781.003/210a
The Secretary of State to the French Ambassador (Saint-Quentin)
Excellency: In my note of January 21, 1939 there was transmitted to Your Excellency drafts of a capitulations convention, treaty of establishment, commerce and navigation, and treaty of naturalization and military obligations which this Government proposed for negotiation with the Government of the French Republic concerning the French Zone of the Shereefian Empire.
At the time of the submittal of those instruments the Department had under consideration the devising of some arbitral procedure less cumbersome and more adapted to the purposes in view than the complicated procedure envisaged in Article XVII of the proposed capitulations convention and Article XXIV of the proposed treaty of establishment, commerce and navigation. To avoid further delay in communicating the drafts, however, the proposed texts were communicated to Your Excellency in their present form under the reservation of the right of this Government to introduce modifications of the texts during the course of the negotiations.
The Department accordingly now proposes that Article XVII of the draft capitulations convention, as forwarded to Your Excellency under date of January 21, 1939, be replaced by the following Article:
“Any dispute that may arise between the High Contracting Parties relating to the interpretation or application of the provisions of the present convention and which they are unable to settle by diplomatic negotiations shall, upon request by either party and unless some other method of adjudication is agreed upon, be submitted in the form of a special agreement to a sole arbitrator to be chosen by the High Contracting Parties or to a tribunal consisting of three arbitrators, one appointed by each Party and the third, who shall preside over the tribunal, to be selected by mutual agreement between the two Parties. In the event that the two Parties shall be unable to agree, within a period of six months, upon a sole arbitrator or upon the neutral in the event that a tribunal of three arbitrators is to be established, the designation shall be made by Her Majesty, the Queen of the Netherlands, [Page 654] upon the request of either of the High Contracting Parties. In no event shall the sole arbitrator or the presiding arbitrator be a national of either party.
“The decision of the sole arbitrator or tribunal agreed upon shall be made in accordance with applicable principles of law and shall be regarded as final and binding upon both Parties.
“The special agreement referred to in this article shall provide in each case for the organization of such tribunal as may be decided upon, define the powers of the sole arbitrator or tribunal, state the question or questions at issue, and settle the terms of reference. Such special agreement shall be made in accordance with the respective constitutional methods of the High Contracting Parties.”
The above quoted article, with the substitution of “treaty” for “convention” in the fourth line would replace Article XXIV of the draft treaty of establishment, commerce and navigation proposed likewise for negotiation.
In the event the French Government may concur in the terms proposed for the new arbitration Article, it will, of course, be necessary to ascertain whether Her Majesty, the Queen of the Netherlands, may be disposed to consent to act in the capacity contemplated by the Article in question. This Government would be prepared to act in concert with the French Government in seeking the wishes of Her Majesty in this respect at such time as might be deemed appropriate during the course of the treaty negotiations.
Accept [etc.]