As has been previously pointed out to the Government of the Netherlands, the application of the fundamental principles of the act of Congress approved March 4, 1915, to alien seamen within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States, involved an abrogation of treaty provisions inconsistent therewith. The President, therefore, using the discretion which he considered was granted to him to interpret the act in the sense contemplated by Congress, authorized this Legation to propose an arrangement between the two Governments which would carry out the purposes of the act by the elimination of stipulations in the treaty of January 19, 1839, inconsistent with the act. It has further been pointed out to the Netherlands Government that in case no satisfactory understanding could be arrived at for the abrogation of these stipulations, other provisions of the treaty remaining in effect, a solution of the matter could only be found in the denouncement of the treaty in its entirety. Since it appears that the Netherlands Government finds itself unable to acquiesce in the proposal submitted by my Government, the Government of the United States is under the necessity of denouncing the treaty in its entirety. I have the honor to request that you be good enough to make acknowledgment to me of this notification. Since the treaty by its Article 6 provides that it shall remain binding for 12 months following notice of denouncement, you will insert in your communication to the Foreign Office containing this notice a date for the termination of the treaty precisely one year after the date of your note. I am [etc.] File No. 711.0021/129b ROBERT LANSING The Secretary of State to the Minister in the Netherlands (Garrett) No. 323 WASHINGTON, April 4, 1918. SIR: Referring to the Department's instruction of even date directing you to transmit to the Netherlands Government a communication giving notice of the abrogation of the treaty concluded by the Government of the United States and the Government of the Netherlands on January 19, 1839, the Department further instructs you to address at the same time a note to the Minister for Foreign Affairs with regard to the treaty of May 23, 1878, in the sense of the following: Under instructions from my Government, I have the honor to give to the Netherlands Government, on behalf of the Government of the United States, the official notification contemplated by Article 16 of the treaty concluded between the Government of the United States and the Government of the Netherlands on May 23, 1878, whereby the operation of the treaty will terminate in accordance with its terms on In this relation, I beg to refer to my note of to-day's date giving notice of the abrogation of the treaty concluded by the two Governments on January 19, 1839, in which are indicated the reasons which make it necessary for my Government to give notice of the abrogation of treaties concluded by it with the Netherlands Government which contain stipulations affected by the so-called Seamen's Act, approved March 4, 1915. In inserting in your communication to the Foreign Office a date for the termination of the treaty, you will observe that by its Article 16 the treaty provides that it shall remain binding for one year following notice of denunciation. I am [etc.] File No. 711.0021/131 ROBERT LANSING The Minister in the Netherlands (Garrett) to the Secretary of State No. 1375 THE HAGUE, June 10, 1918. SIR: With reference to your instructions Nos. 322 and 323 of April 4, 1918, regarding the abrogation of the treaties concluded by the Government of the United States and the Government of the Netherlands on January 19, 1839, and May 23, 1878, respectively, which were received by me on the 10th of May, 1918, I have the honor to enclose herewith copies of my notes of the latter date to the Minister for Foreign Affairs in which I carried out your instructions to denounce these treaties, and of the reply of the Minister for Foreign Affairstogether with a translation of June 3, 1918. The Minister for Foreign Affairs in his reply takes note of the statement in my communications to him to the effect that the two treaties in question will terminate on May 10, 1919. I have [etc.] 1 [Enclosure--Translation] J. W. GARRETT The Netherland Minister of Foreign Affairs (Loudon) to the American Minister No. 28757 (Garrett) THE HAGUE, June 3, 1918. MR. MINISTER: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your excellency's two notes of May 10 last in which you were good enough to inform me officially of the denunciation on the part of the United States of the two conventions concluded with the Netherlands, namely the commercial convention of January 19, 1839, and the consular convention of May 23, 1878. This denunciation, as your excellency kindly points out to me, this time has regard to the two treaties in their entirety. I have also taken good note in the communication from your excellency that the two treaties in question will terminate on May 10, 1919. Accept [etc.] J. LOUDON Norway: Treaty of July 4, 1827 File No. 711.5721/23 The Secretary of State to the Minister in Norway (Schmedeman) 1Not printed. Notes are identical with paragraphs 2 to 5 of instruction No. 322, and paragraphs 2 and 3 of instruction No. 323, ante, pp. 3-5, with the date, May 10, 1919, inserted in the blank spaces in the instructions. 'Not printed. found in Articles 13 and 14 of the treaty concluded by the Government of the United States with the Government of Sweden and Norway on July 4, 1827, which were affected by the so-called Seamen's Act of March 4, 1915. You enclose a copy of a note addressed to you by the Norwegian Minister for Foreign Affairs, under date October 29, 1917, from which it appears that the Government of Norway finds itself unable to agree to this Government's proposals with respect to an understanding as to the elimination of the treaty stipulations in question. In view of the attitude of the Norwegian Government in this matter, the Department desires that you address a note to the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the sense of the following: Under instructions from my Government, I have the honor to give to the Royal Norwegian Government on behalf of the Government of the United States, the official notification contemplated by Article 19 of the treaty concluded by the Government of the United States with the Government of Sweden and Norway on July 4, 1827, whereby the operation of the treaty will terminate, in accordance with its terms, on As has been previously pointed out to the Government of Norway, the application of the fundamental principles of the act of Congress, approved March 4, 1915, to alien seamen within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States involved an abrogation of treaty provisions inconsistent therewith. The President, therefore, using the discretion which he considered was granted to him to interpret the act in the sense contemplated by Congress, authorized this Legation to propose an arrangement between the two Governments which would carry out the purpose of the act by the elimination of stipulations in the treaty of July 4, 1827, inconsistent with the act. It has further been pointed out to the Norwegian Government that, in case no satisfactory understanding