18, 1923,14 as modified by the agreement of July 25, 1928,15 regarding the organization of the Statute of the Tangier Zone, and due to the continued exercise by this Government of extraterritorial rights in that Zone, it would not, of course, be practical for the present draft treaty of establishment, commerce and navigation to be extended at this time to the Tangier Zone. However, [Page 637] with a view to insuring uniformity in the customs tariff in the various zones of Morocco, provision has been made in Article XX for the extension of the customs provisions of the treaty, under certain circumstances, to the Spanish Zone of influence and to the Tangier Zone. That article, moreover, makes possible the extension to the Tangier Zone of the quota provisions of the treaty.

With regard to the quota provisions included in the annex to the draft treaty, it may be recalled that in a memorandum presented to the French Government by the American Embassy in Paris on January 24, 1938,16 it was stated that the United States Government had not modified its views that the imposition of quotas and the introduction of similar restrictive systems are a hindrance to that normal and free development of international trade most conducive to the upbuilding of world economy. It was added that if, notwithstanding the position the United States had assumed generally in respect of quotas, the adoption of a quota system in Morocco on a limited list of articles to be agreed upon by the countries most concerned, was looked upon with favor by other interested governments, the United States Government would not wish to appear obstructive in the matter. When presenting this memorandum, the Embassy was informed that, as regarded the adoption of a quota system in Morocco, the French Government looked at the matter in the same spirit as that reflected in this Government’s communication.

In view of these considerations, my Government is not requesting assurances against the imposition of quantitative restrictions on the importation into French Morocco of products other than those of special interest to the United States numbering at this time some thirty-five items as listed in the Annex.17 On the other hand, it will no doubt be appreciated that my Government attaches particular importance to the assurances sought from the French Government that quantitative restrictions will not be imposed on the importation into French Morocco of the products referred to in the Annex. Moreover, it will be noted that the value of imports from the United States into French Morocco of the products for which such assurances are sought amounted to an average of only 5.2 percent of the value of total imports of all products from all countries into that Zone for the years 1927 to 1937, as is indicated in the following table based upon official Moroccan statistics as published in Statistiques du Mouvement Commercial et Maritime du Maroc.

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Year Total Imports From all Countries Imports from U.S. of Products Listed in Annex Percentage of Total Imports
(Values in 1,000 francs)
1927 1,798,598 78,392 4.4
1928 1,999,545 108,707 5.4
1929 2,547,430 173,402 6.8
1930 2,208,474 131,790 6.0
1931 2,075,191 95,968 4.6
1932 1,785,058 63,617 3.6
1933 1,532,416 61,432 4.0
1934 1,319,705 61,539 4.7
1935 1,139,138 60,705 5.3
1936 1,150,502 80,213 7.0
1937 1,765,624 99,188 5.6

It will be observed that my Government seeks also, in the Annex, bindings of the duties on the same thirty-five items and bindings of the internal taxes on all but two of those items. The items included in the List represent products of which, according to Moroccan customs statistics for the years 1927 to 1937, inclusive, the United States was the principal supplier during one or more of those years and was in most cases the supplier of a preponderant share of such goods.

While there has not been incorporated in the treaty proper any article corresponding to Article 2 of the Anglo-French Commercial Treaty of July 18, 1938, recognizing customs autonomy in relation to the French and Tangier Zones of the Shereefian Empire, the United States is prepared to give due consideration to the inclusion of such an article in the event the French Government so desires.

It is understood, of course, that the enclosed drafts are subject to revision during the negotiations.

Accept [etc.]

Cordell Hull
[Enclosure]

Proposed Convention Between the United States and Frame for the Renunciation of American Extraterritorial Rights in the French Zone of Morocco

Preamble

The President of the United States of America, and the President of the French Republic, acting in his own name and on behalf of His Majesty the Sultan of Morocco;

Whereas the present special régime applicable in the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire to American consuls, nationals, protected-persons, [Page 639] companies, goods and ships is no longer in accordance with the present state of that Zone;

And whereas both High Contracting Parties are desirous of modifying certain treaties in order to render them more in conformity with existing conditions;

Have accordingly decided to conclude a convention for this purpose and have appointed as their plenipotentiaries:

The President of the United States of America:

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ;

and

The President of the French Republic:

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ;

Who, having communicated to each other their full powers found to be in good and due form, have agreed upon the following articles:

