The Secretary of State to Ambassador Thompson.
Washington, May 18, 1906.
Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your No. 41,a of the 9th instant, inquiring whether it was not the intention of the department, by its No. 15,a of the 25th ultimo, to ascertain whether Mexico had received notice of the ratification of the convention for the arbitration of pecuniary claims by the Governments named in the President’s proclamation thereof, rather than to ascertain whether Mexico had received notice of the modification by any governments other than those mentioned in the proclamation.
By Article V of the convention in question it is provided that the convention “shall be binding on the States ratifying it from the date on which five signatory governments have ratified the same,” and that the ratification of the convention by the signatory States “shall be transmitted to the Government of the United States of Mexico, which shall notify the other governments of the ratifications it may receive.”
[Page 1116]In pursuance of this provision the Government of Mexico gave notice to the Government of the United States that the convention had been ratified by Guatemala, Salvador, Peru, and Honduras, The Government of the United States, having also ratified the convention, made the necessary five ratifying countries to put the convention into force between them, and the President thereupon proclaimed the convention on March 25, 1905.
Subsequently Mexico gave notice of its own ratification, and the convention is now in force between the United States, Guatemala, Salvador, Peru, Honduras, and Mexico.
What the department wishes to ascertain is whether any governments other than these have notified the Government of Mexico of their ratification of the convention, or informed that Government of any reason why they have not done so.
I am, etc.,