711.579/11

The Secretary of State to the Norwegian Minister (Bryn)

My Dear Mr. Minister: Permit me to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of May 22nd, in which you inform me that you have been authorized by your Government to sign a liquor treaty such as that recently concluded between the United States and Great Britain, with the alternative text for Article I which I submitted to you and also with the words “in the English and Norwegian languages” to be incorporated in Article VI after the words “in duplicate”.

With your note you were good enough to enclose a text in the Norwegian language.

I take note of your further statement that your Government maintains its desire with regard to reciprocity and to ten miles from the shore as the limit within which the boarding of vessels, etc. can take place and that it ventures to hope that in a possible revision of the treaty in accordance with Article V, the Government of the United States will meet the desires of the Norwegian Government in those respects.

By way of response to this suggestion, permit me to renew the expression of my opinion that the treaties of the United States to aid in the prevention of the smuggling of intoxicating liquors into the United States should, so far as possible, be of the same tenor and that, therefore, this Government might find difficulty in accepting provisions differing with respect to what you refer from those in the treaty recently concluded between the United States and Great Britain.

I am [etc.]

Charles E. Hughes