851B.20/60: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Consul General in Martinique (Malige)
121. For Reber. Your telegram 211, June 3, 5 p.m. and the air mail letter referred to duly received.
The position which Admiral Robert has accepted in these negotiations as set forth therein is disquieting; since by refusal to accept responsibility for negotiating independently of Vichy he is permitting a situation to develop whereby the Wiesbaden Commission4 is participating directly in the negotiations and whereby even the economic life of the Islands through lack of shipping may be so upset that some outside force may eventually be compelled to intervene. It is clear that as to the disposal of the removed machinery parts, not only has the Wiesbaden Commission not permitted these to be stored in the American Consulate at Cayenne, according to our earlier suggestion, but also is delaying the Sagittaire from carrying them to Casablanca as now agreed to by Admiral Robert.
As to the statement that since the Armistice the French Government has not chartered merchant vessels to another power without the consent of all belligerents this is a mere play on words since with no attempt to thwart Axis designs in Indochina the Japanese were permitted to commandeer French ships there in seaworthy condition, and these are now operated by the Japanese reportedly with any necessary French personnel.5
You will please forward a copy of this telegram to Admiral Hoover, and if he agrees you will seek an early moment to discuss the situation with Admiral Robert, pointing out that if he continues unwilling to accept any responsibility for carrying out the details of these negotiations without reference to Vichy he is thereby jeopardizing French sovereignty over the French Antilles.
- German Armistice Commission set up to supervise carrying out of the terms of the German-French armistice agreement of June 22, 1940.↩
- See Foreign Relations, 1942, China, pp. 749 ff.↩