875.927/8
The Minister in Albania (Grant-Smith) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 23.]
Sir: Referring to your instruction of February 26 last, No. 80, I have the honor to report that I did not fail to bring to the attention of the Albanian Minister for Foreign Affairs the point of view of the Archaeological Institute of America and to state that the Government of the United States was opposed to the granting of privileges in concessions with the permission to conduct archaeological explorations which would tend to exclude American individuals and societies who might wish to participate in the work.
Ilias Bey Vrioni took note of my representations in this regard and replied that, in view of the fact that the concession to the French Government, which had been negotiated to gratify M. Godart who had rendered many services to Albania, had been ratified by the National Assembly on February [September] 22, 1923 (as reported in the Legation’s despatch No. 163 of October 1, 192334), it would, unfortunately, not be possible to modify it.
It is cause for regret that the Archaeological Institute of America did not make application for a concession in Albania early in 1923 when, there is reason to believe, it would not have been difficult to have arrived at an amicable arrangement with both the Albanian and French Governments.
I have [etc.]
- Not printed.↩