File No. 661.119/250
The Ambassador in Great Britain (Page) to the Secretary of State
[Received 6.15 p.m.]
1639. Your 660, August 7, 6 [4] p.m.2 Your 854, August 19, 4 p.m., and your 1162, September 3, 5 p.m.3 I am informed that the Wheat Executive4 on August 20 reported that 15,000 tons of flour had already been shipped from Montreal to Archangel and that a further demand for 22,000 tons of flour, 5,250 tons of oatmeal, and 3,500 tons of oats for immediate shipment from North America had been received and it was agreed that the supplies should be provided subject to replacement by the Food Administration from stock lying at North American seaboard and originally intended for shipment to the European Allies. The Wheat Executive minutes state that the demand was purely military one and that the tonnage used for transportation of the cereals was tonnage which would otherwise have been used for transport of foodstuffs to the Allies. I understand that the [Page 143] Wheat Executive have arranged for shipment of total foregoing amounts.
Further information on this subject is expected after next meeting of the Allied Maritime Transport Council, but in view of the present serious shortage of tonnage for anything but imperative Allied needs it is very doubtful whether any British tonnage is available for the rationing of the Murmansk and Archangel districts this winter.