Article I

1.
The United States of America agrees to renounce all rights and privileges of a capitulatory character in the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire.
2.
Specifically such renunciation shall be considered to include:
(1)
The abrogation of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, signed September 16, 1836.18
(2)
The relinquishment of the right of the United States of America to rely in the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire upon the following Articles of the Act of Algeciras: Articles 1 to 65, 70, 71, all provisions of Article 72 after the word “permit”, 75, 76, 80, 97, 101, 102, 104, 113 to 119, while in Article 81 the words “by the competent consular authority” must be deemed to be omitted and in Article 91 the word “competent” must henceforth be substituted for the word “consular”.
(3)
All rights and privileges acquired in the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire under the Convention of Madrid of 1880.

Article II

1.
American nationals, American-protected persons and American companies in the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the same tribunals as French citizens and French companies.
2.
In their recourse to such tribunals American nationals, American-protected persons and American companies shall be subject to the same conditions as French citizens and French companies.
3.
No discrimination to the detriment of American nationals, American-protected persons, American companies, American ships, or [Page 640] American aircraft or to the detriment of goods, the growth, produce or manufacture of the United States of America, shall be made in any legislation governing the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire, or shall be effected by administrative action in that Zone.
4.
American Chambers of Commerce in the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire shall enjoy rights and privileges no less favorable than those accorded to the Chambers of Commerce of the most-favored-nation.
5.
The subjects of His Majesty the Sultan of Morocco and companies duly incorporated under the law of the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire shall enjoy in the United States of America the treatment of the most-favored-nation as regards access to the courts of justice.

Article III

1.
In respect of matters occurring before the entry into force of the present convention, laws and regulations of the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire shall only be applied to American nationals, American-protected persons, American companies and American ships in cases where in accordance with the existing practice such laws and regulations were then applicable to them.
2.
Duties and taxes, however, payable under legislation, enacted less than one year before the date of the entry into force of the present convention and not yet made applicable to American nationals, American-protected persons and American companies by the Government of the United States of America, may be recovered from such nationals, protected persons and companies.
3.
American nationals, American-protected persons and American companies shall not be sued in the courts of the French Zone for taxes or duties of any kind which became due more than two years before the coming into force of this convention.

Article IV

1.
The American courts at present exercising jurisdiction in the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire shall continue to deal with the cases regularly instituted before them before the entry into force of the present convention until these cases are finally completed.
2.
Decisions which are final, given by the said courts within the limits of their jurisdiction, shall be recognized as having the force of res judicata by the authorities of the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire. Certificates given by the American consular officers to the effect that the said decisions are final will be accepted.
3.
The United States of America undertakes to retain in Morocco, during a period of twelve years from the date of the entrance into [Page 641] force of this convention, all the judicial records of the American consular courts. These records shall be open for inspection by the tribunals of the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire whenever these tribunals require them for the purpose of cases within their jurisdiction. Certified copies of these records will be furnished on request to the said tribunals, the competent authorities of the Zone and to any other properly interested party.

Article V

1.
Subject to the provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 below, no person owing allegiance to His Majesty the Sultan of Morocco may claim in the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire the protection of the United States of America.
2.
Natives of the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire, who at the date of the entry into force of the present convention enjoy American protection, whether as employees of an American consulate, as semsars or as protégés for signal services shall for the remainder of their lives be justiciable by the French tribunals of the Shereefian Empire except as regards matters coming within the jurisdiction of the Moslem or Jewish religious courts. Moreover, the like right shall extend to American-protected persons of the Spanish Zone and of the Tangier Zone in respect of litigation in which they may be engaged in the French Zone. A list of the persons referred to in this paragraph shall be drawn up within six months of the coming into force of the present convention by agreement between the French Residency-General and the American Diplomatic Agency and Consulate General at Tangier. This list shall include the wives and minor children of these persons living under the same roof, and the provisions of this paragraph shall apply in the case of the wives during the lifetime of their husbands, and in the case of the children until the death of their fathers or until their majority, whichever happens earliest.
3.
The High Contracting Parties agree that the American consular authorities in the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire shall be competent to make representations to the competent authorities in favor of the persons mentioned in paragraph 2 above.

