Foreign Relations of the United States, Diplomatic Papers, 1942, Europe, Volume II

123 Gleeck, Lewis E./76: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Minister in Finland (Schoenfeld)

Washington, July 15, 1942—6 p.m.

142. Please address a first person note to the Foreign Ministry,⁴ as under instructions from your Government, in the following sense:

The request for provisional recognition of Gleeck is withdrawn,⁵ Furthermore, in view of the action taken by the Finnish Government with respect to your request for provisional recognition of Gleeck and in denying since July 17, 1941 to our consular officers in Finland the right of access to local officials, actions which are contrary to the entire spirit of our Treaty of Commerce and Consular Rights of February 13, 1934 with Finland,⁶ we feel that it is impossible to continue further American consular representation in Finland in the face of the attitude adopted by the Finnish Government. We have, accordingly, cancelled the consular commissions of McClintock⁷ and Von Hellens⁸ and are closing immediately the consular section of the Legation. We request that the Finnish Government close all Finnish consular offices in the United States not later than August 1, 1942.⁹

(Separate instructions will be sent you with regard to closing the consular section of the Legation and to Von Hellens.)

After you have assured yourself that the Foreign Ministry has received your note, inform us thereof by triple priority cablegram upon receipt of which we shall authorize you to issue to the Finnish press the following statement which we shall release to the press here upon receipt of your cable:

Under the terms of Article XXIII of the Treaty of Commerce and Consular Rights of February 13, 1934 between Finland and the United States of America, American consular officers “may within their respective consular districts, address the authorities, national, state, provincial or municipal, for the purpose of protecting their countrymen in the enjoyment of their rights accruing by treaty or otherwise.”

However, in a note dated July 17, 1941,¹⁰ the Finnish Foreign Ministry informed the American Legation in Helsinki that “in view of wartime conditions” consular matters should be handled entirely through the Finnish Foreign Ministry rather than directly with local authorities. This action of the Finnish Foreign Ministry had the direct effect of denying to American consular officers in Finland the specific treaty rights mentioned above.

Furthermore, the Finnish Foreign Ministry in a note dated July 9, 1942 informed the American Legation that with reference to the Foreign Ministry’s note of July 17, 1941, it was preferable to postpone to a subsequent date the question of an exequatur for a career officer of the American Foreign Service whom the American Government had recently commissioned as a Vice Consul in Helsinki and for whom the American Legation had requested provisional recognition in accordance with established custom in such cases.

The American Legation, acting on instructions from its Government, informed the Finnish Foreign Ministry in a note dated . . . . .¹¹ that the request which the American Legation had made for the provisional recognition of the consular officer referred to above was withdrawn. The Legation further informed the Finnish Foreign Ministry that by the latter’s action in regard to the withholding of recognition of the consular officer referred to and in denying American consular officers presently in Finland their treaty rights in connection with the representation of American interests in Finland the Finnish Government had undermined the basis upon which American consular representation was maintained in Finland. Accordingly, the Foreign Ministry was informed that the consular commissions of the American consular officers at present in Finland had been cancelled and the consular section of the American Legation in Helsinki was being closed immediately; and that this action had been taken by the American Government to put an end to the present untenable situation involved in maintaining American consular representation in Finland in the face of the attitude adopted by the Finnish Government in the matter. The Finnish Government was requested by the American Legation to close all Finnish consular offices in the United States not later than August 1, 1942.

Hull

4. The Legation’s note was delivered on July 16, 1942.
5. The Minister in Finland had recounted in his telegram No. 564, July 13, noon, that provisional recognition of Lewis E. Gleeck, Jr., Third Secretary of Legation, also as a Vice Consul had been requested on June 22. In reply the Finnish Foreign Ministry stated on July 9 that it was preferable to postpone this request to some subsequent time, and referred to its circular note of July 17, 1941, regarding consular procedure in Finland. The Minister summarized that this circular note “merely refers to necessity in view of war time conditions that consular matters be handled entirely through Finnish Foreign Office rather than directly with local authorities and seems to have no reference to question of issuance of exequatur for accredited consular officers.” (123 Gleeck, Lewis E./72)
6. For text, signed at Washington, see Department of State Treaty Series No. 868, or 49 Stat. (pt. 2) 2659. For the negotiations concerning this treaty, see Foreign Relations, 1934, vol. ii, pp. 134 ff.
7. Robert M. McClintock, Second Secretary of Legation in Finland.
8. Lawrence W. von Hellens, Vice Consul at Helsinki.
9. A note of July 31, 1942, from the Finnish Legation in Washington declared that all Finnish Consulates in the United States had been closed (702.60D11/197).
10. See footnote 5, p. 68.
11. The date here inserted was July 16, 1942, in the text printed in Department of State Bulletin, July 18, 1942, p. 632.