124.611/253: Telegram
The Chargé in the Soviet Union ( Wiley ) to the Secretary of State
87. My 63, February 15, 1 p.m.85 Following reply received from Foreign Office to the Embassy’s note of January 11th on proposed construction. Paragraphs are numbered for the Department’s convenience.
“Dear Mr. Wiley:
- 1.
- In your letter of January 11th, 1935, you expressed the desire to obtain ‘explanations’ on several questions which are of interest to the Government of the United States of America in connection with the proposed construction in Moscow of a building for the American Embassy. I did not fail to bring these questions to the attention of the competent organizations which have given them careful consideration with the aim of acceding insofar as possible to the ‘interests’ of the American Government. I am at present able to convey to you the following.
- 2.
- The Government of the Soviet Union is prepared to free from the payment of customs duty materials whose importation in the opinion of the Government of the United States of America is necessary for the construction of the Embassy building of the United States Government in Moscow.
- 3.
- Likewise no objections are raised to the entry and residence in the Soviet Union naturally on the general basis of, and in full conformity with, the existing laws of the Soviet Union of such workmen and employees of the American Government, citizens of the United States of America, who will work on the construction of the building in question in Moscow. Of course, Soviet organs do not assume any obligations to provide these workmen and employees with apartments or with facilities.
- 4.
- With reference to the question raised in your note concerning the employment and payment of local labor necessary for the said construction, the competent organizations consider that all questions concerning the employment, dismissal, and payment of labor must be decided only on the basis of the general regulations and laws in force in the Soviet Union. The competent organs do not consider it possible to form a special Soviet economic organization for the employment and payment of labor for the above-mentioned construction.
- 5.
- In regard to the proposed local purchase of building materials, the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs and the competent organizations will not fail to cooperate with the American Embassy in facilitating these purchases. The People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs, since it is not an economic organization, is unable to give the American Embassy information on the prices of various types of material as that is a question of a purely commercial nature. I suppose that the Embassy could obtain information on this question from the Torgsin Company.
- 6.
- Finally the payment of railroad and local transportation in connection with the hauling of the above-mentioned materials and equipment for the construction according to the ‘explanations’ received from the competent organizations must be made in accordance with the existing rates.
- 7.
- I hope that the above explanations make it possible to recognize the presence of all conditions necessary to guarantee successful construction. Accept, et cetera, (signed) N. Krestinski”.
With the exception of the right to import materials reply throughout completely unsatisfactory and in view of oral assurances of Mezhlauk to Ambassador and the representations of the Embassy the concluding sentence (paragraph 7) is particularly cynical.
The following points may be specially noted:
- (1)
- Eight to bring in “foreign workmen” was requested but only “American citizens” mentioned in reply.
- (2)
- Request for facilitating employment and payment of local labor flatly denied which is clearly designed to force American Government to confide construction to a Soviet agency.
- (3)
- Refusal of Soviet Government to give desired quotations or estimates on prices of local material and costs of transportation. Torgsin prices already submitted to Department were unsatisfactory. Existing rates of transportation in paper rubles prohibitive at legal rate of exchange. The purpose of course of requesting such quotations was to avoid dealing with subordinate organizations and becoming involved in intricacies of Soviet exchange system.
I will await Department’s instructions before proceeding further in this matter.
Wiley