861.48/1806

The Secretary of State to the Secretary of the Treasury (Mellon)

My Dear Mr. Secretary: In reply to your letter of January 7, 1922, on the subject of the acceptance by the United States Assay Offices of a quantity of Russian gold in bars, which is to be tendered by the Guaranty Trust Company on behalf of the American Relief [Page 825] Administration, I beg to inform you that I concur in the view that the tender of this gold constitutes a special case in view of the fact that the gold is being expended for humanitarian purposes on behalf of the whole Russian people. This Department offers no objection, therefore, to your proposal to accept it.

It is understood that the acceptance of this gold does not establish a precedent for the acceptance of other lots of Russian gold which may have been brought to this country under different circumstances.

I am [etc.]

Charles E. Hughes