781.003/6–2844

The Secretary of State to the Chargé at Tangier (Childs)

No. 246

The Secretary of State refers to the Legation’s despatch no. 2178 of June 28, 1944, regarding the application to American ressortissants of joint Franco-American wartime measures in Morocco.

[Page 523]

The Department concurs with the suggestion on page 2 of the despatch under reference that specific points of reservation should follow the general terms used in the Department’s instruction no. 166 of March 24, 1944.

The Department likewise concurs with the inclusion in notes to the French Resident General of the phrase suggested by the Legation in the penultimate paragraph of its despatch. Such a reservation was approved by the Department in its telegraphic instruction no. 131 of June 29, 194320 regarding exit visas, and in its telegram no. 27 of February 26, 1944 regarding the requisition of olive crops.

The Department notes that the Legation’s communication to the French Resident General notifies him of this Government’s approval of “the war restrictions” which have been introduced as a result of joint action by the French and American authorities. This follows the language used in the Department’s instruction no. 166 of March 24, 1944. In other words, the particular restrictions to which approval has been given have not been specified. The Legation lists on the first page of the despatch under reference the existing wartime measures to which the Department has given its assent. The Department feels that for the sake of clarity, it might now be advisable for the Legation to address a note to the Resident General specifying the restrictions to which its note of June 28, 1944 referred, in order that the French may not be able to argue at a later date that the broad language of the note covered restrictions regarding which neither the Legation nor the Department may at the time have been informed.

  1. Not printed.