462.11W892/2443
The Secretary of State to the German Ambassador ( Luther )
Excellency: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of March 26, 1934, regarding the evidence submitted by the American Agent to the German-American Mixed Claims Commission with respect to the sabotage claims.
You state that in view of the extraordinary volume of the material submitted, the German Government is not in a position to make reply to the questions presented in my note of February 20, 1934, as to whether counter-evidence is to be submitted by the German Government, and if not the approximate date on which your Agent will be prepared to exchange briefs with the American Agent. You request that the American Agent should prepare a written statement of “more closely substantiated single claims” indicating the extent to which he considers that he will be able on the basis of his discoveries to maintain the charges made in his proposal of May 4, 1933, that the case be reopened.
[Page 490]The matter of requiring the Agent to prepare such a statement would appear to be one of procedure within the jurisdiction of the Claims Commission, and should, in my opinion, be brought to the attention of the Commission by the German Agent in order that it may pass on the matter.
I am expressing views to this effect in a communication addressed to the American Agent, and I would suggest the desirability of cooperation between the two Agents with a view to asking the Commission for a ruling on the question at an early date.
Accept [etc.]