File No. 600.119/521

The Ambassador in Great Britain ( Page) to the Secretary of State

[Telegram]

8670. The Foreign Office has approached me informally on the desirability of setting up some kind of a blockade council. They hope that the project will materialize in the near future, but meanwhile suggest that the establishment here of an international subcommittee [Page 958] on rationing and statistics would make the practical working of blockade operations smoother and easier.

Therefore it is evident that questions on these subjects must arise in the course of our negotiations with neutrals, and that it would be convenient to have some international body that could give us authoritatively the statistical facts involved. The Foreign Office proposes, therefore, to ask Mr. R. E. Harwood to serve on such a committee and to ask the Italian and French Governments each to nominate a member. In view of this action they inquire whether the Government of the United States would be disposed to do likewise. Should you consent to this, I would suggest that I be authorized to designate Sheldon of my staff.

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