861.24/148
The Acting Secretary of State to the Secretary of War
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of April 30, 1919 with enclosures, raising the question as to the sale of rifles and other war materials to the Finnish, Esthonian and Lettish Republics.
In reply I have the honor to inform you that I have a communication from the American Mission at Paris approving the sale of rifles to Finland, and to those parts of Esthonia and Latvia which are non-Bolshevik. However, it is requested by this Department that any proposals to dispose of rifles and machine guns of Russian type should first be considered in connection with the general question of furnishing arms to the Russian forces of Admiral Kolchak and other non-Bolshevik groups.
I have [etc.]