File No. 300.115/8621

The Acting Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Great Britain ( Page )

No. 3676

Sir: There is enclosed an affidavit of the National Association of Hosiery and Underwear Manufacturers, Inc., of Philadelphia, and the enclosures thereto, with reference to the urgent need of knitting needles in the United States.1 This application is made on behalf of all the importers of knitting needles of German origin, and the needles, if obtained, will be distributed among the various American mills which are in need thereof. As you will see by these enclosures, it is impossible to obtain anything like adequate supplies of knitting needles from any other source, and if it is impossible to obtain the supplies covered by this application, it will be necessary for many knitting mills in this country to partially or entirely suspend operations in the very near future. Indeed, a large number of machines are already idle due to lack of needles.

It is estimated that the needles for which this application is filed will keep American mills running for the period of approximately a year. This application is presented through you instead of to the British Embassy at this capital, as the application is not made on [Page 572] the ground that it comes within the unofficial arrangement entered into between the Foreign Trade Adviser of this Department and the British Embassy, but on the ground that it is urgently needed for American industries and therefore within the terms of the assurances given by the British Ambassador to the Secretary of Commerce that goods urgently needed for American industries will be permitted to come forward consigned to the Secretary of Commerce.

You are instructed unofficially to bring this information to the attention of the British Foreign Office and urge an early and favorable decision so that these knitting needles may be allowed uninterrupted shipment to the United States, for the benefit of American industries, at the earliest possible moment, and to inform the Department by cablegram of any information received from the British Foreign Office in regard to the matter.

I am [etc.]

Frank L. Polk
  1. Not printed.