701.48a11/20
The British Ambassador ( Howard ) to the Secretary of State
Sir: With reference to my note No. 424 of even date in which I informed you that His Majesty’s Government in the Union of South Africa were desirous that the handling of matters at Washington relating to the Union of South Africa should be confided to an Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary accredited to the United States Government, I have the honour, under instructions from His Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, to inquire whether the appointment of Mr. Eric Hendrik Louw in the above capacity would be agreeable to the United States Government.
A short biographical sketch of the career of Mr. Louw, who has been Trade Commissioner for the Union of South Africa in the United States since December 1925, is enclosed.1
As I understand that His Majesty’s Government in the Union are anxious to receive the reply of the United States Government as soon as possible, I beg leave to recall that your predecessor was so good as to inform me on January 8th last that the United States Government would be happy to receive a diplomatic representative of the Union of South Africa at such time as His Majesty’s Government in the Union might wish to accredit one to the United States, and that I subsequently notified Mr. Kellogg that the Union Government hoped to be in a position to appoint an Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Washington about the middle of the present year.
I have [etc.]
- Not printed. On October 5, 1929, in note No. 558, the British Embassy further informed the Department “that Mr. Louw had been High Commissioner for the Union of South Africa in London since March last.” (701.48a11/28)↩