could be arrived at for the abrogation of these stipulations, other provisions of the treaty remaining in effect, a solution of the matter could only be found in the denunciation of the treaty in its entirety. It having become clear that the Norwegian Government finds itself unable to acquiesce in any of the proposals submitted to it by my Government with regard to such an understanding, the Government of the United States is therefore under the necessity of denouncing the treaty in its entirety. I have the honor to request that you be good enough to make acknowledgment to me of this notification. Since the treaty by its Article 19 provides that it shall remain binding for 12 months following notice of denunciation, you will insert in your communication to the Foreign Office containing this notice a date for the termination of the treaty, precisely one year after the date of your note. I am [etc.] ROBERT LANSING File No. 711.5721/25 The Minister in Norway (Schmedeman) to the Secretary of State No. 679 CHRISTIANIA, February 10, 1918. SIR: Referring to the Department's instruction No. 180 of December 28, 1917, with regard to the abrogation of certain provisions found in Articles 13 and 14 of the treaty concluded by the Government of the United States with the Government of Sweden and Norway on July 4, 1827, which were affected by the so-called Seamen's Act of March 4, 1915, I have the honor to confirm my telegram No. 516 of yesterday's date informing the Department that, on February 2, 1918, I addressed a note to the Royal Norwegian Minister for Foreign Affairs as directed in the instruction above referred to, and quoting, in translation, the contents of a note dated the 5th instant which I received from him in reply. I enclose herewith copy and translation of the Foreign Minister's note and have the honor to report that, in acknowledging its receipt to his excellency, I have stated that it would be transmitted to my Government and that he would be informed of the reply as soon as received. In accordance with the Department's instruction, the date for the termination of the treaty inserted in my communication to the Foreign Office containing the notice of denunciation was February 2, 1919. A. G. SCHMEDEMAN I have [etc.] [Enclosure-Translation] The Norwegian Minister for Foreign Affairs (Ihlen) to the American Minister (Schmedeman) CHRISTIANIA, February 5, 1918. MR. MINISTER: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of February 2 last, in which you, on behalf of your Government, denounce the treaty of commerce and navigation concluded on July 4, 1827, between Norway (and Sweden) of the one part and the United States of America of the other part. In your note you state that it has become clear that the Norwegian Government finds itself unable to acquiesce in any of the proposals which have been submitted by your Government with regard to an understanding for the abrogation of the stipulations of the treaty which are inconsistent with the act of Congress of March 4, 1915, and that, for this reason, the Government of the United States is under the necessity of denouncing the treaty in its entirety. In this connection, I take the liberty of calling your attention to my note to you of October 29 last, in which I stated in regard to one of the two articles concerned, namely Article 14, that the Norwegian Government was prepared to accept an arrangement establishing its abrogation. With regard to the second of the two articles, namely Article 13, I inquired in the note whether an arrange- . ment conceived in the terms set forth therein would be satisfactory to your Government, while reserving to myself the right to revert to the two alternatives of the arrangement in question contained in your note of May 9 last. It appears to the Norwegian Government that the note on this point must have occasioned the misunderstanding on the part of the United States that the Norwegian Government was unwilling further to discuss the proposal of the American Government. 'Not printed. The Norwegian Government, which agrees with the American Government in its previously expressed desire to avoid the abrogation of the long treaty in its entirety, is still prepared to cooperate in bringing about an arrangement of the matter in question so as to eliminate the stipulations of the treaty which are inconsistent with the provisions of the act of Congress of March 4, 1915. The Norwegian Government has given a proof of the accommodating spirit which it desires to show in this matter by the fact that the Norwegian Legation in Washington, as stated to the American Secretary of State in a note verbale of December 11, 1916, has instructed the Norwegian consuls in the United States not to apply or invoke any treaty stipulations which are inconsistent with the above-mentioned act of Congress as long as negotiations are pending in regard to a change in the treaty stipulations. I have the honor to request that you will kindly inform me whether the American Government would be willing to explain the objection which it has to the Norwegian Government's proposal of October 29 last, concerning Article 13, as the Norwegian Government was of the opinion that such an arrangement would give full assurance of the elimination of any inconsistency between the treaty and the act of Congress. As it appears from your note of February 2 last that your Government has not been able to consent to the proposal referred to, the Norwegian Government is willing to accede to the proposal put forward by the American Government, provided that the denunciation of the treaty contained in your note of the 2d instant ceases to have effect. The Norwegian Government would prefer an exchange of notes having in view the entire abrogation of the second paragraph of Article 13 rather than the other alternative contained in your note of May 9 last. Thus, the Norwegian Government will be willing to exchange notes to the effect that the notice given by the American Government in regard to the stipulation in question of the treaty of 1827 be considered by both Governments as having had the effect that the 2d paragraph of Article 13 and the whole of Article 14 are abrogated. Accept [etc.] IHLEN File No. 711.5721/23 The Secretary of State to the Minister in Norway (Schmedeman) No. 234 WASHINGTON, May 31, 1918. SIR: The Department has received your telegram of February 9, 1918, in which you quote a note from the Norwegian Minister for Foreign Affairs respecting the denunciation of the treaty concluded July 4, 1827, by the Government of the United States with the Government of Sweden and Norway. The Department desires that you make reply to the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the sense of the following: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of February 5, 1918, with regard to the abrogation of certain provisions in the treaty concluded by the Government of the United States with the Government of Sweden and Norway, on July 4, 1827, which were affected by the so-called Seamen's Act of March 4, 1915. You acknowledge the receipt of my note of February 1 [2] last, in which, in behalf of my Government, I gave notice of the denunciation of this treaty because of the apparent inability 'Not printed. See despatch No. 679 of February 10, 1918. |