811.11101 Waivers 81—
The Ambassador in Spain (Bowers) to
the Secretary of State
No. 1110
Madrid, April 17, 1936.
[Received May
2.]
Sir: With reference to my despatch No. 881 of
September 11, 1935,16 regarding the action of Spanish
consular officers in requiring visas of American citizens intending to
enter the Spanish Zone in Morocco, I have the honor to enclose the copy
and translation of a Note just received from the Foreign Office, dated
April 3. This Note states that in the judgment of the High Commission
there cannot be deduced either from the letter or the spirit of the
Convention of 188017 the
interpretation which the Department of State gives to Article 17 of the
Madrid Convention. The penultimate sentence of the Note reads as
follows:
“Moreover, in view of the fact that the Washington Government has
not given official recognition to the Spanish Protectorate in
Morocco, Your Excellency will understand that there exists an
evident difficulty
[Page 420]
as
to arriving at a bilateral agreement with regard to this matter,
a circumstance which makes all the more difficult the extension
to American citizens of the benefits of the suppression of a
passport visa in order to enter the Spanish Zone.”
It will be noted that the Spanish Note refers only to my Note No. 346 of
December 17, 193418 and although it attempts to refute the
arguments put forward in my Note No. 535 of September 10, 1935,19—a copy of which was enclosed in my despatch
No. 881 of September 11—it makes no specific reference to this Note. I
have taken advantage of this omission to keep the matter open and to
write a Note to the Foreign Office, a copy of which is also enclosed,
asking that the matter of visas may be reconsidered in the light of the
observations made in the Note of September 11.
Respectfully yours,
[Enclosure 1—Translation]
The Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs
(Barcia)
to the American Ambassador (Bowers)
No. 57
Madrid, April 3, 1936.
Excellency: I have the honor to refer to
Your Excellency’s Note No. 346 of last year in which, with reference
to previous communications on the same matter, and to this
Ministry’s Note No. 20 of February 12 of last year,20 Your
Excellency insists upon the point of view of the American Government
that by virtue of Article 17 of the Madrid Convention of 1888 [1880] and by virtue of the clause relating to
most-favored-nation treatment American citizens have the right to
exemption of passport visas to enter the Spanish Zone of the
Moroccan Protectorate, a treatment similar to that which has been
conceded to other countries.
Leaving out the considerations of moral order and the factual
transformation which Morocco has undergone since there were signed
during the past century the old treaties between the empire of
Morocco and other countries which would justify the necessity of
obtaining for the Spanish Zone a liberty of initiative imposed by
circumstances of fact and policies of a very different nature from
those
[Page 421]
that governed the
situation during the past century, it is well to point out that the
most-favored-nation clause includes the right to invoke from other
countries an absolute reciprocity as to the concessions which are
made. If any other interpretation were given to the
most-favored-nation clause the result would be inequitable and the
Spanish Zone of Morocco would have to remain in a situation of frank
inferiority with respect to other countries.
Moreover, in the judgment of the High Commission there cannot be
deducted either from the letter or the spirit of the Convention of
1880 the interpretation which the Department of State in Washington
gives to Article 17 of the Madrid Convention of 1880 which confirms
previous agreements in those which establish with various countries
the most-favored-nation clause on the basis of reciprocity. Morocco
has not at any time renounced so equitable a principle and in proof
of this there can be cited among other documents the King’s
Regulation of 1935 giving to automobiles registered in the Spanish
Zone equal privileges to those obtained in the Zone by automobiles
of British registration.
There does not exist on the part of the Spanish Government the least
intention of making any difficulty for American citizens in the Zone
of the Protectorate, although it is not possible to agree to the
thesis that Morocco has lost the right to invoke reciprocity in her
relations with other countries, nor is it possible to give to the
United States a concession which supposes a more favorable
situation. Moreover, it is impossible to establish the precedent of
giving advantages without an equivalent counterpart.
In conclusion, I must invite the attention of Your Excellency to the
fact that the Netherlands and Switzerland obtained the advantage
which the United States desires in exchange for the giving in just
reciprocity to the natives of the Zone the same right in their
respective territories with the exception of the Dutch colonies
(dahirs of June 20, 1929 for Switzerland and August 1, 1930 for the
Netherlands). Moreover, in view of the fact that the Washington
Government has not given official recognition to the Spanish
Protectorate in Morocco,21 Your Excellency
will understand that there exists an evident difficulty as to
arriving at a bilateral agreement with regard to this matter, a
circumstance which makes all the more difficult the extension to
American citizens of the benefits of the suppression of a passport
visa in order to enter the Spanish Zone.
I avail myself [etc.]
[Page 422]
[Enclosure 2]
The American Ambassador (Bowers) to the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs
(Barcia)
No. 689
Madrid, April 17, 1936.
Excellency: I have the honor to acknowledge
the receipt of Your Excellency’s Note No. 57 of April 3rd with
reference to the requirement that a citizen of the United States
traveling through or resorting to the Spanish Zone of influence in
Morocco obtain a visa and pay a fee therefor. The above mentioned
Note refers to my Note No. 346 of December 17, 1934 and states in
part that in the judgment of the High Commission there cannot be
deduced either from the letter or the spirit of the Convention of
1880 the interpretation which the Department of State gives to
Article 17 of the Madrid Convention of 1880. Your Excellency’s Note,
however, does not refer to my Note No. 535 of September 10,
1935,23 which advances further arguments on
behalf of the American point of view on this subject. I should
appreciate it, therefore, if Your Excellency would be so good as to
reconsider this matter in the light of the observations made in my
September 10th Note, to the end that American citizens resorting to
or traveling through the Spanish Zone of influence in Morocco should
not be subject to the requirement that they obtain visas for
residence or transit and pay fees therefor.24
I avail myself [etc.]
