File No. 763.72112/2659
The Ambassador in Great Britain (Page) to the Secretary of State
[Received 6.15 p. m.]
4482. Your 3405, June 9, 4 p. m. Your unnumbered instruction of December 9 last,1 regarding hospital supplies enclosed for my “information” a copy of the note addressed by the German Foreign Office to the Spanish Ambassador in Berlin. This instruction did not direct me to present the note or to take any action in the matter, but said that a copy of the note had already been given to the British Ambassador in Washington and you presumed that the information contained therein would also be sent to the British Foreign Office by my Spanish colleague.
The Spanish Ambassador came to see me and expressed the opinion that the British Government would not under any condition agree to the German note, because it reserved the right under certain conditions to requisition medical supplies, and demanded that they be sent through a German port. The Spanish Ambassador used his discretion and tells me that he informed his Government of the inutility of presenting the note.
I shared this opinion with him, but it can hardly be accurately described as “an understanding” or “undertaking” between us not to present the note, since I had no instructions to present it and you had informed me that you had already given a copy of it to the British Ambassador in Washington. I assumed in the absence of instructions that this was the channel you chose to transmit it to the British Government.
- Not printed.↩