811.512394 Shipping/46

Memorandum by the Assistant Chief of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs (Hamilton) of a Conversation With the Special Assistant to the Assistant General Counsel, Bureau of Internal Revenue (Kent)

Mr. Kent telephoned and informed Mr. Hamilton that the Japanese steamship companies had consented to the request of the Treasury Department that the Treasury Department be given a sixty-day extension of the usual period for the filing by the Treasury Department of an answer to the petition of the steamship companies against payment by them of the taxes affirmed by the Treasury Department.

Mr. Kent said that they were making a very careful study of all the factors involved in the case and that their study to date indicated that there was a possibility that the Treasury Department might be able to make very substantial concessions to the Japanese steamship companies and might be able to arrive at a mutually satisfactory adjustment of the case.

Mr. Hamilton thanked Mr. Kent for communicating this information to the Department and expressed gratification at the assurances given by Mr. Kent that the Treasury Department was giving this matter its most careful and considerate attention.