811.24 Raw Materials/270
Memorandum by Mr. Roy Veatch of the Office of the Adviser on International Economic Affairs
This Act14 authorizes appropriations totalling $100,000,000 during the fiscal years June 30, 1939 to June 30, 1943, for the purchase of reserve stocks of strategic materials. The interested Departments recommended an appropriation of $25,000,000 for the present fiscal year (beginning June 30, 1939) and finally secured the approval of the President and the Bureau of the Budget for such an estimate. This amount was cut to $10,000,000 by the House of Representatives, acting upon the third deficiency bill during the closing days of the session, and the latter amount was approved by the Senate. There will be available, therefore, only $10,000,000 for purchases to be made between the present time and June 30, 1940.
Purchases under this Act are to be made by the Procurement Division of the Treasury at the direction of the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy. The Secretaries of War, the Navy, and the Interior, acting jointly through the agency of the Army and Navy Munitions Board, are directed to determine the quality and quantities of strategic and critical materials to be purchased and the Secretaries of State, Treasury, and Commerce are directed to designate representatives to cooperate in such determination. Dr. Feis has been appointed as the representative of this Department for this purpose and it is expected that a group representing the six Departments concerned will meet immediately after Dr. Feis’ return from vacation on August 10, to advise with respect to the purchasing directions to be given the Procurement Division of the Treasury.
For the confidential information of the Department, the Army and Navy Munitions Board will recommend purchases during the present fiscal year of the following strategic materials:
| tin | quinine |
| manganese | manila fiber |
| tungsten | optical glass |
| chromium | quartz crystal |
The order in which these materials are listed also indicates roughly the relative value of the purchases recommended. It is the suggestion of the Army and Navy Munitions Board that some 40% of the total be allotted to the purchase of tin.
- i. e., the Strategic Materials Act, approved June 7, 1939; 53 Stat. 811.↩