811.24 Raw Materials/161: Telegram
The Chargé in the Netherlands (Benton) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 5—9 a.m.]
84. Legation’s 64, May 9, 4 p.m. The following is the translation of a note dated June 3 embodying the reply of the Netherlands Government which the Foreign Minister has just sent to me.
“With reference to His Excellency Mr. Gordon’s note number 251, of May 8 last (see paragraph 2, Legation’s telegram under reference), concerning the proposal of the Government of the United States to study the possibilities of an exchange of raw materials, I have the honor to inform you that the Government has not failed to submit the contents of the note to a thorough study.
It is with regret that I have to inform you that this study has not resulted in the elimination of the objections formulated in the aide-mémoire handed by me to Mr. Gordon on April 29 last (see the Legation’s telegram No. 58, April 29, 2 p.m.). The Netherlands Government is not in a position to deviate from the point of view set forth in the said aide-mémoire. Moreover, an investigation of the reserves of wheat and cotton accumulated in the Netherlands shows that these reserves in no wise justify supplementary stocking of the products in question, the reserve of wheat being considered sufficient to provide for the needs of the population in war time, while the quantity of cotton available does not for the present call for the necessity of securing a surplus of any importance. In regretting, therefore, in view of the foregoing, not being in a position to consent to a transaction such as has been proposed by the Government of the United States, the Netherlands Government reiterates that it is ready, on the basis previously indicated, to collaborate with the Government of the United States in its endeavors to acquire stocks of rubber and tin.”