File No. 658.119/659
The Secretary of State to the Chargé in Great Britain ( Laughlin)
2279. For Sheldon [from War Trade Board]:
No. 1444. Embassy 2807, October 15, your 1667. Referring to your letter No. 5385, September 12,1 the following reply was despatched to you by pouch on October 10:
The Departments of Commerce and State have prepared the following memorandum which you are authorized to sign and present to the British Treasury:
With reference to Swedish agreement of May 29, 1918, between the British Minster of Munitions and the Grängesberg Trading Company for the purchase [Page 1292] of 2,000,000 tons of iron ore, I am authorized by the Government of the United States to state that on the 29th day of June, 1918, the President of the United States made an allotment of $6,000,000 out of a fund available for that purpose to be expended by the Secretary of Commerce in payment to the proper authorities of the Government of Great Britain of a one-third part of the purchase price (together with storage and transportation charges and any other expense in connection with the purchase, storage and transportation to the United States) of 2,000,000 tons of Swedish iron ore, the purchase of which is provided for in the agreement of May 29, 1918, between the Governments Of Great Britain, France and Italy and the Government of Sweden. A copy of the order making said allotment is annexed hereto. Pursuant to the order, the sum of $6,000,000 has been transferred on the books of the United States Treasury Department and is now subject to the order of the Secretary of Commerce for the purposes authorized by said order.
To this memorandum should be attached a copy of the Executive order referred to which was sent to you by pouch some time ago.1 Should you be unable to find copy wire us and we will cable you its text.