811.711/1601
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Under Secretary of State (Welles)
The Soviet Ambassador called to see me this afternoon at his request. He said that he believed he was now receiving all mail addressed to the Embassy and he had no reason to suppose that his consulates were not receiving the mail which was addressed to them.
He said, however, that he had no information as to what this Government proposed to do with regard to legitimate mail of a non-propaganda type sent from the Soviet Union to private individuals or institutions in this country. He said that in the note which I had sent him I had promised to give him further information on this matter and that he had not yet received it. He also took occasion to renew his vehement complaint about the showing in moving picture theaters in the United States of a news reel which showed the burning in the United States Government Post Office of Russian mail.
I replied to the Ambassador that I would be glad to find out what the situation might be in this regard and that I would talk with him again about this matter the next time I saw him.