365D.1163/158
The Ambassador in Italy (Phillips) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 5, 1940.]
Sir: With reference to the Department’s telegram No. 127 of October 12, 7 p.m., I have the honor to transcribe for the Department’s information the following excerpts from a report dated October 13, 1939, just received by the British Embassy here from the British Consul General at Addis Ababa:
“We have now heard from the Consulate General that the remaining members of the Mission, namely, the Reverend D. C. Henry and Mrs. Henry and Miss R. Beatty, have been informed by the Political Affairs [Page 522] Department that they must leave Italian East Africa within the next two months (the Consulate-General’s report was dated October 13th).
“The Consulate-General add that the head of the Political Affairs Department, in the course of conversation with the Reverend D. C. Henry, intimated that missionary work in Ethiopia could now be undertaken by Italian missionary societies and there was therefore no further need for foreign assistance in this sphere.”
Excepting for an acknowledgment dated December 3, 1939, stating that he had referred the matter to his colleague the Minister for Italian Africa, I have not yet received any response from the Minister for Foreign Affairs to my note of November 21, 1939, regarding the expropriation of the property of the Board of Foreign Missions of the United Presbyterian Church at Addis Ababa and the expulsion of the Board’s representatives from Ethiopia, which note was delivered by me pursuant to your Air Mail instruction No. 547 of November 10, 1939, File No. 365D.1163.
Respectfully yours,