be made or the certificates be granted prior to their entry into the military service of either country. Such certificates may be special or general, temporary or conditional and may be modified, renewed, or revoked in the discretion of the Government granting them. Persons holding such certificates shall, so long as the certificates are in force, not be liable to military service in the country in which they are.

ARTICLE IV

The Government of the United States and the Government of Canada will, respectively, so far as possible facilitate the return of Canadians and Americans who may desire to return to their own country for military service, but shall not be responsible for providing transport or the cost of transport for such persons.

ARTICLE V

No citizen or subject of either country who, under the provisions of this Convention, enters the military service of the other shall, by reason of such service be considered, after this Convention shall have expired or after his discharge, to have lost his nationality or to be under any allegiance to the United States or to His Britannic Majesty as the case may be.

ARTICLE VI

The present Convention shall be ratified by the President of the United States of America by and with the advice and consent of the Senate of the United States and by His Britannic Majesty and the ratifications shall be exchanged at Washington or at London as soon as possible. It shall come into operation on the date on which the ratifications are exchanged and shall remain in force until the expiration of sixty days after either of the contracting parties shall have given notice of termination to the other; whereupon any citizen or subject of either country incorporated into the military service of the other under this Convention shall be as soon as possible discharged therefrom.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the present Convention and have affixed thereto their seals. DONE in duplicate at Washington the third day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and eighteen. ROBERT LANSING [SEAL] READING

[SEAL]

AND WHEREAS the said Convention has been duly ratified on both parts and the ratifications of the two governments were exchanged in the City of London, on the thirtieth day of July, one thousand nine hundred and eighteen;

Now, THEREFORE, BE IT KNOWN THAT I, WOODROW WILSON, President of the United States of America, have caused the said Convention to be made public, to the end that the same and every article and clause thereof may be observed and fulfilled with good faith by the United States and the citizens thereof.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

DONE in the District of Columbia this thirtieth day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and [SEAL] eighteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and forty-third. WOODROW WILSON

By the President:

FRANK L. POLK

Acting Secretary of State.

File No. 811.2222/13045

Certificate of Exemption from Military Service of Certain Citizens of the United States in Great Britain

GENERAL CERTIFICATE

WHEREAS, the Convention concluded on June 3, 1918, between the Government of the United States and the Government of Great Britain in respect to compulsory military service of the citizens or subjects of either party in the territories of the other, provides in Article III that:

"The Government of the United States and His Britannic Majesty's Government may through their respective diplomatic representatives issue certificates of exemption from military service to citizens of the United States in Great Britain and British subjects in the United States, respectively, upon application or otherwise, within 60 days from the date of the exchange of ratifications of this convention, or within 30 days from the date when such citizens or subjects become liable to military service in accordance with Article I, provided that the applications be made or the certificates be granted prior to their entry into the military service of either country.

"Such certificates may be special or general, temporary or conditional, and may be modified, renewed, or revoked in the discretion of the Government granting them. Persons holding such certificates shall, so long as the certificates are in force, not be liable to military service in the country in which they are;

AND WHEREAS, by an exchange of notes dated June 3, 1918, between the parties of said Convention in relation to Article I thereof, it is understood that the Government of the United States will exercise its right under Article III to exempt from compulsory mili

tary service in Great Britain all citizens of the United States in Great Britain outside of the ages specified in the laws of the United States prescribing compulsory military service for citizens of the United States.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WOODROW WILSON, President of the United States of America, by virtue of authority of Article III of said Convention, hereby certify, in the name of the Government of the United States, that all citizens of the United States in Great Britain outside the ages specified from time to time in the laws of the United States prescribing compulsory military service for citizens of the United States are and shall be exempt from compulsory military service in Great Britain.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

DONE in the District of Columbia this thirtieth day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and eighteen [SEAL] and of the independence of the United States of America the one hundred and forty-third.

By the President:

ROBERT LANSING

Secretary of State.

WOODROW WILSON

File No. 811.2222/13528a

The Acting Secretary of State to the French Ambassador (Jusserand)

No. 2195

WASHINGTON, August 3, 1918.

EXCELLENCY: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency's note of the 18th instant [ultimo?]1 in respect to the signature of the convention between the United States and France for compulsory military service of the citizens of either country in the territory of the other and in respect to the status of French delinquents inducted into the military service of the United States.

