711.322/4
The Chargé in Brazil (Daniels) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 8.]
Sir: In compliance with the Department’s Instruction No. 1162, of August 21, 1926, I have the honor to report that on September 17 I called upon Dr. Felix Pacheco, Minister for Foreign Affairs, to inquire whether it would be agreeable to the Government of Brazil to proceed to the negotiation of a treaty of “Friendship, Commerce and Consular Rights” similar to the treaty of December 8, 1923, between the United States and Germany. I pointed out that the exchange of notes dated October 18, 1923, by means of which the United States promised reciprocally with Brazil to accord unconditional most-favored-nation treatment in customs and other commercial matters was merely a modus vivendi and reminded him that in the memorandum which the Brazilian Ambassador had handed to Mr. Hughes on May 23, 1923, he had referred to the suggestion by the United States that the two countries enter into “a modus vivendi, preparatory to a treaty on this subject”. Following the lines of the Department’s Instruction, I stated to the Minister that the central principle of the treaty which the American Government now desires to negotiate with Brazil would be, of course, an unconditional most-favored-nation clause covering commerce and related matters, but that it should likewise include provisions relating to rights of nationals of each party in the other country, to protection of property and to rights and immunities of consuls.
Dr. Pacheco appeared to be pleased with the idea, but stated that unfortunately he would only be in office until November 15, and that, as less than 60 days now remained, the time seemed very short for the negotiation of such a treaty. I stated that I realized this, but that since the exchange of notes of October 18, 1923, referred to above, had been effected during the Bernardes’ administration and while Dr. Pacheco was Minister for Foreign Affairs, I felt that it would be peculiarly fitting that negotiations for a treaty to contain the unconditional most-favored-nation clause should be begun while Dr. Pacheco was in office, I also stated that it would be gratifying if among the early treaties embodying this principle the United States could celebrate a general commercial treaty with Brazil, and that it would be a matter of personal satisfaction to myself and also, I felt sure, to Mr. Morgan if Brazil should be the first South American country to express the intention of negotiating such a treaty. I then offered to telegraph immediately to Washington for a special [Page 573] draft for presentation to the Brazilian Government if the proposal proved acceptable. Dr. Pacheco replied that he would take up this question with his colleague in the Department of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, Dr. Miguel Calmon, and would advise me later of the decision reached.
I took this occasion to ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs whether the results brought about by the exchange of notes of October 18, 1923, had proved satisfactory to Brazil. He said that they had, and referred to recent articles in the Jornal do Commercio which indicated the ever-increasing volume of trade between the United States and Brazil. I reminded him that in one of the articles to which he referred it was stated that the value of coffee shipments from Brazil to the United States alone in the 12 months ending June 30 was close to 204 million dollars, and that the value of goods exchanged between the two countries had increased enormously in the last few years. I left with Dr. Pacheco an aide mémoire embodying the ideas contained in the first three pages of the Department’s Instruction together with a copy of the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Consular Rights of December 8, 1923, between the United States and Germany.
Prior to my conversation with the Minister for Foreign Affairs on the subject of a treaty I talked with Dr. Sebastião Sampaio, who is Dr. Pacheco’s chief assistant. His personal opinion was that there would be too little time for the present Administration to undertake the negotiation of the treaty with the United States. He said that the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce were particularly procrastinating in such matters and that it usually required two or three years for the negotiation of a treaty. As in my subsequent talk with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, I took pains to explain that since Brazil had been the first country to enter into an agreement with the United States based on the unconditional most-favored-nation clause it would now be consistent with the friendly relations existing between the two countries if Brazil, first of all the South American countries, should express its desire to negotiate a treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Consular Rights. It was for this reason, I said, that I felt that a decision should be reached by the present Administration in Brazil.26
I have [etc.]
- In instruction No. 1173, Oct. 1, 1926 (not printed), the Department transmitted to the Chargé in Brazil a draft of the proposed treaty for submission to and negotiation with the Government of Brazil. These negotiations did not result in the signing of any treaty (file No. 711.322/3).↩