Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1916, Supplement, The World War

File No. 600.001/22

The Ambassador in France (Sharp) to the Secretary of State

No. 3311

Paris, June 22, 1916 .
[Received July 5.]

Sir: In confirmation of my telegram No. 1449, of the 20th instant,¹ I have the honor to enclose herewith in copy¹ and translation the recommendations of the economic conference of the Allies which sat in Paris on the 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th of June 1916, together with a list of the names of the delegates from the various countries represented.

These recommendations apply to two separate periods: the period of the duration of the war and the period of reconstruction after the termination of hostilities.

For the first period, the recommendations have reference to measures for the prohibition of trade with the enemy countries and for the elimination of the enemy firms in the Allied countries.

For the second period, the measures adopted are designed to give the Allied countries a prior claim on their own natural resources and to prevent the dumping of merchandise of enemy manufacture or origin.

The commission also recommended permanent economic measures for rendering the Allied countries economically, industrially, and agriculturally independent and for encouraging trade relations between the Allied countries by the improvement of shipping, telegraphic, and postal facilities.

I have [etc.]

For the Ambassador:

Robert Woods Bliss

[Enclosure—Translation]

Resolutions adopted by the Economic Conference of the Allied Governments held at Paris, June 14–17, 1916

The representatives of the Allied Governments have met in Paris, Mr. Clémentel, Minister of Commerce, presiding, on the 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th of June 1916, for the purpose of fulfilling the mandate which was confided to them by the Conference of Paris on March 28, 1916, to put into practice their solidarity of views and interests and to propose to their respective Governments suitable measures for realizing this solidarity.

They perceive that the Central powers of Europe, after having imposed upon them their military struggle in spite of all their efforts to avoid the conflict, are preparing to-day, in concert with their allies, a struggle in the economic domain which will not only survive the reestablishment of peace but, at that very moment, will assume all its amplitude and all its intensity.

They can not in consequence conceal from themselves that the agreement which is being prepared for, this purpose amongst their enemies has for its evident object the establishment of their domination over the production and the markets of the whole world and to impose upon the other countries an inacceptable hegemony.

In the face of such a grave danger, the representatives of the Allied Governments consider that it is their duty, on the grounds of necessary and legitimate defense, to take and realize from now onward all the measures requisite on the one hand to secure for themselves and the whole of the markets of neutral countries full economic independence and respect for sound commercial practice, and on the other to facilitate the organization on a permanent basis of this economic alliance. For this purpose the representatives of the Allied Governments have decided to submit for the approval of their Governments the following resolutions:

A
measures for war period

I

Laws and regulations prohibiting trading with the enemy shall be brought into accord; for this purpose:

(a) The Allies will prohibit their own subjects and citizens and all persons residing in their territories from carrying on any trade with the inhabitants of enemy countries of whatever nationality, or with enemy subjects, wherever resident, persons, firms, and companies whose business is controlled wholly or partially by enemy subjects or subject to enemy influence, whose names will be included in a special list.

(b) The Allies will also prohibit importation into their territories of all goods originating or coming from enemy countries.

(c) The Allies will further devise means of establishing a system of enabling contracts entered into with enemy subjects and injurious to national interests to be canceled unconditionally.

II

Business undertakings, owned or operated by enemy subjects in the territories of the Allies, are all to be sequestrated or placed under control. Measures will be taken for the purpose of winding up some of these undertakings and realizing the assets, the proceeds of such realizations remaining sequestrated or under control. In addition, by export prohibitions, which are necessitated by the internal situation of each of the Allied countries, the Allies will complete the measures already taken for the restriction of enemy supplies both in the mother countries and the dominions, colonies, and protectorates—

(1) By unifying lists of contraband and export prohibition, particularly by prohibiting the export of all commodities declared absolute or conditional contraband;

(2) By making the grant of licenses to export to neutral countries, from which export to the enemy territories might take place, conditional upon the existence in such countries of control organizations approved by the Allies or, in the absence of such organizations, upon special guarantees, such as the limitation of the quantities to be exported and supervision by Allied consular officers, etc.