Article VI

1.
American nationals, American-protected persons and American companies shall enjoy in the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire the same personal and private rights (droits privés) as French and Moroccan nationals and French and Moroccan companies. They shall have the same guarantees for the protection of person and property; and they shall pay no internal taxes other or higher than those exacted of and paid by French or Moroccan nationals or companies.
2.
In addition to the rights granted in Article 2 and in the first paragraph of this Article, American nationals, protected persons, companies, goods, ships, and aircraft shall enjoy in the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire a regime of economic liberty without any inequality with French citizens, companies, goods, ships and aircraft, and with Moroccan subjects, companies, goods, ships and aircraft. The term “regime of economic liberty without any inequality” shall be understood to include, among other things:
(1)
That with respect to customs or tonnage duties, charges in respect of warehousing and other facilities, port dues, or other charges, taxes, fees or exactions of whatever character appertaining to industry, trade, or commerce, there shall be no discrimination in law or in fact placing or tending to glace nationals, protected-persons, companies, goods, aircraft or ships of the United States of America at a disadvantage as compared with nationals, protected-persons, companies, goods, aircraft or ships of any other country; and that every advantage, favor, privilege, or immunity which is or may be accorded to any article originating in or destined for any other country shall be extended unconditionally, immediately, without request and without compensation, to the like article originating in the United States of America, from whatever place arriving, or destined for the United States of America;
(2)
That no import or export prohibition, restriction, or license system, including import or customs quotas and other forms of quantitative regulations affecting the importation, sale, or use of imported articles, shall be applied to articles originating in or destined for the United States of America which is other or more burdensome than that applied to the like articles originating in or destined for any other country. If a share of the total quantity of any article permitted to be imported or sold, or permitted to be imported or sold at a lower duty or charge than the duty or charge imposed on the importation or sale of quantities in excess of such total quantity is allotted to any other country, a share equivalent to the proportion of the total importations of such article which was supplied by the United States of America during a previous representative period shall be allotted to the United States of America;
(3)
That, if any form of control of the means of international payment is established or maintained, such control shall be administered so as not to influence to the disadvantage of the United States of America the competitive relationships between articles originating in the United States of America and similar articles originating in any other country; and that no restrictions shall be imposed upon payments to American nationals which are other or more burdensome than those applied to payments to the nationals of any other country;
(4)
That in regard to the right to acquire, possess and dispose of both movable and immovable property, in the pursuit of occupations, industries, or professions, and in all that pertains to facilities of every kind, including the prospecting for and utilization of natural resources, there shall be no discrimination;
(5)
That in the granting of concessions of all kinds as well as in the granting of contracts for public works and in the purchase of supplies, there shall be suitable opportunity for competition and open bidding free from any condition or provision calculated to give competitors of one nationality or the goods of a particular country any advantage over those of another; and
(6)
That no monopoly or exclusive privileges shall be created or granted which would result in monopolization of the markets, resources, or facilities of the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire for the benefit of any special interests, directly or indirectly, or in any exclusive or preferential advantage inconsistent with the principle of complete equality of opportunity.
(7)
(a) With respect to articles, the growth, produce or manufacture of the United States of America imported into the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire, on which ad valorem rates of duty are or may be assessed, the declared value for customs purposes shall be the cash wholesale value of the merchandise at the time when and the place where presented to the customs, that is to say, the purchase value in the country of shipment, increased by the necessary charges for importation up to the place of entry (transportation, freight, insurance, lighterage, etc.), excluding customs duties and warehouse charges.
(b) The basis for the conversion of currency for customs valuation purposes shall be the latest available official buying rate of the State Bank of Morocco.
(c) In the event any dispute should arise regarding the assessment of customs duties under subsection (a) above, the customs shall either levy the duty in kind, then and there, or, if the merchandise is indivisible, take the said merchandise by at once paying the declarant its declared value, plus five percent, unless the importer and the customs shall mutually agree upon an adjusted valuation on the basis of which the duties may be levied in cash.
(d) The provisions of this paragraph shall not prevent the imposition of appropriate penalties in cases where fraud shall have been judicially established.

Article VII

1.
American nationals and American-protected persons shall not be subject in the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire to any compulsory personal military service nor to any tax or payment in lieu of such service.
2.
The subjects of His Majesty the Sultan of Morocco shall enjoy in the United States of America the treatment of the most-favored-nation as regards the matter referred to in this Article.

