611.60F31/55
Memorandum by the Secretary of State
The Minister of Czechoslovakia1 came in and expressed real interest in the development of a reciprocity trade agreement between this Government and his Government. I repeated to him the outlines of our general economic and commercial policy and program and suggested that he keep in touch with us from month to month, and especially with Drs. Sayre2 and Grady.3 I suggested that if the statesmen of his and other countries would preach the fundamentals of our program as we were endeavoring to preach them in this country, it would greatly aid his and other governments in making a beginning in the direction of more liberal commercial policy.
He expressed his strong approval and added that all of these narrow, shortsighted, and so-called horsetrading methods were getting nowhere and would not do so; that he was in agreement with me that the sum total of these methods was more hurtful than helpful in the end, and that mutually profitable trade restoration was the all desired need of the world.
The Minister spoke of different bartering methods, and finally referred to the proposed German purchase of a maximum of 800,000 bales of cotton from this country. He then commented to the effect that Germany would pay blocked marks of uncertain value, and require Americans to purchase some kind of German goods at any kind of prices and finally find ways to get them back into the United States and sell them for whatever they might be able to get; that the Germans on the other hand would be taking no risk whatever, but would be selling much of the cotton in one form or another to other countries and receiving cash; that this was in striking contrast with what the American cotton seller would get.