SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of January 10, 1921, with which you inclose a copy of House joint resolution No. 433, introduced by Mr. Britten, and request that I furnish the Committee on Foreign Affairs with such facts concerning the conduct of French colored troops in the occupied territories of Germany as may be in the possession of the Department of State.
Protests concerning the conduct of French black troops in the Rhenish area began to reach the department toward the end of May, 1920. On June 12, 1920, a telegram was sent to the American embassy in Paris requesting information as to the truth of these allegations and asking what representations might be made to the French Government, if the reports appeared to have a basis of fact. (Appendix I). On June 25, 1920, Mr. Wallace telegraphed that an investigation had been promptly started and that he would arrange with Gen. Allen, in command of the American troops at Coblentz, to secure all possible facts. In a further telegram of this same date Mr. Wallace gave a short summary of the number of colonial troops employed by the French in the occupied territories, reported what Mr. Dresel, American commissioner in Berlin, had told him of the agitation in Germany, and suggested that he speak informally of the matter to M. Millerand. (Appendix II.) The Department of State authorized Mr. Wallace to speak to M. Millerand on the subject, and he reported on July 22 that this had been done. (Appendix II.)
In the meantime, on June 22, the department telegraphed Gen. Allen for such information as he might be able to furnish. This telegram was answered shortly on June 26, giving the number and origin of French colonial troops in the occupied region and an official report of the number of complaints made to the French during the period of occupation and the disposition made of these complaints. (Appendix IV.) On July 2 Gen. Allen submitted a full and detailed report on the matter (Appendix V), in which he pointed out that the allegations of wholesale atrocities were false and intended for political propaganda, that there had been cases of serious misbehavior which had been punished by the French military authorities, that the number of convictions indicated an earnest effort on the part of the French authorities to deal justly with the accusations, and that the discipline of the Senegalese troops had not always been good. I especially commend this report to your attention as a clear and impartial statement of the case. That the French are attempting to maintain good relations with the people of the territory occupied by their armies is made evident in a telegram from Gen. Allen of August 19, in which he cites a French order instructing that “all members of the Army must be dignified, courteous, and just, thus setting the example to the German population of tolerance in order that good will and mutual respect may be established and promoted and ill will and hatred overcome.” (Appendix VI.)
The department also consulted in this matter the American commissioner in Berlin, stating on June 15, 1920, that it was receiving many protests against the alleged misconduct of French black troops and that the phrasing of the protests suggested possible inspiration from a propaganda bureau. (Appendix VII.) Mr. Dresel replied that protests in Germany were general, emanating from all classes and political parties, that an extensive press propaganda had been carried on and that a mass meeting of protest was soon to be held in Berlin at which certain Americans were to speak. Mr. Dresel inclosed a memorandum on this subject. You will note in this memorandum which includes translations from the German press and a summary of the discussion in the Reichstag, various examples of gross exaggeration of facts, as, for example, the statement of the German foreign minister that France had transplanted “50,000 black and colored troops to the heart of white Europe,” whereas Gen. Allen stated that the number of such troops, including regiments of Arabs, was in the vicinity of 20,000. May I call your particular attention in this memorandum also to the translation of the French answer to the German protests? I understand that there has been no official interchange of notes between the French and German Governments.
Mr. Dresel forwarded to the department also the original German edition of the pamphlet, “Colored Frenchmen on the Rhine,” the American edition of which, published by the New Times of Chicago, appears to be a literal translation with the addition of the words, “An appeal of white women to American womanhood.” It is perhaps worth noting that this pamphlet was published not in the Rhineland, but in Berlin, and that the avoidance of names makes it impossible to verify or disprove the specific allegations. Furthermore as Mr. Dresel has pointed out to the department, practically all the alleged instances of misconduct by the French black troops cited in the German press give no reference to date or place and are therefore of little value as evidence.
On July 15 the American commissioner in Berlin sent to the department a translation of an account of the so-called American protest meeting against the use by France of colored troops in the Rhineland area, which was held in Berlin on the evening of July 4. In his covering dispatch Mr. Dresel pointed out that the addresses were bitterly anti-American as well as anti-French and that Miss Ray Beveridge and Mr. Scheffauer, both American citizens, were particularly vehement in their attacks on the American Government. I have thought it worth while to inclose this dispatch, with the accompanying translation, to call your attention to the competence of the witnesses on whose allegations this propaganda appears in large measure to be based.