Article VIII

1. Extracts from “easier judiciare” shall be delivered to American nationals and American-protected persons resident in the French Zone of Morocco on the same conditions as to French citizens. In order to enable the competent authorities of the Zone to deliver such extracts, the American consular authorities in the Zone will supply to these [Page 644] authorities certificates as regards convictions, if any, pronounced by the American consular courts in Morocco.

Article IX

1.
The United States of America shall have the right to maintain consulates at any place in the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire which is open to the consular representatives of any foreign country. The establishment of new consulates at other places in the said Zone shall be subject to the agreement of the Governments of both High Contracting Parties.
2.
Pending the conclusion of a Consular Convention, American consular officers shall continue to enjoy the rights, privileges and immunities which they possess at present, particularly in the matter of taxes, customs duties and other public dues. The foregoing stipulation does not include rights, privileges or immunities of a judicial character under the capitulations.
3.
It is further agreed that American consular officers shall be treated in the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire no less favorably than the consular officers of any other Power.

Article X

1.
American schools of every grade shall continue to enjoy in the French Zone, especially in regard to the teaching of English, the same liberty as hitherto. They will be subject to the laws relating to State control which are applicable to all European schools in the French Zone.
2.
Moreover, American missionaries, both those established in the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire at present and those who may come into the Zone in the future, shall enjoy the treatment of the most-favored-nation. However, nothing contained in this Article shall be considered as prejudicing in any way the rights enjoyed by American nationals in the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire under the terms of the Convention signed at St. Germain-en-Laye on September 10, 1919, (Revision of the General Act of Berlin of February 26, 1885, and the General Act and Declaration of Brussels of July 2, 1890) and more particularly under the provisions of Article 11 of that Convention.

Article XI

1.
Nothing contained in the present convention shall be construed to affect the right of the authorities of the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire to regulate admittance and immigration or to expel persons for reasons of police or public order or to enact and apply immigration regulations, provided that there is no discrimination against American nationals or American-protected persons.
2.
Nevertheless, American nationals and American-protected persons who have been resident in the French Zone of Morocco for more than five years shall not be expelled unless—
(1)
They have committed a crime or offense punishable with more than three months’ imprisonment.
(2)
They have been guilty of conduct prejudicial to public safety, public order, good morals or public health.
(3)
They are in such a state of indigence as to be a burden to the State.
3.
The provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article may be terminated at any time after the expiry of twenty years from the date of the coming into force of the present convention by six months’ notice.

Article XII

1.
In case of the death of an American national in the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire without having any known heirs or testamentary executors by him appointed, the competent local authorities shall at once inform the nearest American consular officer of the fact of his death, in order that necessary information may be forwarded to the parties interested.
2.
In case of the death of an American national in the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire without will or testament, the American consular officer within whose district the deceased made his home at the time of death, shall, pending the appointment of an administrator and until letters of administration have been granted, be deemed qualified to take charge of the property left by the decedent for the preservation and protection of the same. Such consular officer shall have the right to be appointed as administrator within the discretion of a tribunal or other agency controlling the administration of estates.
3.
Whenever a consular officer accepts the office of administrator of the estate of a deceased American national he subjects himself as such to the jurisdiction of the tribunal or other agency making the appointment for all necessary purposes to the same extent as a Moroccan subject.

Article XIII

1.
An American consular officer may, in behalf of his non-resident nationals, receipt for their distributive shares derived from estates in process of probate or accruing under the provisions of so-called Workmen’s Compensation Laws or other like statutes, provided he remit any funds so received through the appropriate agencies of his Government to the proper distributees, and provided further that he furnish to the authority or agency making distribution through him reasonable evidence of such remission.
2.
The subjects of His Majesty the Sultan of Morocco shall enjoy in the United States of America the treatment of the most-favored-nation as regards the matters referred to in Articles 12 and 13.

Article XIV

1.
The High Contracting Parties agree that the French decree of the 8th November, 1921, relating to French nationality in the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire, and the Dahir of the same date, relating to Moroccan nationality, are not applicable to American nationals or protected-persons born before the date of the entry into force of the present convention.
2.
If the French or Moroccan Governments should enact measures which would result in conferring French or Moroccan nationality by reason of birth or residence in the French zone of the Shereefian Empire in any case where the above-mentioned decree would not have conferred French nationality, American nationals and protected-persons affected by such enactments shall be freed from such French or Moroccan nationality if they make a request to this effect in the year which follows their majority.

