740.00112 European War 1939/7044: Telegram
The Chargé at Tangier (Childs) to the Secretary of State
[Received 1:46 p.m.]
521. My telegram 516, October 23. I received late last evening a communication by the High Commissioner, dated October 23, reading in translation as follows:
“The Government of Spain replies under date of October 14 to the communication addressed to it last August by this High Commissariat enclosing a copy of the memorandum, dated July 31, 1942, in which, in representing the Government of your country and in accordance with the conversations and communications previously exchanged with Your Excellency, there was expressed in the first place the readiness of the United States to arrive at an agreement of an economic character with this High Commissariat.
The reply from Madrid expresses its gratefulness for the American good will in this regard, and still more for the steps that you have [Page 485] taken to bring this purpose to a successful end, but believes that for obvious reasons the commercial negotiations in question must be carried out through a single channel and require the intervention in all of them of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In communicating this to Your Excellency, I must reiterate with my personal esteem my gratitude for the diligence and activity you have devoted to this.”
In view of the foregoing it is suggested that the Department’s proposal for an economic accord be submitted to the Spanish Government through our Embassy in Madrid. It might be explained that we had been persuaded to make them directly to the High Commissariat in the belief that it would facilitate the exchange proposed if the negotiation of the details were left to the Legation in Tangier and the Spanish authorities in Tetuan. It might be added that, while conforming to the expressed desire of the Spanish Government that the terms of the accord be negotiated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Spanish Government would doubtless recognize the desirability of leaving the implementation of any accord which might be concluded to the representatives of the two Governments in Spanish Morocco and Tangier.
We have succeeded, it is believed, in building up much goodwill with the High Commissariat and the local Spanish authorities in our expressed willingness to conclude an accord. It is thought that the advantages of intimate and close contact with these authorities may still be conserved by the proposed course of action.
This need not prevent a modified form of the approach to Orgaz suggested in my 516 of October 23. It might now be stated to him that relying upon his undoubted willingness to promote a reciprocal exchange with us on the basis of war petroleum program we were sending a purchasing agent to Spanish North Africa and we were confident we could count on his doing everything possible to facilitate the work of this agent.
Repeated to Madrid.