I understand that Your Excellency states in effect that delinquents who have not responded to the colors or who have deserted are immune from French jurisdiction while they are in the military service of the United States and wear the American uniform under Mr. Ribot's note of August [April?] 27, 1917, to Mr. Sharp 2 and

1 Not found in the files.

2

Not found in the files. According to a note of July 8, 1918, from the French Minister for Foreign Affairs to the American Ambassador in France, transmitted in the latter's despatch No. 6411 of July 11, communicating the same information as is referred to above, the date of Mr. Ribot's note was Apr. 27, 1917. (File No. 811.2222/12914.)

1

the exchange of notes between Your Excellency and the Secretary of State of January 3 and 14 last; that delinquents who have not registered at the consulates for the French draft or have not answered the call to colors and who are residing in the United States and shall have served during the war in the ranks of the United States at the French front, will be considered as having met proportionately the military obligations put upon them by the law of France in accordance with Mr. Ribot's note of August [April?] 27, 1917, and the circular of the French Ministry of War of June 3, 1915; that delinquents who have deserted from the French military forces before the United States entered the war and who stay in or return to France at the close of hostilities, will not be absolved from trial by court martial for their offense, but the military courts will be recommended to take into account any service rendered by them at the French front; and that delinquents who have deserted from the French military forces after the United States entered the war will be considered as coming under the terms of the exchange of notes between the Secretary of State and Your Excellency, of June 7 and July 3 last."

Taking into account the assurances of the French Government, and the understandings arrived at by the exchange of notes of January 3, and 14, and June 7, and July 3, of this year, I shall be pleased to proceed to the signature of the convention for compulsory military service, but the United States desires not to be understood as having waived its right of interposition should particular cases arise after the war on behalf of Frenchmen who may have become naturalized citizens of the United States, in accordance with its traditional attitude toward the expatriation and naturalization of aliens in the United States and its policy of giving naturalized citizens of the United States while abroad the same protection as is accorded to native-born citizens.

Accept [etc.]

FRANK L. POLK

File No. 811.2222/13528d

The Department of State to the Greek Legation

AIDE-MÉMOIRE

The Department of State has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the informal note of the Greek Minister to Mr. Phillips of May 29,3 and the aide-mémoire of the Royal Legation of Greece of July 17, 1918, and to state in reply that the Acting Secretary of State would be pleased to sign, as soon as possible, with the

1

3

1 Post, pp. 735, 736. 2 Post, pp. 745, 746. Not printed. *Ante, p. 707.

Minister of Greece a military service convention in the language of the text herewith enclosed. If the Royal Legation will furnish the Department with the Greek text of the enclosed convention the Department will be glad to have the convention prepared in both the Greek and English languages for signature, at the earliest possible moment.1

The Department of State is in a position to reply in part to the suggestions made in the note of May 29, and the aide-mémoire of July 17. However convenient it might seem to be to have Greek soldiers transported from here to Greece and to have them organized here in Greek units under American or Greek officers, the War Department finds itself unable to concur in these proposals. I shall be pleased to answer your further suggestion in respect to the transportation to France by this Government of a few hundred Greek officers in the United States as soon as the decision of the competent authorities thereon has been reached.

WASHINGTON, August 5, 1918.

File No. 811.2222/13499a

The Secretary of State to the Italian Ambassador (Macchi di Cellere)

WASHINGTON, August 15, 1918.

MY DEAR MR. AMBASSADOR: In respect to the proposed military service convention between the United States and Italy, I desire to clarify the understanding of our Governments in respect to the proviso of article 1, stating that in respect to citizens of the United States the ages shall be those specified in the laws of the United States prescribing compulsory military service. Under the selective service laws of the United States you are, no doubt, aware that the ages fixed for compulsory military service of citizens of the United States are those attained at the particular dates set for registration by proclamation of the President; thus American citizens subject to compulsory military service in the United States are those who, on June 5, 1917 (the date of the President's first proclamation regarding registration), had attained their twenty-first birthday, and had not attained their thirty-first birthday, and those who, since June 5, 1917, and on or before June 5, 1918 (the date of the President's second proclamation regarding registration), had attained their twenty-first birthday. It is to American citizens in these classes in Italy to whom the convention will apply, until the President shall issue from time to time subsequent proclamations requir

1 Convention printed post, p. 729.