B
transitory measures for the period of the commercial, industrial, agricultural, and maritime reconstruction of the allied countries

I

The Allies declare their common determination to insure the reestablishment of the countries suffering from acts of destruction, spoliation, and unjust requisition and they decide to join in devising means to secure the restoration to those countries, as a prior claim, of their raw materials, industrial, agricultural plant and stock, and mercantile fleet, or to assist them to reequip themselves in these respects.

II

Whereas the war has put an end to all treaties of commerce between the Allies and enemy powers, and it is of essential importance that during the period of economic reconstruction the liberty of none of the Allies should be hampered by any claim put forward by enemy powers to most-favored nation treatment, the Allies agree that the benefit of this treatment will not be granted to those powers during a number of years, to be fixed by mutual agreement among themselves.

During this number of years the Allies undertake to assure each other, so far as possible, compensatory outlets for trade in case consequences detrimental to their commerce should result from the application of the undertaking referred to in the preceding clause.

III

The Allies declare themselves agreed to conserve for the Allied countries, before all others, their natural resources during the whole period of the commercial, industrial, agricultural, and maritime reconstruction, and for this purpose they undertake to establish special arrangements to facilitate the interchange of these resources.

IV

In order to defend their commerce and industry, and their agriculture and navigation against economic aggression, resulting from dumping or any other mode of unfair competition, the Allies decide to fix by agreement a period of time during which commerce with the enemy powers will be submitted to special treatment, and goods originating from their countries will be subjected either to prohibitions or to a special régime of an effective character. The Allies will determine by agreement, through diplomatic channels, the special conditions to be imposed during the above-mentioned period on the ships of enemy powers.

V

The Allies will devise measures to be taken jointly or severally for preventing enemy subjects from exercising in their territories certain industries or professions which concern national defense or economic independence.

C
permanent measures of mutual assistance and collaboration among the allies

I

The Allies decide to take the necessary steps without delay to render themselves independent of enemy countries in so far as regards raw materials and manufactured articles essential to the normal development of their economic activities. These measures will be directed to assuring the independence of the Allies, not only so far as concerns sources of supply, but also as regards their financial, commercial, and maritime organization. The Allies will adopt such measures as seem to them most suitable for the carrying out of this resolution according to the nature of the commodities and having regard to the principles which govern their economic policy. They may, for example, have recourse to either enterprises subsidized and directed or controlled by the Governments themselves or to the grant of financial assistance for the encouragement of scientific and technical research and the development of national industries and resources, or to customs duties or prohibitions of a temporary or permanent character, or to a combination of these different methods.

Whatever may be the methods adopted, the object aimed at by the Allies is to increase the production within their territories as a whole to a sufficient extent to enable them to maintain and develop their economic position and independence in relation to enemy countries.

II

In order to permit the interchange of their products, the Allies undertake to adopt measures facilitating mutual trade relations, both by the establishment of direct and rapid land and sea transport service at low rates and by the extension and improvement of postal, telegraphic, and other communications.

III

The Allies undertake to convene a meeting of technical delegates to draw up measures for the assimilation, so far as may be possible, of their laws governing patents, indications of origin and trade marks. In regard to patents, trade marks, literary and artistic copyright which come into existence during the war in enemy countries, the Allies will adopt, so far as possible, an identical procedure to be applied as soon as hostilities cease. This procedure will be elaborated by the technical delegates of the Allies.

D

Whereas for the purpose of their common defense against the enemy, the Allied powers have agreed to adopt a common economic policy on the lines laid down in the resolutions which have been passed; and

Whereas it is recognized that the effectiveness of this policy depends absolutely upon these resolutions being put into Operation forthwith, the representatives of the Allied Governments undertake to recommend that their respective Governments shall take, without delay, all the measures, whether temporary or permanent, requisite to giving full and complete effect to this policy forthwith, and to communicate to each other the decisions arrived at to attain the object.

Paris , June 17, 1916 .

Have signed these resolutions:¹

1. Not printed.
1. Not printed.
1. Signatures not printed of twenty-six delegates representing the Governments of France, Belgium, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Russia, and Serbia.