852.2221/1087
The Vice Consul at Barcelona (Flood) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 2.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to my telegram of June 30, 5 p.m. regarding the evacuation of American volunteers and to the Department’s [Page 314] telegram of July 1, 8 p.m. to Paris, from which there appears to have been some misunderstanding in respect to the manner of guaranteeing the maintenance and traveling expenses of these men during their sojourn in France.
In discussing this matter with the French Consul General I pointed out that the great majority of these volunteers came over here with passports not valid for Spain, but bearing valid French visas; that since no apparent effort had been made by the French authorities to prevent their crossing into Spain (or even to note in their passports their departure from France) their French visas would in many cases still be valid; and that therefore all these restrictions about their returning through France were beside the point. He agreed that, in principle, this argument had some merit, but that as a practical matter, his Government had been put to such extraordinary expense in caring for the “back-wash” from both sides of the Spanish war, that it had no alternative but to impose these restrictions. However, he said there was no necessity for handling these cases individually in Barcelona, and that if the police authorities at Perpignan could be officially notified that the organizations interested in these men’s welfare were financially able to pay their expenses in traveling through France, Perpignan being within the Marseille consular district, such representations could be made by our Consulate there without becoming involved in the bureaucratic meshes of the French Government, which otherwise would require dealing through the Foreign Office. Since it was already understood that there were no official funds appropriated for such purposes, it was of course never contemplated that the Marseille Consulate should give any assurances other than that these organizations themselves were financially responsible. It would seem that this fact could easily be established by exhibiting bank statements showing that funds were currently available.
In the few cases which have so far arisen of volunteers leaving the country (with permission of the Spanish authorities)—except in two instances where I was personally acquainted with the circumstances—this office has refused to give the definite written assurance, required by the French Consul General, that their expenses would be paid in France, since it was not known whether these persons were in good standing with the committee in Paris.
As an alternative solution, it might be feasible (a) for the Department to give this office a blanket authorization, in the case of volunteers who have permission of the Spanish Government to leave Spain, to give written assurances to the French consular authorities that the interested organizations are able and willing to pay all necessary expenses, or (b) for the organizations in question, or the relief committee [Page 315] in Paris, to furnish this office with a list of those persons whose expenses they are willing to pay, and for the Department to authorize similar action on the basis of such list.
Another possible way of handling this situation would be for the organizations’ representatives in Paris to offer satisfactory evidence of their financial status to the French Government, which in turn could send the necessary instructions to its Consulate General at Barcelona.
Respectfully yours,