740.0011 European War 1939/24750
The Acting Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Spain (Hayes)
My Dear Ambassador: I have just cabled you61 in response to your telegram 1514, October 9, 9 p.m., of the President’s belief that it [Page 300] would be better to send my reply by courier rather than to trust the reply to our codes.
The President desires me to state to you that in the event that the contingency mentioned in the last paragraph of your telegram arises, you are authorized immediately to state to General Franco that the purpose of this Government is to do everything possible to prevent Spain from being brought into the war and that Spain’s desire to remain out of the war is fully recognized by the United States. You may further state that the Government of the United States has no intention of infringing upon the sovereignty of Spain or of any Spanish colonial possessions or islands “from the North Cape to the Cape of Good Hope”. In the event that the contingency arises to which I have above referred, you may further state that it is the purpose of this Government to assist the French people in regaining their liberty and independence and that the course to be pursued by this Government would make the achievement of that objective possible. In other words, you are authorized to give the most sweeping commitments that the United States will take no action which would in any way affect Spain or Spanish territories.
My warmest regards to you, and believe me
Yours very sincerely,
- Telegram not printed.↩