File No. 867.48/698

The British Ambassador ( Spring Rice) to the Assistant Secretary of State ( Phillips)

No. 567

Dear Mr. Phillips: The Foreign Office have been shown a letter dated August 24 last, which you addressed to the American Committee for the Relief of Armenians and Syrians, 1 Madison Avenue, New York City, and in which you appear to have informed the Committee that the State Department recognised them as authorised to transmit funds in Turkey to persons other than enemy subjects, under the conditions and within the limits which might be fixed by the Department and in conformity with all laws, present and future. In general, it might be said that individual remittances might be made if they did not exceed $125 per person per month, and that the sending of funds might be grouped together if the Committee would undertake to make a monthly report to the Department of sums thus transmitted. It was further understood that the funds would be transmitted solely through the Société de Banque Suisse à Genève, their correspondent at Constantinople and neutral agents in Turkey mentioned in Dr. James L. Barton’s letter to you of August 20.1 The Department reserved to itself the right of withdrawing this authorization at any moment. You added that you reckoned on the Committee’s instituting a system by which, in the case of individual remittances, the receipts of each beneficiary would be furnished, and repeated remittances to the same person in the same month would be prevented.

The Foreign Office point out to us that, as the United States of America are not nominally at war with Turkey, the condition as to non-enemy destination is quite without effect in the case in question. They further point out that, as far as His Majesty’s Government are concerned, all subjects of the Ottoman Empire, of whatever race or [Page 551] religion, are enemy subjects, and that funds transmitted to these people will eventually tend to help Turkey to prolong the war.

I send you the above, for your information and consideration, as an expression of opinion made to me by the Foreign Office, in the event of your desiring to reconsider the position.

Believe me [etc.]

Cecil Spring Rice
  1. Not printed.