881.111/50
The Chargé at Tangier (Childs) to the Secretary of
State
No. 345
Tangier, September 12, 1941.
[Received
September 26.]
Sir: I have the honor to inform the
Department that, on September 10, 1941 I called on General Orgaz,
the High Commissioner of the Spanish Zone at Tetuán by appointment
with a view to removing difficulties and delays encountered by
American citizens, in connection with the issuance of Spanish Zone
transit visas for travel between French Morocco and Tangier. The
Department will be pleased to note, from the account given below of
the conversation, the assurances given by General Orgaz of his
personal intervention to remedy this situation.
The particulars of the complaints, which occasioned the interview,
will be found in the annexed copy of an aide-mémoire which I left with the High Commissioner. He
was assisted by the Chief of his Diplomatic Cabinet and I was
accompanied by an interpreter of the Legation.
[Page 567]
At the outset of the conversation, I placed the Aide-Mémoire on the table around which we were seated, and
told General Orgaz that I would not burden him with a detailed
exposition of the contents of the memorandum, which his competent
services would no doubt examine, but I would limit myself to
requesting his kind consideration of measures destined to remove the
difficulties and reduce the delays of which American ressortissants were complaining. For the
purpose of giving General Orgaz an illustration of the nature of the
complaints, I undertook to outline briefly the case of Mr. Stewart
of the Socony Vacuum Company, when he interrupted me and said: “That
must not be; that has got to be changed”, and when I went on to
refer to the case of Mr. Stewart’s wife, he seized upon the Aide-Mémoire, and after reading it through
himself, he turned to me and said: “Mr. Minister, you have my
personal assurances that I will take up this situation and that
everything will be done to eliminate these inconveniences. If in the
future there should be any appearance of their recurrence, or in
fact if there are any other difficulties, you have at your disposal
the Chief of my Diplomatic Cabinet. You have only to telephone to
him and the matter will be given immediate attention.”
I thanked General Orgaz for his cordial comprehension of the reasons
for my visit to him, namely the desire to promote the closest
possible cooperation between us in exceptional and trying
circumstances, and said that I had fully anticipated receiving the
kind assurances which he had just given me.
Señor Temes, the Chief of the Diplomatic Cabinet, then explained that
the difficulties would not have arisen if, as was formerly the case,
the applications for transit visas had passed through the High
Commissariat on their way to the Bureau of Native Affairs, which now
was receiving them direct from the Spanish Consulate at Casablanca.
There were, of course, some unavoidable delays due to the
unsatisfactory conditions of ordinary means of communication, and
the pouch service operated only at intervals of a week or ten days
between the Spanish Consulate at Casablanca and the Bureau of Native
Affairs at Tetuán. In cases where the travel was of an urgent
character, the Spanish Consulate at Casablanca should be requested
by the applicants to transmit their applications by telegraph. In
any particular case, which the American Legation desired to support,
or in connection with which difficulties might be apparent, a
telephone call from the Legation to the Diplomatic Cabinet, as
General Orgaz had just said, would insure immediate attention to the
matter.
As regards the statement of the official of the Tangier Visa Bureau
to the effect that questions concerning American ressortissants were complicated by the failure of the
American Government to recognize
[Page 568]
the Spanish Zone, General Orgaz said that no
notice should be taken of the observations of an irresponsible
employee, when even he, the High Commissioner himself, was without
authority to make such a declaration. He said he would be obliged if
I would identify and make known to him the person who had made the
observation in question.
I left General Orgaz with the impression that I could rely on his
personal good will and desire for friendly cooperation and I felt
convinced that he was genuinely disturbed at the inconveniences
which had been occasioned to American travelers by the Spanish visa
authorities, and that he will fulfil his promise to take measures to
eliminate such difficulties in the future.
Another phase of my conversation with the High Commissioner, bringing
into relief the cordial character of the interview, is reported in a
separate despatch.
