File No. 654.119/97a
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Great Britain ( Page)
6181. At inter-Allied conference in Paris it was agreed that Switzerland should be guaranteed 30,000 tons of bread grains per month for eight months, for which arrangement the initial stimulus came from Sir Horace Rumbold. On the basis of this understanding, the American agreement with Switzerland contained this promise.2 This agreement before being signed with the Swiss representative was accepted by the British and French Blockade representatives, and after signature by Chairman of War Trade Board was ratified at the final meeting of the conference. For reasons now unclear to us, the Inter-Allied Wheat Executive seems disinclined to fulfill the understanding. We have suggested that the Inter-Allied Wheat Executive should furnish the stated sum for December and January, and that tonnage be then allocated to Switzerland to secure the later amounts from Argentine, since the tonnage is controlled by the Allies and Switzerland possesses for January no charters whatsoever. The 60,000 tons of bread grains for December and January were [Page 1593] necessarily coming out of the sum agreed for exportation from this country during this time. We are advised that the situation in Switzerland is critical and fulfillment of the agreement is as important as its original formulation.