711.00111 Armament Control/Military Secrets/1076

The Secretary of State to E. W. Bliss Company, Brooklyn, New York

Sirs: I acknowledge the receipt of your letter of April 21, 1938,97 in regard to your proposal to supply the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics with a complete plant for the manufacture of small arms ammunition, including the necessary machinery and full information concerning the operation thereof.

In reply, I have to inform you that, from the facts stated in your letter, it would appear that the proposed transaction would not contravene any existing treaty or statute provided that no military secrets of interest to the National Defense are involved in the machinery which you propose to export.

In this connection, I invite your attention to the provisions of Part V of the enclosed pamphlet International Traffic in Arms.98 Should [Page 686] you have any reason to believe that the machinery in question may possibly involve military secrets of interest to the National Defense, you may wish to follow the procedure indicated in the final paragraph under the heading “Special Provisions in regard to Military Secrets.”

Very truly yours,

For the Secretary of State:
Joseph C. Green

Chief, Office of Arms and Munitions Control
  1. Not printed.
  2. Department of State publication No. 1023 (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1937).