File No. 600.119/3069
The Commercial Adviser of the British Embassy ( Crawford ) to the Counselor for the Department of State ( Polk )
[Received December 27.]
My Dear Polk : The Foreign Office have now sent us a reply regarding the question of the proposed Christmas gifts to Norway, Sweden and Denmark. They state that in deference to your views they are willing to agree to the principle of the despatch of these shipments. They suggest, however, that the Norwegian ships to be chartered in return for Christmas concession should, if possible, be taken from class 5 and employed in trades of importance to the conduct of the war. They presume that, in any case, the ships carrying these cargoes will give a guarantee to return to a United States port.
Yours very truly,