File No. 763.72114A/208
The Minister in Switzerland ( Stovall) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 3, 12.52 a.m.]
13. [From Garrett]:
Your 2789, September 25, 11 a.m., contains the following:
In regard to first proposal, guarantees given by German Government that exchanged prisoners will not be used by Germany or any of her allies for military or governmental purposes or for any kind of work connected with the war must be very explicit and, if possible, be capable of being checked up from time to time.
So absolute a prohibition upon the employment of exchanged prisoners will hardly be acceptable to the Germans. In the view of the American commission it is still more undesirable from the American viewpoint. The prisoners we get back can be employed with the greatest advantage in the services of supply over here and if not so employed, other men equal in number must be brought for that service across the Atlantic. Such an agreement would compel us to maintain these returned prisoners in practical idleness on this side of the Atlantic or to return them to the United States where the prohibition would operate to deny their services to the Government in any capacity directly related to the war. In this view, it is requested that the instructions quoted above be reconsidered and a free hand permitted the commission in dealing with this matter of exchanged and repatriated prisoners of war. Garrett.