800.6354/166: Telegram
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Kennedy) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 31—7:12 p.m.]
2231. 1. The Colonial Office states that the following was embodied in the minutes of the tin meeting and has been circulated by Campbell to the International Tin Committee as part of the British proposals:
“It was also agreed that the U. S. A. Embassy in London should be approached with the object of inducing the authorities in the United States to defer their purchases, of about four to five thousand tons of tin, till conditions are more normal. To superimpose this demand on the present very heavy trade demands would tend to accentuate existing difficulties; on the other hand, if the demand were postponed till the position is more normal, it would have a desirable equilibrising effect, at a time when that would not prove of special value to producers.”
The Colonial Office today formally expressed the hope that the United States Government would defer its purchases.
2. By a Board of Trade order export licenses for metallic tin are now suspended. The Colonial Office states that this is a temporary measure occasioned by the shortage of metal in this market, that considerable amounts of Nigerian ore are on the way, as to that it is expected that Bolivian shipments will follow. When these supplies of ore can be refined and the shortage thus relieved the order will be rescinded.
3. I have obtained authentic information from a source which cannot be specified that the Dutch have agreed to the British proposal referred to in my 2197 of October 28, 1 p.m., but on the condition that the maximum price be raised. My impression is that whereas the British desire to obtain as much foreign exchange as possible from the sale of such raw materials as tin and rubber, in view of their assurances to us and their public stand on the maximum price (the latest of which is to be found in my 2190, October 27) they are quite prepared to implement their recent proposal. How far they will be willing to resist Dutch pressure if it is unabated is another matter.
[Page 941]The last two sentences of my 2197, October 28, 1 p.m., can now be disregarded. You may wish to instruct the Minister at The Hague to reenforce the British proposal, knowledge of which could have reached you through Todd; but if the question of raising the maximum price is brought up he must be in every way prepared to defend the existing maximum price without in any way giving the impression that information as to the Dutch reply was obtained from British sources.
I am sure any course we take in this matter has disadvantages. If we do nothing the game is probably lost and if we take action and the Dutch cannot be moved the game is probably also lost.
4. Copies of previous telegrams have been sent to The Hague but this telegram will not be repeated to The Hague.