860d.51/357
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Secretary of State
The Minister of Finland called and, after giving me a number of figures about the fiscal situation of his Government and its commercial strength, stated that Finland’s standing army, made necessary by Soviet menace, required considerable expense, and his Government would be deeply interested in securing credits from this Government in the amount of from 50 to 60 million dollars—credits largely to be expended in this country but some for general expenditures elsewhere. He said that his Government had not bought any military equipment, munitions, etc., from Germany but from Great Britain and Sweden. I referred him to Mr. Jesse Jones and also to Secretary Morgenthau. He did not seem to be so much worried about the Russian invasion or Russian domination immediately as he was two nights ago when he telephoned a very alarming message to Mr. Sumner Welles.