611.623 Coal/18
The German Ambassador (Von Prittwitz) to the Secretary of State
Mr. Secretary of State: I have the honor most respectfully to acknowledge the receipt of the communication of the 17th instant—611.623 Goal [/16]. I have taken note of the contents thereof and communicated to my Government the fact that, according to the view of the Attorney General, the right of exemption of German coal from the tariff tax should be tested in an American domestic court, and that the Secretary of the Treasury has notified the Customs Collectors to that effect, according to which the tariff is to be collected until further notice.
As I already stated on the 6th instant, in a memorandum submitted, a carbon copy of which I take the liberty to enclose herewith,56 and which I had the honor to enlarge upon in oral explanations, my Government cannot accept that the interpretation of the most-favored-nation clause, which in its opinion can have but one meaning, in the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Consular Rights, shall be made dependent upon a decision of American domestic judicial authorities.
Accept [etc.]