File No. 652.119/765
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Great Britain ( Page)
7464, For Sheldon [from War Trade Board]:
No. 401. Your No. 466, Embassy No. 9653, April 22, 6 p.m.1 Our obligation freely to supply Spanish ships with bunkers continues only during the first two months of agreement and we therefore have bunker control as a lever to induce Spain to make an agreement with us which would put at least some portion of Spanish merchant marine into a service useful to us. Captain Fisher further has pointed out that Great Britain’s obligation to bunker is limited and that Great Britain can exert substantial pressure along this same line.
The British Government through Captain Fisher suggested that since both Governments had inducements to offer Spain the negotiations should be jointly conducted. This was agreeable to us and we therefore proposed in our 3481 that British should nominate as joint negotiator with Chadbourne some one who has expert shipping [Page 1678] knowledge. We can, of course, send shipping expert from this country to advise Chadbourne, but since British Government has expressed desire that negotiations be jointly conducted, it seemed to us more expeditious that their negotiator be a shipping expert and that he should proceed at once to join Chadbourne and with him initiate negotiations.
The Spanish Government have through their Embassy requested that negotiations be promptly opened.