File No. 658.119/289
The Ambassador in Great Britain (Page) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 1, 2.50 p.m.]
9298. War Trade Board [from Sheldon]:
No. 361. Your 155, February 13 [March 2].
- Paragraph 1. If negotiations materialize, it is proposed that no doubt shall be left about the meaning of the word “agreement” in clause 14 of tonnage proposal.
- Paragraph 2. The amounts of rations suggested were realized to be somewhat in excess of requirements, but during the negotiations it was thought best to make them attractive in the hope of securing advantages that could not be otherwise obtained.
- Paragraph 3. Under clause 18 of the heads of agreement.1 The agreement will remain in force for at least eight months and by clause 14 of the tonnage agreement, the extension of the charters, which will take place at the end of the sixth month, will extend to the end of the twelfth month.
Captain Fisher has raised, in telegrams to the Foreign Office, the question whether it was the intention of the United States Government to sign the Swedish agreement, should it be concluded. Owing to present conditions, the need for decision on this point hardly appears immediate, but I should like to get your ideas on this subject as the Foreign Office had in mind to have a formal agreement between the Governments of Sweden and Great Britain. Would your idea be that the United States Government should be a party to that agreement or that the War Trade Board should associate itself with the [Allied] Governments in the agreement?