File No. 861.51/224a
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Russia (Francis)
1761. From Secretary of the Treasury:
The Secretary of the Treasury has received an application from Ambassador Bakhmeteff for the establishment of additional credits in favor of the Russian Government to meet their requirements until January 1, 1918, in a sum aggregating $235,000,000, made up of the following items: Current expenses of the Ministry of Finance, $45,000,000; orders placed by the Russian Supply Committee in New York, $10,000,000; payments on credit operations, $2,000,000; provision for transportation, $5,000,000; payments in Sweden, $33,000,000; new orders to be placed through the recently established Purchasing Commission here, $140,000,000. Of the total of $235,000,000, the Ambassador estimates that the cash requirements up to January 1, 1918, will be approximately $140,000,000, made up of the full sums indicated under each of the above items, except that of the $140,-000,000 for orders to be placed through the Purchasing Commission, but $45,000,000 of which will be needed in cash by that date. In addition the Ambassador estimates that cash withdrawals under the credits already standing in favor of the Russian Government up to January 1, 1918, will be approximately $41,000,000, making a total of estimated cash withdrawals to that date of $181,000,000.
Before acting on the application for the establishment of the additional credits referred to, the Secretary of the Treasury would be pleased to have your advice on the subject.
Enormous pressure on Treasury from all sides renders wholly impossible full compliance with all Allied requests. All are now asked to observe utmost moderation in presenting requests.