125.0040/28a: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Minister in Switzerland (Harrison)

11. Repeat following by telegraph to London and Berlin and by mail to all other missions in Europe and the Near East.

1.
The Department appreciates that conditions in Great Britain and Germany may appear to chiefs of mission sufficiently threatening to justify the continued evacuation of the wives and minor children of officers and American employees. Nevertheless the threat of danger has not yet materialized at posts in these countries and may not do so [Page 69] for an indeterminate time. Meanwhile, per diem allowances, which in most cases were commenced over 5 months ago, continue to be paid. The Department has intended that its funds should be available for the temporary evacuation of its personnel and their families from posts subjected to military attack, air raids, et cetera, as at Warsaw and Helsinki. Its funds are not sufficient to provide per diem allowances for protracted periods to large numbers of persons; nor has it the authority which would justify, in the absence of military attack or air raids, the indefinite prolongation of such allowances.
2.
In view of the foregoing and after careful consideration of all phases of this very difficult problem, the Department has reached the conclusion that the families which have been evacuated from posts in Great Britain and Germany should either return to their posts or proceed to the United States. The Department will be glad to authorize transportation to their homes in the United States of the wives and minor children of any officer or American employee serving at a post in Great Britain, France, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Finland. The Department’s specific prior authority should be obtained, however, in each individual case. Transportation of effects cannot be authorized. Per diem will terminate upon arrival at the family’s home in the United States, and the Department regrets that it cannot furnish per diem or other special allowances in connection with the family’s residence in the United States.
3.
If, in spite of the above, the chief of mission or individual officer or employee concerned decides that a family evacuated from a post in Great Britain or Germany should neither return to the post nor proceed to the United States, the Department will not disapprove the continuation of per diem allowances. It is compelled, however, to reduce the rates established in the circular telegram of October 24, 1939 to Bern, paragraph 4.3 Effective February 16, 1940, the following rates are prescribed: for wives of officers and American employees, two dollars; for minor children of officers and American employees, one dollar.
4.
The reductions prescribed in paragraph 3 above are applicable only in the cases of wives and children evacuated from posts in Great Britain, France, Germany and Czechoslovakia. Wives and children evacuated from Warsaw and Helsinki will continue to be paid per diem at the rates defined in the telegram of October 24 since it is manifestly impossible for them to return to their posts.
5.
The Department realizes that the new rates established in paragraph 3 above will in many cases not provide full reimbursement for the subsistence of the wives and children concerned. These rates are the highest, however, that are possible and justifiable while present [Page 70] conditions endure. Nor can the Department give any assurance that it will be able to continue the allowances indefinitely. However, if danger should become so acute at posts in Great Britain, France, Germany, and Czechoslovakia that evacuation is imperative, the Department will endeavor to authorize the resumption of payment at the higher rates prescribed in the telegram of October 24.
6.
The concluding sentence of paragraph 4 of the circular telegram to Bern dated October 24, 1939 is cancelled as of March 1, 1940, and the following provision in lieu thereof will be effective from that date:

“In no case shall the per diem allowance to dependents exceed 150 dollars a month for any family and in no case shall it exceed the official compensation (defined as basic salary, rent allowance, and cost of living allowance) of the officer or employee.”

Hull
  1. See telegram No. 1278, October 23, 1939, 6 p.m., to the Ambassador in the United Kingdom, Foreign Relations, 1939, vol. i, p. 630.