Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 45 Part 2.djvu/1022

 2698 AGREEMENT-GERMANY. DECEMBER 31, 1928. Deoomoor 31, 1928. -Agreement between United States and Germany extending jurisdiction of Mi:ud Claims Oommission, United States and Germany. Note from Secretary of State to German Ambassador. Proposition for agree. ment. Vol. 42, p. 2200. [The Secretary of State to the German Ambassador] EXCELLENCY: DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, December 31, 1928. I have the honor to refer to your note of November 26, 1928, regarding the concluding of an agreement between the United States and Germany for the extension of the jurisdiction of the Mixed Claims Commission, United States and Germany, to include claims of the same character as those of which the Commission now has jurisdiction under the agreement between the two Goverrunents signed August 10, 1922, which were not filed in time to be submitted to the Commission under the terms of the notes exchanged at the time of signing that agreement but which were filed with the Depart- ment of State prior to July 1, 1928. You state that your Goverrunent is prepared to do its share to brin~ about a settlement of these so-called late claims but that it consIders that the preparation and adjudication of the ciaims should be governed by the same legal principles as have so far been applied in the proceedings of the Mixed Claims Commission, and that means should be found by which a prompt and speedy preparation and adjt'.dication of the claims involved may be fully guaranteed. Your Goverrunentsuggests that as an appropriate means to this end, fixed and final terms should be agreed upon for the filing of claims and defense material, includiIlg the necessary evidence, and that a requirement should be made that all claims to be adjudicated by the Commission should be presented for judgment within a fixed period of time. You add that, owing to the fact that the adjudication of the late claims will necessitate the continuance of the expensive machinery of the Mixed Claims Commission for some months, which would not otherwise be necessary or which would not have been necessary to the same extent if the claims had been presented within the time prescribed by the agreement of August 10, 1922, your Goverrunent considers that the claimants for whom a remedy will thus be afforded should participate to an appropriate extent in the expenses which will result from the prolongation of the life of the Commission. This, you sfift~est, might be accomplished by the collection of a fee for the final. g of each claim, thus eliminating to the greatest possible extent claims which are unfounded or which are presented in unjusti- fied amounts, and an additional fee for preparing and adjudicating the claim. I desire to express my appreciation of the willingness of your Government to cooperate with my Government in an effort to com- plete the adjudicatIOn of the claims defined above. My Govern- ment, equally with your Government, is anxious that the work of the Mixed Claims Commission should be completed at the earliest date practicable and will use its best endeavors to that end. With respect to your suggestion that the claimants who will be benefited by an extension of time for the presentation of so-called late claims should share to an appropriate extent the additional expense incident to the prolongation of the labors of the Mixed Cleims Commission, my

