File No. 763.72112/10090

The Ambassador in France ( Sharp ) to the Secretary of State

[Telegram]

5022. War Trade Board [from McFadden]:

No. 403. Referring to Berne Legation No. 4459, August 24, 12 noon, War Trade Board No. 132.1 Informed [Informal?] conversations with the French Blockade Ministry develop the following viewpoint of the French Blockade in connection with the application and operation of the confidential lists of Associated Governments for Switzerland.

1. As expressed in Berne’s cable No. 132, so far as possible a common confidential list will be agreed upon by Associated Governments for Switzerland.

2. Where the laws of the respective Associated Governments differ in connection with the determination of enemy trade, or where the various delegates are unable to agree as to whether the evidence is sufficient or insufficient to warrant blacklisting, then in such event there shall be independent action by each Government as to blacklisting.

[Page 1059]

3. In connection with the following, the French Blockade, however, assert where goods of American origin are consigned to Swiss houses which appear upon the French confidential list but do not appear upon our enemy trading list or our proposed confidential list, that they will detain such goods in France for the reason that their laws prohibit trading with the transit across their territory of goods intended for such Swiss concerns; in view thereof they are by French domestic law unable to permit the transit through France of such goods when the consignee is upon the French confidential list.

4. We have pointed out to the Blockade that if principle of control as asserted by them is accepted by the Associated Governments, then we could see no advantage in further discussions of the subject with a view to preparation by the British and ourselves of independent confidential lists for Switzerland, as the French confidential list necessarily must be the only practical list upon which business could be conducted. In this connection, we wish to point out to you that the French Blockade are very arbitrary in their considerations of Swiss houses, and in many instances we find that they are inclined to place Swiss houses on the black list upon slight evidence, certainly on evidence that we would not consider sufficient cause for blacklisting, and as an example we beg to mention that [at] April session of the Commission Inter-Ministerielle (which handles the question of the confidential lists) 105 Swiss houses were added to their confidential list for Switzerland.

Furthermore, the above principle as to transit of American goods through France to Switzerland is also applied in connection with the transit of Swiss goods from corresponding concerns for shipment to America.

We shall, under the circumstances, discontinue further definite discussions in Paris of the Swiss confidential lists with the French and the British delegates until we receive your reply to the above, as we wish very definite instructions in connection therewith especially as to representations which you wish us to make to the French in this connection.

The French inform us that the policy of the British in connection with Scandinavian and Dutch concerns corresponds to their position in connection with the Swiss concerns.

We suggest under the circumstances in the preparation of the new French-American-Swiss agreement that a provision should be inserted therein which shall require the French to recognize the United States War Trade Board licenses as satisfactory evidence as to the status of consignee, and therefore that shipments covered by such licenses and consigned to Swiss concerns (not included in our enemy trading list or any confidential list which we may later establish covering Swiss houses) shall have free transit without detention through France to Switzerland, and that the same principle shall apply to shipments from Switzerland to the United States.

[Page 1060]

As a result of various conversations which we have had with Sir Francis Elliot, whom the British have sent as a special delegate to discuss the question of the neutral list for Switzerland with the French and Swiss, and Mr. Craigie of the British Legation, Berne, both of whom are now in Paris after visiting Berne, we are inclined to believe that the principle of the black list and its enforcement in Switzerland by the S[ociété] S[uisse de] S[urveillance Economique] would be more readily accepted by the Swiss if they felt (1) that the confidential lists of the Associated Governments were to be as uniform as possible, and (2) that the exceptional names retained by one of the Associated Governments on its own confidential list were enforced only in respect to the nationals of the particular Government, that is to say, that the French would agree to permit transit of goods through France when consignee is upon the French confidential list but is not upon British or United States enemy trade list or confidential list. McFadden.

Sharp
  1. Ante, p. 1039.