840.48 Refugees/1689½
The Under Secretary of State (Welles) to President Roosevelt
Washington, June 28, 1939.
My Dear Mr. President: After my last talk with
you on the refugee question, I communicated to Myron Taylor the wishes
you had expressed to me and in particular the expression of your desire
that a meeting be held here in Washington next September under your
personal direction of the representatives of the present Executive
Committee of the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees, namely,
representatives of Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Brazil,
Argentina, and this Government. I indicated to Mr. Taylor that it was my
thought that this invitation from you might most appropriately be made
known by him at the next meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee
which will be held in London on July 18 next.59 I asked Mr. Taylor if he
would send me his reaction to the general plan which I indicated to
him.
I have this morning received a letter from him in reply to my letter and
I am enclosing a copy of his letter for your information.
At your convenience may I have an opportunity of talking with you again
about this subject? Mr. Taylor is planning to sail on July 12 and before
he leaves he should have final and definite instructions from you in
this regard.
Believe me [etc.]
[Enclosure]
The Chairman of the American Delegation
(Taylor)
to the Under Secretary of State
(Welles)
Killingworth, Long Island, June 25,
1939.
My Dear Mr. Welles: I am very happy to have
your letter of June 22d, and to be able to say that I am at home and
making daily improvement
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toward restoration to full vigor. I am pleased to have put behind me
an unpleasant experience and glad to have removed an uncertainty
that might some day have caused real difficulty—more real, in fact,
than I had imagined. I have greatly appreciated the friendly
interest and expressions of yourself and your associates in the
Government.
In response to your letter I am glad to say that we are in accord
upon the general interpretation of the situation in the realistic
sense, and that our procedures thus far taken have proved
constructive and sufficiently cautious to be safe, the attitude of
our Government and those of us who have been working in its behalf
considered.
I am planning to sail on the 12th of July. In the meantime I hope to
have at least one thorough discussion with you, so that some of the
minor questions can be determined definitely. I think it will not be
possible for me to come to Washington until just prior to my
departure. Perhaps in the interim you may find occasion to visit New
York, in which case we could meet here.
Relative to the proposed September meeting of the executive officers
of the Intergovernmental Committee, I am not quite clear as to the
precise objective toward which its’ deliberations would be directed.
I am wondering also if you have considered whether in all likelihood
it would be imposing a new obligation on our Government in a field
which, to say the least, is difficult. One of the chief difficulties
in the present situation, as you know, so far as Jewish refugees are
concerned, is three-fold:
- First, it is not clear that there is available a suitable
area for mass colonization that would be permanently
acceptable to the Jewish refugees. (Their real objective is
to get into settled countries where they can set up their
lives in existing communities and in professional,
commercial and industrial activities).
- Secondly, do the Jewish people really want a new
“Palestine” in another part of the world sufficiently to
contribute to and permanently develop and support in a large
way such an activity? (If so, the situs of such development
should be easily accessible; it should have a climate, soil
and general characteristics that would justify it as the
basis for its permanent and costly development.)
- Thirdly, is our own Government prepared to contribute or
invest perhaps one hundred million dollars to such a
development? (If so, would it be willing to use such a sum
in development of a scheme in foreign lands; e. g., British
Guiana?) We must bear in mind that certainly thus far on the
question of finance the British and French Jewish committees
have shown no disposition to finance large settlement
projects. This has also been the attitude of the British and
French governments. The suggestion has been bluntly made
that American Jewry and the American Government should do it
all.
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It seems advisable to consider these questions before the final
objective of the proposed September meeting is adopted.
In a day or two I hope to talk with you on the telephone on the whole
matter, before you have taken the next step in formulating
plans.
With kind regards [etc.]
