File No. 881.00/623
The Secretary of State to the French Ambassador
Washington, July 1, 1916.
Excellency: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of April 17, 1916, referring once more to the French protectorate in Morocco and the American capitulatory rights in that country, and stating that the French Government would particularly appreciate the mark of confidence and friendship which would be shown by the United States in taking up at this time with the Government of the French Republic the questions connected with the recognition of the French protectorate and the surrender or modification of the American capitulatory rights.
While I would prefer not to take up the matters relating to internal conditions in Morocco until after the war, or at least until such time as questions relating to the French and Spanish zones and the international zone at Tangier could have been treated simultaneously, in view of the urgent requests of the French Government that recognition of the French protectorate should not be delayed, this Government, out of its feeling of friendship for France, is prepared to meet the wishes of the French Government.
This Government, however, considers that simultaneously with the recognition by the United States of the French protectorate in Morocco the Government of the French Republic should guarantee:
- 1.
- That the vested rights of American citizens and protégés in property in Morocco will be respected and confirmed, and that existing treaty rights respecting the purchase and sale of land, including the rights recognized by Article 60 of the Algeciras Act, will be protected and preserved.
- 2.
- That equality of opportunity will be accorded American commercial interests, not only to maintain their present standing in Morocco, but also to share in the country’s commercial development, including equal treatment with respect to the levying and collecting of duties on imports and exports as granted by the Algeciras Act, and including equal opportunity to share in the construction of public works and the furnishing of governmental supplies as granted by that Act.
- 3.
- That the United States and its citizens shall in any event possess the rights of the most favored nation within the French zone in Morocco and, so far as France is concerned, within the international zone at Tangier.
- 4.
- That the American claims against the Government of Morocco will be adjusted before the expiration of a certain reasonable period by the payment of the awards of the claims commission of 1910, and by an assurance that the awards of the present claims commission will be paid by France, as well as the few outstanding claims which have arisen subsequently to the present commission. The Department will within a few days in another note enumerate these claims in detail.
- 5.
- That American rights in the Spanish zone in Morocco or in the international zone at Tangier will not in any way, in so far as France is concerned, be prejudiced or adversely affected by the recognition of the French protectorate by the United States, or by the surrender or modification of its capitulatory rights in the French zone in Morocco.
- 6.
- That, in the event that a mixed court of justice or any other international court is created in the international zone at Tangier to exercise judicial powers possessed by consular officers under the capitulations, the United States shall have, so far as France is concerned, the right to select and appoint an American citizen as a member of such court or courts, it being understood that this guaranty shall not be regarded as a recognition by the United States of the proposed international Government of Tangier, or as prejudicing or adversely affecting the rights of the United States or its citizens in Tangier.
These guaranties as to the rights and privileges of the United States and its citizens in Morocco will, I believe, be regarded by your excellency’s Government as justly due to the United States, in view of the fact that the protection of American interests, like those of the countries which have already accorded recognition to the French protectorate, has long been disregarded by the Moroccan authorities, without this Government even suggesting any such compensatory advantages as certain other countries have asked and received in exchange for the recognition of the new régime in the Shereefian Empire. On account of the fact that American consular officers in Morocco are authorized to exercise judicial functions by virtue of an Act of Congress, in addition to the Treaty of 1836 with Morocco, the appropriate method under the American system of Government of divesting the consuls of this authority is either by a repeal of the Act or by the conclusion of a treaty between the Governments of the United States and France stipulating for the surrender by the United States of its right to exercise consular jurisdiction in the French zone of Morocco. As the latter mode of procedure appears to be the more practical in the circumstances I shall be pleased, upon the receipt of the assurances of your excellency’s Government that it is prepared to give to the Government of the United States the guaranties mentioned simultaneously with the exchange of ratifications of such a treaty, to enter into negotiations for a treaty surrendering the extraterritorial rights of the United States in the French zone of Morocco.
Accept [etc.]