840.48 Refugees/720: Telegram
The Ambassador in Argentina (Weddell) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 5—6:52 a.m.]
252. Contents of Department’s 131, September 3, 1 p.m., communicated today to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
The Minister said that the law entering into force on October 1 was not directed at any race or creed but was designed to limit immigration to this country according to its material and spiritual needs. As regards Jews, he declared that Argentina already had a larger percentage in its population than any country in the world.
He then inquired why the United States had not doubled the quota of immigrants which it was prepared to receive from Austria and Germany, in reply to which I emphasized that from the very beginning, as had been made clear to his Government, we neither contemplated nor asked for change in existing laws and regulations. To this he countered by remarking that prior to the recent law immigration into this country had been practically unlimited.
I then returned to the specific case of the 600 refugees, emphasizing their cruel dilemma and he said that the case of each one of these would be carefully studied with a view to his qualifications as an immigrant, adding that large numbers of artists and musicians were seeking syndicates [sic] here when the type desired was the farmer.
The Minister emphasized his desire that the Secretary exactly comprehend the policy of the Argentine Government, which he reiterated was not racial but based on a desire to obtain elements which would contribute to the common wealth.