File No. 861.48/408
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Great Britain ( Page)
5808. Your 7623, November 7, 6 p.m. You may inform Foreign Office that this Government is giving its most careful attention to the question of issuing licenses for the transmission of relief funds and individual remittances to Poland and fully intends not only to limit these remittances to the lowest reasonable amount but also to arrange for adequate control over their distribution and payment in Poland in order that no money will fall directly or indirectly into the hands of the enemy.
This whole question of permitting the transmission of funds to Poland has been most carefully examined by this Government which has reached the decision that such relief should not be cut altogether off, not only on account of the consideration it owes to the views of the loyal Jewish and Polish elements in this country who desire to prevent the starvation of their relatives in Poland, but also from the broader viewpoint of humanity. This Government is fully alive to the importance of enforcing the financial blockade of Germany and is desirous of supporting the policy of the British Government to this end in so far as it can do so consistently with the considerations indicated. It is of the opinion, after careful and thorough investigation, that the sum total of the remittances sent to Poland from this country will result in inappreciable advantage to the enemy and [Page 523] that its effect upon German exchange will be too inconsiderable to warrant the complete discontinuance of the work in view of the issues involved.
While fully approving, therefore, of the principle involved in the suggestions of the British Government, this Government feels that it is at present not in a position to adopt the actual procedure proposed, and that it must so far as possible work out its own plans based on conditions existing in the United States.