481.11/144
The Diplomatic Agent and Consul General at
Tangier (
Blake
) to the Secretary of State
No. 1468
Tangier
, July 6, 1939.
[Received July
21.]
Sir: With reference to the recent exchange
of telegrams between the Department and this Legation on the subject
of the American claims in the French Zone, I have the honor to
enclose herewith a summary report of Mr. Doolittle on the meeting of
the commission held at Rabat on June 23 and 24, last.
In view of what transpired and the limited powers or lack of powers
of the French delegates, I trust that the Department will concur in
my opinion that not only would my presence there have been
unnecessary, but would have been a positive error at this stage of
proceedings.
Although the proposals of General Noguès for the settlement of the
claims, were to have reached me within a few days of the meeting, it
may be pointed out that nothing has yet been received from the
Protectorate authorities, hence it is believed opportune to now
forward this written report, which was not at first believed
necessary in view of the complete verbal report given me by Mr.
Doolittle and Mr. El Khazen at the conclusion of their meeting at
Rabat.
Full details with reference to the claims will be dealt with in a
subsequent despatch, as soon as the definite proposals from General
Noguès reach me and my response has been formulated.
[Page 678]
This communication, therefore, serves only for the general
information of the Department concerning the steps already taken in
pursuance of the Department’s telegraphic instructions, and to
explain the nature of the delay that is taking place in the
negotiations.
Respectfully yours,
[Enclosure]
The Consul at Tangier (
Doolittle
) to the Diplomatic Agent and Consul
General (
Blake
)
Sir: In accordance with your
instructions, accompanied by Mr. El Khazen of the American
Consulate at Casablanca, I presented myself at the Diplomatic
Cabinet of the French Residency General at Rabat, at 10:30 a.m.
on the morning of June 23, 1939, for the first meeting regarding
the settlement of American claims against the French
Protectorate.
To my surprise and the surprise of Mr. El Khazen we found that we
were apparently sitting in on a complete Council of Government
as, in addition to M. Broustra, Chief of the Diplomatic Cabinet,
there were his secretary and nine other highly placed officials
of the Protectorate services, among whom the Director of
Domaines, the Director of Shereefian Affairs, a representative
of the Public Works Department, and others. Although the
complete list of these officials was requested, I was not
furnished with the list before the meeting terminated.
In response to my inquiry as to the powers of the French
delegates, or commission, it was explained that the purpose of
this meeting would be merely a re-examination of the claims in
the hope of coming to a mutual agreement, but that their
findings would be submitted to General Noguès for his approval;
General Noguès thereupon to make proposals for the approval of
yourself.
From my impressions gathered during the progress of these
meetings, it does not appear that there is any sincere desire on
the part of the Protectorate government to settle these matters
in an equitable manner.
From the beginning the American delegates took a conciliatory
attitude, and expressed the opinion that in practically all the
cases redress could be given by returning the property seized,
except of course in the few cases of consumable property which
had long since disappeared. In the event that it for political
reasons would be inconvenient to return the property, valuation
by a committee of experts, and recompense, would seem to be the
logical manner of arranging the settlement.
[Page 679]
Fortunately, with the exception of the claims of Abdel-Assiz El
Yacoubi, most of these claims are relatively small, but the
general attitude of the French delegates was well indicated in
the case of Yacoubi, where his rights to the water supply
devoted to the city of Meknez were confirmed by decree of the
Director of Public Works and subsequently mentioned and
confirmed in a decree of the Grand Vizir allotting the water to
the city of Meknez and calling upon the city to reimburse the
owners, a decree which in due time was published in the Official Bulletin. In spite of the
existence of these documents from the highest officials of the
French Protectorate, it was argued on the part of the Public
Works representative that the decree of the Direcor General was
merely a police measure taken for the purpose of temporarily
putting order in the distribution of the water concerned, and
that the Vizirial decree had not mentioned it for the purpose of
confirming its contents, but merely as a consideration of the
temporary status of the water distribution at the time it was
turned over to the city, in spite of the fact that the decree of
the Director General of Public Works had been taken after due
inquiry on the spot, in the presence of the owners of the
property.
That this line of reasoning failed to convince even themselves
was indicated by an off-hand remark made later by M. Broustra,
the Chief of the Diplomatic Cabinet, to the effect that
Yacoubi’s case might possibly be settled by the offer of half a
million francs, or so.
As I informed you verbally, the understanding after the three
meetings, in the morning and afternoon of June 23 and the
morning of June 24, was that the cases discussed would be
presented to General Noguès who would write you his definite
proposals not later than the following Thursday. In the meantime
Mr. El Khazen was to return to Rabat and present himself with
one or two of the claimants whose documents it was desired to
examine, for the purpose of elucidating further information. As
there, therefore, seemed to be nothing more for me either to
discuss or do in the interim, I thought it best to return to
Tangier.
Respectfully yours,
