340.1115A/1650c: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Chargé in France (Matthews)
814. According to reports received by the Department from returning Americans, there are a number of Americans in France, particularly along the Riviera, of sufficient financial means who are disposed to return to the United States but are not doing so because of some fancied or real difficulty in obtaining remittances of funds from the United States or steamship accommodations or other reason connected with travel to Lisbon. Department desires that the officers in occupied and unoccupied France should communicate with remaining Americans in their respective districts and offer to assist them in any necessary and proper and possible way to return to the United States.
If the persons in question should encounter difficulty in having remittances for transportation expenses made to them direct by their depositories in the United States, the Department will be glad to receive remittances for this purpose from the depositories and forward them to its offices in France for payment, the Department having blanket authorization from the Treasury Department for the transmission of private funds for American citizens in France for subsistence and transportation expenses. The Department is now telegraphing the Consulate General at Lisbon for a report regarding steamship transportation accommodations for Americans at Lisbon and will inform you regarding the situation and such amelioration of it as may be obtained, if necessary. It is also telegraphing the Embassy at Madrid to keep you currently informed of conditions [Page 182] and requirements for travel through Spain including information regarding various means of travel.
Please repeat to officers in occupied and unoccupied France.