702.6511/1341a
The Secretary of State to the Italian Ambassador ( Colonna )
The Secretary of State presents his compliments to His Excellency the Royal Italian Ambassador and has the honor to refer to his oral communication of February 12, 1941, with respect to the Italian Government’s request that the Consulates now established at Palermo and Naples should be moved to a place as far north as Rome or farther north, and to a place which was not on the sea coast.
Instructions to these offices of the American Government have been issued in accordance with this request and the supervisory consulate general of the United States in Italy is being established in Rome.
The Secretary of State avails himself of this opportunity to make request of the Italian Ambassador that all officials of his Government within the territory of the United States will confine their movements to those areas in which they exercise the recognized duties of their respective offices. This request does not include the personnel of the Italian Embassy in Washington whose names appear on the Diplomatic List. It would be appreciated, however, if the Italian Ambassador would keep the Department of State currently informed of the movements outside of Washington of the military and naval personnel attached to the Italian Embassy.
[Page 796]As regards the Italian consular offices at Newark, New Jersey, and Detroit, Michigan, the Italian Ambassador is informed that the American Ambassador in Rome has been requested to convey orally to the appropriate Italian authorities the desire of the United States Government that these offices should be closed and that the Italian personnel be withdrawn from these places. Should they remain within the jurisdiction of the United States the Department of State should be kept fully informed of their place of residence.