May 26, 1998

To the Members of the Executive Committee of the International Economic History Association

Dear Prof.

On 22 May, PROCONSUR received a reply from Prof. Scott Eddie in response to our statement of 20 May. This was the first reply we received from the I.E.H.A. after months of attempts to communicate the seriousness of the situation. Thank you, Prof. Eddie.

This reply encourages PROCONSUR to take certain actions which it otherwise would not have done. This communication would be meaningless if nobody had replied.

We deduce from Prof. Eddie's message and from other indications seen on Internet that his position is not comfortable. As we have previously stated, PROCOINSUR is at your disposal. If you want our co-operation, you have only to send us a signal.

But this signal must come soon. PROCONSUR is under very intense pressure, as today is the deadline for our announced public statement and for the diffusion by Internet of a communiqui by Prof. Tortella (and Prof. Goy?) which says "we would like to summarise some of the reasons which have forced us (them), AFTER PREVIOUSLY CONSULTING THE MEMBERS OF THE BUREAU AND DULY NOTIFYING THE MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, to suspend the Twelfth International Economic History Congress". We are in complete disagreement with almost all of the contents of this communiqui, but neither we nor you have time now for a detailed rebuttal of the arguments. The contents of the communiqui (or draft, or whatever it might be) do not stand examination in the light of the facts, as will be shown later.

If the Executive Committee is able to designate one or more institutional bodies to take responsibility for holding the Congress, it will be possible to hold it in Seville on the advertised dates. PROCONSUR repeats to Executive Committee the offer rejected by Prof. Tortella. PROCONSUR is willing to make such sacrifices as are necessary, including the reduction of its fees for the work done over the last few years to one peseta, and to assume the possible losses incurred by the Congress, provided that it is held in Seville. As far as PROCONSUR is concerned, there are aspects which are more important than economic losses.

Undoubtedly, this will be no easy task. The announcement of the suspension and previous interventions by Prof. Tortella have caused unease in numerous circles in Seville. The Rector of the University of Seville, the host to the Congress, received an announcement of the cancellation from Prof. Tortella in April. This was also received by the University Publications Service, the body charged with the publication of Congress Proceedings. Furthermore, on 16 March, Prof. Tortella sent a note directly to all of the Congress hotels, which was considered offensive by the recipients. Other bodies and institutions co-operating in the organisation of the Congress have felt irritated. But, as all of them feel that, in the words of Prof. Munro, "the situation has brought disgrace and humiliation upon the nation of Spain", PROCONSUR believes that it is possible that, if the Executive Committee were to decide to go ahead with the Congress, these local circles will renew their support.

One more condition would be necessary: that the Executive Committee receives and administers the economic aid to the Congress which has been received by the Foundation presided by Prof. Tortella. We are unaware of the amounts received to date, given that, although a large part was managed totally or partially by PROCONSUR, the crisis prevented any further monitoring. What is certain is that these amounts will be considerably less than those we could have expected if the crisis had not occurred. The information to which we have had access indicates that such aid would, in any case, be not less than thirty million pesetas. Given that PROCONSUR has financed all of the costs of the Congress from 1994 until today, excepting those covered by Prof. Tortella after the crisis, and with the negative effect that the situation might have on aid to and attendance at the Congress, PROCONSUR could only take on the tasks involved if it is allocated at least a part of these funds.

There is no doubt that this communiqui will not answer all of the questions which arise about how the current situation has come about, since when and why. Very shortly, we will be giving all of the information and explanations we have to hand, although we must warn you that we ourselves do not understand many things. But we believe that, at the moment, the priority is to find last-minute solutions for over a thousand economic historians (forecasts previous to the crisis indicated attendance of over 1,500) who, quite reasonably, expect to see the fruits of their work. As Prof. Komlos wrote, "the show must go on". For its part, PROCONSUR is willing to do all in its power so that it does.

We understand that it is impossible for you to come to a decision today. But if you send us a positive signal, we will announce to the persons registered that, for this reason, we intend to postpone the communiqui we had announced. Certainly, such a postponement may cause irritation to some, but we believe that the majority will receive it favourably if it is accompanied by a sign of hope.

PROCONSUR, and many more, await your replies.

Yours sincerely,

Pablo Recio