763.72/4524½a
The Secretary of State to President Wilson
My Dear Mr. President: In our conference yesterday with Mr. Balfour and members of his Commission on the subject of export restrictions, he and Lord Percy called attention to the large amount of commercial information which the British Government had collected in regard to firms doing business in the neutral countries of Europe—information which the British Government was using in discriminating between persons in those countries to whom goods might safely be allowed to be shipped, and another class of persons who were merely channels of trade with Germany. Mr. Balfour thought that, in the enforcement of the pending legislation for the control of exports, it would be a great convenience, if not a necessity, to have the information in London available to the United States, and he suggested, as a means of keeping in touch with the British information, that a person be designated by the United States to represent it in the War Trade Intelligence Department in London.
I think that it is very important to follow out Mr. Balfour’s suggestion in this respect, and I am calling the matter to your particular attention for consideration. I think the representative should be somebody from the United States who is familiar with general trade conditions and with the policies of our Government. If you approve Mr. Balfour’s suggestion, I will present some names for your consideration, unless you already have some persons in mind.
I should add that, until the Exports Control Bill pending in Congress has been passed, we will have no machinery for using the information from London, in controlling exports from the United States.
Faithfully yours,