Article XV

1.
The subjects of His Majesty the Sultan of Morocco and Moroccan vessels shall enjoy the same rights as French citizens and French ships in the United States of America, its territories and possessions.
2.
The expression “Moroccan vessels” means ships duly registered as such in a port of the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire.

Article XVI

1.
For the purpose of the present convention the term “American companies” means any company duly incorporated under the laws of the United States of America or any of its states, territories or possessions, or any commercial association organized and legally recognized therein; and the term “American ships” means any ship duly registered therein.
2.
The expression “French companies” means any company duly incorporated under the laws of France or any French colony, protectorate or territory under mandate, and the expression “French ships” means any ship duly registered in any of the above-mentioned territories.
3.
The expression “Moroccan companies” means any company duly incorporated under the laws in force in the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire.
4.
The term “Moroccan nationals” or “subjects of His Majesty the Sultan of Morocco” includes only those of His Majesty’s subjects who enjoy French diplomatic protection abroad, but is not inclusive of [Page 647] those whose protection is derived by virtue of Article 6 of the Convention of Paris of December 18, 1923.
5.
The term “American goods” as used in this Convention shall be understood to mean goods the growth, produce or manufacture of the United States of America, its territories and possessions, and the term “Moroccan goods” shall be understood to mean goods the growth, produce or manufacture of the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire.
6.
The term “most-favored-nation treatment” as used in the present Convention, is understood to mean, in respect of American nationals, companies, goods, ships or aircraft, treatment no less favorable than that accorded to the nationals, companies, goods, ships or aircraft of any third country, including France.

Article XVII

Any dispute between the High Contracting Parties relating to the interpretation or application of the provisions of the present convention, which they are unable to settle by diplomatic means, shall, on the application of one of them, be decided in accordance with the provisions of the Arbitration Treaty between the United States of America and France signed at Washington on February 6, 1928, unless the High Contracting Parties shall agree on another method of settlement.

Article XVIII

The present convention shall be ratified.

The instruments of ratification shall be exchanged at . . . . . . . .

The present convention shall enter into force thirty days after the date of exchange of ratifications.

In faith whereof the above-named plenipotentiaries have signed the present convention and have affixed their seals hereto.

Done in duplicate, in the English and French languages, equally authentic, at . . . . . . . . , this . . . . . day of . . . . . . . . , 1939.

  1. Ibid., p. 885.
  2. Anglo-French Convention for the Abolition of Capitulations in Morocco and Zanzibar, signed at London, July 29, 1937, League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. clxxxiv, p. 351.
  3. Signed at Madrid, July 3, 1880, William M. Malloy (ed.), Treaties, Conventions, etc., Between the United States of America and Other Powers, 1776–1909 (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1910), vol. i, p. 1220, or 22 Stat. 817.
  4. Not printed; this draft is substantially the same in content, though somewhat different in arrangement, as the Treaty of Naturalization between the United States and Albania, signed at Tirana, April 5, 1932, Department of State Treaty Series No. 892, or 49 Stat. 3241.
  5. Foreign Relations, 1906, pt. ii, p. 1495.
  6. Department of State Treaty Series No. 939, or 53 Stat. 1645.
  7. Foreign Relations, 1924, vol. ii, p. 466.
  8. British Cmd. 5823, Morocco No. 1 (1938): Treaty … Regarding Commercial Relations Between the United Kingdom and the French and Tangier Zones of the Shereefian Empire.
  9. League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. lxxii, p. 61.
  10. Foreign Relations, 1928, vol. i, p. 437.
  11. Treaty of arbitration, signed February 6, 1928, Foreign Relations, 1928, vol. ii, p. 816.
  12. Not printed.
  13. League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. xxviii, p. 541.
  14. League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. lxxxvii, p. 211.
  15. See telegram No. 32, January 22, 1938, 11 a.m., to the Ambassador In France and telegram No. 132, January 25, 1938, noon, from the Ambassador in France, Foreign Relations, 1938, vol. ii, pp. 851 and 854.
  16. Not printed.
  17. Hunter Miller (ed.), Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States of America, vol. 4, p. 33.