681.003/185
The Ambassador in France (Straus) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 28.]
Sir: Referring to my despatch No. 1767 of April 8, 1935, I have the honor to report that a few days ago Mr. Caravale, Commercial Counselor of the Italian Embassy in Paris, called at this Embassy in order to inquire concerning the attitude of the Government of the United States relative to the proposed economic reforms in Morocco. It may be of interest that Mr. Caravale, when questioned in turn [Page 987] regarding his own Government’s attitude in the matter, stated that up to the time of the visit of the representative of the French Protectorate to Rome his Government had been opposed to the projected changes. However, at that time Italy was induced to accept in principle the economic plan. The Italian Government nevertheless made the distinct reservation that it be permitted to examine the project from the point of view of how it would work out in practice. In other words, final acceptance by Italy seems to be dependent upon the determination of the manner in which Italian trade will be affected by the contemplated quotas and other newly introduced factors.
Respectfully yours,