740.0011 European War 1939/10595: Telegram
The Ambassador in Spain (Weddell) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 4—7:15 a.m.]
375. Department’s 214, April 30, 8 p.m. The purpose of my number 341, April 21, 7 p.m., was to emphasize that I felt that some more concrete result might be attained if at the time of communicating to the Chief of State a message of the gravity and importance of the one in question I were further authorized to make known by some definite gesture our good will towards Spain so long as its policies did not run counter to our interests in the present conflict. This, I believed, might be accomplished by a statement to the effect that this Government would be disposed to collaborate in a careful and sympathetic consideration of Spanish needs for goods now affected by American embargoes or by export restrictions.
It should be emphasized here that thus far our effective aid to Spain has been limited during the past 2 years since the recognition of the Franco Government to the granting of a cotton credit of which perhaps [Page 896] one-third has been repaid and the remainder is in process of repayment, and the present aid being distributed by the Red Cross.
As background, the following should be kept in mind:
- (1)
- Since I was first authorized a year ago to inform the Caudillo of our then disposition to give sympathetic consideration to Spanish needs the immediate food situation here on which the earlier recommendations of the Embassy have been based has at least potentially altered through the arrangement in process of conclusion, whereby grains and cotton will be received from Argentina. For the next several months Spain’s foodstuffs needs up to its transport capacities can be supplied from Argentina. In this connection, the British Embassy informs me that only the lack of available shipping is preventing Spain from taking early delivery of 100,000 tons of British-owned wheat available in Argentina. Chief advantage of purchasing wheat from the United States would be quicker transportation.
- (2)
- Spain has, however, recently formally requested in various communications from the Foreign Office the bald privilege of purchasing in the United States with the dollar exchange available certain products including scrap iron, sulphate ammonia, machinery and parts, electrodes, et cetera, and informally has made known its needs for other American products, exports of which are now controlled. It is my belief, therefore, that an assurance to the Caudillo that the United States Government will sympathetically examine Spanish needs with the appropriate Spanish authorities with the view to avoiding insofar as possible the shutoff or curtailment of urgent requirements in spite of our existing embargo and our control regulations would clearly demonstrate our good will and desire for greater economic cooperation.
- (3)
- To inform Spain that we are disposed to make available surplus commodities for the funds derived from Spanish sale of olive oil in the United States would, in effect, be to limit the disposition of such funds and would be contrary to the information in the third from last paragraph of the Department’s telegram 24, January 13, 9 a.m. [p.m.]19 which was fully conveyed to the Spanish Government. Since in these circumstances there does not arise at the present time a question of credits I do not think the present moment is propitious to lay down more than the first of the four conditions outlined in the Department’s telegram 350, December 19, 7 p.m.,20 which conditions were predicated on the possibility of a credit arrangement.
In the event that my proposed visit takes place before the receipt of the Department’s further instructions I shall venture to limit myself to the declarations suggested in the Department’s 208, April 26, 8 p.m.
- Not printed; the paragraph referred to contains this sentence: “You should immediately point out to the appropriate Spanish officials that free exchange can be obtained for shipments of olive oil to this market which could be utilized, in whole or in part, to purchase through ordinary trade channels substitute products here or in other markets.” (611.529/295)↩
- Foreign Relations, 1940, vol. ii, p. 848.↩