Letter from Frederick H. Boland to Joseph P. Walshe (Holy See)

I was very interested to read your report (24/3) of the 15th November about the distribution of our relief supplies in Italy.¹ I can see that we had a very narrow escape, due, obviously, to Signor Nenni's blind and irrational hatred of everything connected with the Church and religion.

The procedure followed in connection with this particular consignment was, of course, the same as that which we had followed in connection with all the consignments to Italy since the relief programme first began. The relief supplies allocated to Italy were, of course, offered as a gift to the Italian Government. Although both this year's and last year's gifts were formally unconditional, Signor Babuscio, who, after his conversations with you, had obviously every reason for knowing our wishes in the matter, should have seen to it that the gifts were not distributed by his Government in a manner calculated to occasion criticism and embarrassment here. I imagine that Signor Babuscio did all that was necessary in this regard, but that the new Foreign Minister gave his order in complete disregard of Babuscio's recommendations.

Actually, we have had a good deal of criticism about the manner in which our relief supplies have been allocated and distributed. I wonder whether we were wise ever to rely so much upon the International Red Cross at all. Although we went out of our way this year to tell them in the clearest terms that we wished that 50% of the Irish relief supplies destined for Hungary should go to the Actio Catholica in Budapest, the responsibility seems to have been shuffled on to the Hungarian Red Cross, with the result that the Actio Catholica got nothing like the proportion we had indicated. We sent the International Red Cross a very sharp message about this. I got the impression that the International Red Cross is a bit too concerned to preserve its own reputation for undenominationalism, and that requests such as we made to them in connection with the Hungarian supplies rather embarrassed them. It is not as if the International Red Cross were doing the work for us for nothing. They put in a bill for 569,000 Swiss francs for their services in connection with our 1945-46 relief supplies (of which, you may remember, they were responsible for only 20%), and we had no option but to pay it.

If we were going to have a relief programme for the year 1947-48, we would be inclined, I think, to reconsider the question of the method and means of distributing the supplies. Actually, however, it appears very unlikely that any relief programme will be provided for after the end of the present financial year. The feeling seems to be gaining ground here, particularly in the Dáil, that we have already done enough and that, with the supply position in respect of some of the principal foods worse here at the moment than at any time during the war, no one could reasonably criticize us if we are unable to do more. The feeling is particularly strong at the moment, because the prospect that we may be left without sugar for the next twelve months, owing to the strikes at the sugar factories, places our action in having sent 10,000 tons of sugar to Europe within the last six or eight months in a bad light.