Office of the Historian

800.6176/93a: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Kennedy)

Washington, August 31, 1939—10 a.m.

734. Viles informs us that Campbell27 telephoned him from London just as he was about to leave for the September 7 meeting stating that in the judgment of the British Government the situation was so uncertain as to counsel postponement of the September 7 meeting. He told Viles however that he, Campbell, would get in touch with the Committee members and secure authorization for a 10 percent increase in the third quarter to facilitate the carrying out of the Anglo-American agreement.28

Will you please check the situation at once, making clear to the British Government that it is imperative that these additional rubber releases be authorized without any unexpected delay.

Hull
  1. Sir John Campbell, Chairman of the International Rubber Regulation Committee.↩
  2. Agreement for the exchange of rubber and cotton, signed June 23, 1939, Department of State Treaty Series No. 947, or 54 Stat. 1411. For correspondence concerning the agreement, see vol. ii , section entitled “Negotiations Between the United States and the United Kingdom …” under United Kingdom.↩