File No. No. 763.72112/10146
The Ambassador in Brazil ( Morgan) to the Secretary of State
[Received 6.45 p.m.]
British and French Ministers have sent [drafted?] joint note to Foreign Office which British Minister has prepared regarding abolition of black list in Brazil. Note contains following statement: [Page 350]
The representatives of the United States of America, Italy, Great Britain, and France are therefore authorized by their respective Governments to state so much importance is attached to action against the most important German concerns in addition to banks that if such action is actually made effective their respective Governments would be ready to take into favorable consideration the declaration contained in Your Excellency’s note addressed to the representatives of the Allies, dated the 30th November 1917, and withdraw the statutory list, provided:
- (1)
- That the Brazilian and Allied Governments shall agree upon a list of German concerns operating in Brazil which should be liquidated.
- (2)
- That the action to be taken against the German concerns which shall be agreed upon shall form part of a general policy in pursuance of which the Brazilian Government will extend the process of liquidation to other German businesses of importance in the country, which in the meantime will be subject to all the actual disabilities of enemy firms.
- (3)
- That it is clearly understood that the Allied Governments reserve to themselves the right of discriminating against the residue of less important German persons and firms and firms now included in the Allied enemy trading lists, by the refusal of export licenses and by taking customs action against such persons or concerns whose business is not liquidated, whenever they consider it necessary to do so; the method adopted for this purpose will be the inclusion of such persons and firms in a list which prevents the exportation of goods to them from the Allied countries or the importation into the Allied countries of the products or goods which they wish to export.
Italian colleague and myself believe that we should be instructed not to sign until Brazil has broken diplomatic relations with Austria I and for the reasons stated in my telegram of September 12, 2 p.m.