Miss Ray Beveridge was formerly employed by the German embassy in Washington and was the organizer of “embargo conference” meetings in 1915. She states that she held a public meeting in the Reichstag Building to protest against the signing of the peace treaty. She refers to the former Emperor of Germany as “my Kaiser.” Mr. Edwin Emerson, formerly a newspaper man in Berlin connected with the antially Continental Times, has been living in Germany since 1917. During and since the war he has been carrying on antiallied propaganda work in Germany. John W. DeKay was identified with the Huerta dictatorship and attempted to import into Mexico rifles and ammunition, which were intercepted by the United States at Vera Cruz. He was indicted on nine counts in New York in 1913 for obtaining money on false pretenses and is a fugitive from justice in the Atlantic National Bank case. He is said to be the treasurer of the bolshevist party in Switzerland. He carried a Mexican passport in December, 1920, and was at one time granted a German passport by the German legation in Berne. Mr. H. G. Scheffauer, born in San Francisco in 1878, has lived in Germany since 1913. As coeditor of the Continental Times he contributed anti-American articles under assumed names. On January 6, 1919, he was indicted for treason--for writing, publishing, and distributing articles and propaganda in aid of the German cause. These people call themselves Americans, and as far as the department knows are the authors of most of the stories distributed in this country concerning the misconduct of the French black troops. It is necessary to speak of the Englishman, E. D. Morel, only because he is specifically mentioned in House joint resolution No. 433. Mr. Morel was, before the war, strongly anti-French and anti-Belgian. During the Moroccan crisis he upheld Germany and during the war was indicted under the defense of the realm act for sending uncensored letters to Switzerland. His articles on the “Black Terror” were published in the London Daily Herald, an extremely radical paper alleged to be subsidized by the Russian soviet government.
Finally, it should be called to the attention of your committee that these accusations against the French troops are also reaching America direct from Germany. As evidence of this there are inclosed photostat copies of two printed appeals sent in the mail from Germany to American citizens and by them forwarded to the department. The leaflet entitled “The Black Evil” reached America inclosed in a German magazine. You will note that there is no printer’s mark and that the American flag at the top is evidently intended to indicate that it was printed in America. Several of these leaflets have reached the department and copies have been sent to the Postmaster General for such action as he may see fit to take. The second leaflet, entitled “An Appeal to Americans,” contains the accusation against the French colored troops only as a further argument for American assistance.
As soon as the department received word of the introduction of House joint resolution No. 433 I telegraphed to Mr. Wallace for information as to the present personnel of the French troops of occupation. When his answer is received I shall be pleased to forward it to you. May I, however, call your attention to the fact that no recent allegations of misconduct of French soldiers have been made so far as the department is informed, all those detailed in the various published statements referring to a time prior to June 1, 1920.
In consideration of what I have said above, the facts that, although there were undoubtedly outrages, those proved guilty have been punished; that official American testimony as well as that given by many reputable Germans largely disproves the specific but unverifiable charges made by witnesses whose impartiality is certainly questionable; that the accusations appear to be a method of anti-French propaganda; that the French have long since withdrawn the Senegalese troops which were the only pure Negro troops used; that there appear to be no accusations against the behavior of such French colonial troops as remain in the occupied territories; that Mr. Wallace has already discussed the matter with the French prime minister, it would appear to me inadvisable that the American Government should be asked to take any further action at the present time.
I am very glad to be able to furnish you with full information in this matter and request only that the inclosures herewith be considered as for your confidential use and that of the members of your committee.
AMERICAN EMBASSY, Paris:
Department is receiving telegrams and letters protesting against the use of African troops in occupied Germany by the French. Please give your views as to the truth of the accusations being made against the behavior of these troops and whether you believe these accusations are well founded. Advise department what you deem advisable in the way of representations to the French Government on this subject. It is not department’s desire to lend too credulous an ear to these sensational reports and yet it may be of interest to the French Government to know that such reports are being persistently circulated and that they are having a harmful effect on public opinion, not being fully refuted.
