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[Enclosure—Translation]
The Egyptian Minister for Foreign Affairs
(Saroit
Pasha) to the Agent and Consul
General at Cairo (Howell)
Cairo, 14 June,
1922.
No. 778Mr. Agent and Consul General: I have the
honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 25th March,3 by which
you brought to my knowledge the interpretation given by the
Government of the United States, to the reservation formulated by it
and indicated in the letter from your Diplomatic Agency of 28th
October, 1921,4 at the time of the acceptance of the
prorogation of the powers of the Mixed Jurisdictions for an
undetermined period.
According to this interpretation, the United States Government
reserves itself the right to withdraw its adhesion to the powers of
the Mixed Tribunals in that which concerns American citizens, at any
time after the 1st November, 1922.
It is true that in its circular of 4th September, 1921,5 the Egyptian Government had
made no allusion except to its right to put an end to the powers of
the Mixed Jurisdictions provided that advice is given to the Powers
concerned a year in advance; but, as it had also recognized this in
its correspondence with other diplomatic agencies, it admitted that
the right of denunciation possessed a reciprocal character, in the
sense that the right of denunciation in the same conditions was in
fact recognized by the Capitul[at]ory Powers, which had accepted the
prorogation for an undetermined (or indefinite) period.
When the Egyptian Government received the American Diplomatic
Agency’s letter dated 28th October, it found great difficulty in
entering into negotiations with the United States Government, and to
obtain precise definitions as to the scope of the reservations
therein formulated before the expiration of the current period, that
is to say, the 31st October. On the other hand it was in the
interest both of American citizens and for those subject to Mixed
Jurisdiction that the Mixed Courts should be able to continue to
function without interruption after the 31st of October, in so far
as American citizens were concerned. This is why precise answers
were not requested previous to the promulgation of the decree of
October 31st, 1921.
However, the Egyptian Government thought, in all good faith, that the
reservation made by the United States Government was made only with
an end in view of being able; to stipulate (to its own advantage)
its right to terminate the agreement at any moment “provided
[Page 108]
a year’s notice was
given”, all of which was in harmony with the right to terminate the
agreement, which the Egyptian Government held, and in harmony with
the right which certain other powers had reserved for themselves in
their notes of consent thereto.
But the interpretation which the United States Government places on
this reservation, contained in the letter from your Diplomatic
Agency of October 28, results in the fact that the United States
alone, among all the Capitulatory Powers, reserves itself the right
to determine, at any moment, after November 1st, 1922, and without
any previous warning, the power of the Mixed Jurisdiction, as far as
American citizens are concerned. The United States Government would
thus enjoy a privileged position [not only?] over other powers but
even in so far as the Egyptian Government itself is concerned.
Thus the power to denounce (or terminate), without previous warning,
the agreement concerning the Mixed Tribunals, is neither in the
interest of American citizens nor in the interest of foreigners or
Egyptians appearing in the Mixed Courts. This power would result in
a constant state of uncertainty, all the more regrettable since one
can hardly imagine that it could be made use of without first having
considered the consequences of a return to the regime previous to
the institution of the tribunals of judicial reform in 1875.
In your letter of March 25 it is true that you declared that your
Government did not anticipate the necessity of having to retract its
adhesion to the Mixed Tribunals without first having given
sufficient warning.
While thanking you for this statement, the Egyptian Government would
be glad to receive, in order to terminate the actual uncertainty in
regard to the matter, a definite assurance that the Government of
the United States is not aiming to obtain a privileged position in
the matter, and further that it accepts the same conditions which
have been accepted by other powers, in other words, to agree to give
a notice of one year in case of the termination of the
agreement.
I would, therefore, be grateful if you would submit again this
question to your Government from this point of view, and I sincerely
hope that it will meet with a favourable reception on the part of
your Government.
Accept [etc.]