Respectfully yours,
[Enclosure]
The Diplomatic Agency at
Tangier to the High Commission
of the Spanish Zone of Morocco
Aide-Mémoire
Mr. Childs explained to His Excellency General Orgaz that the
object of his visit was to bring to the latter’s attention the
difficulties and delays which have occurred in the issuance of
transit visas for American citizens desiring to transit the
Spanish Zone in journeying from the French Protectorate to
Tangier. He cited several instances of such delays causing
inconvenience and prejudice to the interests of American
citizens, as follows:
1. Case of Mr.
Stewart
Mr. James Cargill Stewart, assistant director of the
Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, filed an application at the Spanish
Consulate at Casablanca for a visa to Tangier on July 31, 1941,
which was not issued until September 1.
It was not until two weeks after the application had been filed
that Mr. Stewart was informed that it would not be given
consideration by the authorities at Tetuán unless supported by a
request from the American Legation at Tangier. This request was
made by the Legation through Colonel Carvajal, by a letter dated
August 15. Nevertheless, the grant of the visa was still delayed
and on August 25 Mr. Stewart was notified by the Spanish
Consulate at Casablanca that, in addition to the request from
the American Legation, the authorities at Tetuán required a
letter from the head office of the Socony-Vacuum
[Page 569]
Oil Company specifying in detail
the reasons necessitating Mr. Stewart’s journey to Tangier,
notwithstanding that in the original application form the
reasons had been indicated (“pour affaires de
la Compagnie”).
The letter, under date of August 27, was, however, furnished to
the Spanish Consulate at Casablanca which assured the
Socony-Vacuum Oil Company that it had been forwarded to Tetuán
the same day. Later it transpired that this was not the case, in
as much as the Spanish Consulate informed Vice Consul Mayer of
the American Consulate at Casablanca, two days later, that the
letter would only go forward in a week or ten days by the next
courier. However, at Mr. Mayer’s urgent request the contents of
the letter were communicated by the Spanish Consulate to Tetuán
by telegraph. The visa for which Mr. Stewart had applied on July
31, was finally received on September 1.
2. Case of Mrs.
Stewart
Mr. Stewart’s wife, Mrs. Audrene Stewart, applied for a visa on
July 28, 1941, two days prior to the application made by her
husband. By letter dated August 18 the Legation requested
Colonel Carvajal’s assistance in obtaining expedition of this
visa by the Tetuán authorities. When, therefore, Mr. Stewart was
advised that his visa had been authorized, both his own and Mrs.
Stewart’s passports were presented to be visaed at the Spanish
Consulate at Casablanca, but the latter then unexpectedly stated
that no mention had been made in the authorization from Tetuán
of a visa for Mrs. Stewart which, therefore, could not be
issued. The Consulate further stated that it had no record of
the transmission to Tetuán of Mrs. Stewart’s application. She
was therefore unable to accompany her husband on a visit to
Tangier which, as indicated on her visa application form, was
for reasons of health.
3. Case of Mrs.
Lambert
An application was made to the Spanish Consulate at Casablanca by
an American citizen, Mrs. Lambert, for a transit visa for the
Spanish Zone, on July 22, 1941, but it was not until some five
weeks later, on August 27, 1941, that she finally obtained her
visa, and then only after several fruitless visits made on
appointment to the Spanish Consulate at Casablanca, and after
intervention on three separate occasions of the American Consul
in that city.
4. Case of Mr.
McGaffin
At Tangier, on September 3, 1941, Mr. William McGaffin, an
American journalist, well and favorably known to the American
Legation, applied for a departure and return transit visa for
French Morocco, which has been refused by the Tetuán
authorities. When imparting
[Page 570]
this information to Mr. McGaffin, the
official of the Tangier visa office added that the question in
regard to American travelers was complicated by the fact that
the United States had not given recognition to the Spanish
Zone.
In informing His Excellency General Orgaz of the foregoing, Mr.
Childs said he was loath to believe that that statement
expressed the views of the Spanish Zone authorities. Mr. Childs
added that he felt confident he could rely upon the good will of
General Orgaz in remedying the situation outlined above
involving long and unaccountable delays to American citizens
applying for Spanish visas.
Tangier,
September
10, 1941.
