[Enclosure—Translation]
The Mexican Ministry for
Foreign Affairs to the American
Embassy
Memorandum
The Ministry feels that the moment has not yet come to undertake the
transaction provided for in Article V of the Protocol, since the
National Commissioners have not discussed all the claims, which, in
accordance with Article IV, must be known (considered).
The Mexican Commissioner has always been prepared and willing to
discuss all claims and if the two Commissioners found it impossible
to do so, then surely it was not their fault; but anyway, it is a
fact that a good number of the claims of both countries have not
been discussed. Perhaps the explanation of what has happened, as was
the case with regard to the functioning of the former Commission
whose powers, on various occasions, it was necessary to prorogue for
a greater length of time than was initially provided for in the
Treaty of September 8, 1923,89 is due to the lack of provision by the
Protocol with respect to the period of time necessary to complete
their work.
However, given the reasons cited by the Department of State, in which
this Ministry fully agrees, it is considered most fitting that both
Governments make an effort together to agree upon an en bloc
settlement by means of an ad hoc transaction,
which would thus settle all claims.
The Mexican Government considers that said en bloc agreement could
not be agreed upon by following the features of the Protocol,
because it would be impossible to be confined to them, taking into
consideration the provision of Article V, since it would not be
possible later to come to an agreement through an arbiter for the
resolution of the claims on the bases of each one, as the two
National Commissioners could not be required then, for not having
had an opportunity to discuss them, to “bear witness to the
agreements celebrated by them with respect to each claim and the
bases upon which they found their conclusions,” according to the
text of said article.
Therefore, the Ministry begs to insist upon the understanding that
the Government of Mexico, essentially, manifests its conformity to
name a representative with ample power to discuss the possible terms
of an en bloc settlement on all claims presented before the General
Commission, without said transaction being considered as that
provided for in Article V of the Protocol of April 23, 1934, but
rather as an extraordinary effort (esfuerzo),
not within the terms of said Protocol, to obtain the result
abovementioned.
Mexico, December 1,
1937.
