763.72116/43½
The Counselor for the Department of State (Lansing) to the Secretary of State
Dear Mr. Secretary: In regard to the reception by the President of the representatives of Belgium6 sent here to lay before him a statement in relation to the destruction of Louvain and the conduct of German military authorities in Belgium, concerning which you today asked my views, I can only give an opinion based upon hypotheses.
- 1.
- If the representatives come without credentials from the King of the Belgians or from the Belgian Government, it would seem courteous for the President to receive them personally upon the introduction of the Belgian Minister, but it would seem improper for the President to receive any statement from them, on the ground that the channel of communication was the Belgian Minister, who should present the subject to the Secretary of State on their behalf.
- 2.
- If the representatives come with credentials from the Belgian Government as Special Commissioners to this Government, it would seem proper for the President to receive them personally upon the introduction of the Belgian Minister, but any communication, which they desire to make, should be made to the Secretary of State by them and not through the Belgian Minister.
- 3.
- If the representatives come with credentials as Special Ambassadors or bearing a letter from the King of the Belgians addressed to the President, it would seem proper for the President to receive them officially and listen to any communication which they may be charged to make.
In the hypothetical cases Nos. 1 and 2 the communications should be made by the Belgian Minister or by the representatives as the case may be, to the Secretary of State before the representatives are introduced to the President by their Minister.
[Page 35]In the hypothetical case No. 3 the Belgian Minister should introduce the representatives to the Secretary of State in order that they may arrange to be presented as Special Ambassadors or as bearers of a letter from their King to the President.
The foregoing procedure in the three cases considered depends upon the official character of the representatives and not upon the nature of their mission. I do not find a precedent which is applicable, but, reasoning from the generally accepted diplomatic practice I think that this procedure would be free from justifiable criticism.
Very sincerely yours,
- For President Wilson’s remarks to the Belgian Commission at the White House, Sept. 16, 1914, see Foreign Relations, 1914, supp., p. 796.↩