File No. 656.119/199
The Acting Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Great Britain ( Page)1
6805. For Sheldon [from War Trade Board]:
No. 178. Your 8894, March 4, 11 p.m. We desire direct your attention that if carrying out by Dutch of tonnage part of final agreement is conditioned upon their later signing ration and blockade parts of such final agreement, Dutch Government can escape any obligation by later refusing to sign ration and blockade parts of final agreement. In the light of their treatment of temporary tonnage agreement we do not think much weight should be given to anything short of their unconditional agreement respecting ships, and even their being permitted by Germany to perform that may be doubtful. Delay in reaching determination respecting requisitioning will seriously impair shipping efficiency under Dutch charters as importance of keeping ships in our jurisdiction makes proper and effective routing impossible. We hope for your early conclusion regard to requisitioning.
Repeat Garrett and Stevens.
- See last sentence for instruction to repeat to Garrett, U. S. Minister in the Netherlands, and Stevens, U. S. representative on the Allied Maritime Transport Council.↩