881.00/2058: Telegram
The Chargé at Tangier ( Childs ) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 22—1:16 a.m.]
356. The question is raised whether the Department has given consideration to an approach to the present Moroccan problem along the following lines.
[Page 473]The United States has been assured by the treaties to which it is a party of the open door in Morocco. We recognized the French Protectorate in 191722 on the basis of assurances by the French Government of the continued exercise by us of those rights.
The presence of German and Italian Armistice Commissions in Morocco and the increasing intrusion of their influence may at some moment jeopardize the exercise by us of our treaty rights in Morocco as the French Government and the French Protectorate authorities may become powerless to continue to implement their obligations to us in this respect in Morocco. While these rights were originally purely economic the shrinkage of distances as a result of technological developments in communications facilities has given these rights since they were acquired far vaster importance, notably as affecting our hemispheric defense.
It may therefore be necessary at some given moment for us to be in a position to enforce these rights by such means as may be at our disposal.
Repeated to Vichy and Algiers.