811.918/197
The Secretary of State to the Italian Ambassador (Martino)
The Secretary of State presents his compliments to His Excellency, the Royal Italian Ambassador, and has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of his note of April 11, 1927, regarding an article attacking His Majesty, the King of Italy, and published in the April 2, 1927 issue of the newspaper Il Martello.
Upon the receipt of the note under acknowledgment, the text of the article in question was referred to the appropriate authorities of this Government for an opinion as to whether its publication constituted an offense under any Federal Statute and as to whether it could be sent through the United States mails.
The Secretary of State is now in receipt of opinions from these authorities9 according to which the article is not unmailable under the laws governing the use of the United States mails, and its publication does not constitute an infringement of any Federal Statute.
The text of the article was accordingly referred to the proper authorities of the State of New York10 for an opinion as to whether it is actionable under any of the Statutes of that State. Upon receipt of the final reply the Secretary of State will not fail to communicate the substance thereof to His Excellency, the Royal Italian Ambassador.11