Office of the Historian

Paris Peace Conf. 871.51/9: Telegram

The Acting Secretary of State to the Commission to Negotiate Peace

Washington , January 15, 1919—5 p.m.
[Received January 16—1:10 p.m.]79

245. For President from Glass.

  • First. Your message regarding Roumania was received.80 Advance to Roumania will be made when essential requirements imposed by loan statutes are met. Wired Davis several days ago particulars and that Treasury would make advance whenever put in position to do so legally.81 Understand that State Department has cabled on subject.
  • Second. Appreciate importance of food supplies in relation to your policies and anxious to use powers of Treasury to support them. Treasury has uniformly recognized supplies of foodstuffs to European Allies as a purpose for which loans could be made under existing law and will continue to do so until conditions change or you advise to the contrary. In no case has it refused to make such loans.
  • Third. Appreciate desirability of marketing our surplus products and that this is a collateral advantage of the policy of supplying foods to Europe. The question of Treasury’s attitude on prevention of loss to producers has been raised here. Treasury has taken position that artificial upholding of prices was undesirable because of burden thereby imposed on commodity in general and the disadvantage at which our industries would be placed in international markets. Since the armistice many claims for indirect protection of prices have been put forward in regard to commodities the production of which have been stimulated to meet war needs. Treasury has maintained that [Page 721] any obligations of our government to producers of great commodities should be met by direct appropriation and payment as is proposed by bills now pending. In the case of certain minerals I am convinced that to meet such obligations indirectly by using governmental powers granted for other specific purposes to prevent losses to the producers by artificial maintenance of price is both economically and politically objectionable. McCormick is familiar with, and I believe fully shares substance my views on these questions which I hope have your approval.
Polk
  1. Text printed from corrected copy received Jan. 19, 1919, 4:30 p.m.↩
  2. See telegram No. 215, Jan. 9, 1919, 5 p.m., from the Commission to Negotiate Peace, p. 712.↩
  3. Telegram supra. ↩