711.61/720: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union ( Steinhardt ) to the Secretary of State
[Received 3:58 p.m.]
332. Assistant Commissar for Foreign Affairs Lozovski requested me late last night to call at the Foreign Office. Upon my arrival he stated that he desired to call my attention somewhat informally to a series of unfriendly actions in the United States against the Soviet Union and he proceeded to cite what he described as “only some” of the particular incidents to which exception is taken. He stated that a memorandum listing several grievances was in course of preparation and would be delivered to me this morning. The memorandum has been received and is transcribed below in free translation.
The attention of the Embassy of the United States of America is hereby directed to the following occurrences which have recently taken place.
[Page 260]1. Assistant Secretary of War Louis Johnson at a dinner of the Bankers Association on January 15, 1940 delivered a speech containing rude attacks against the Soviet Union and insults against the armed forces of the Soviet Union.
The Government of the United States of America took and is taking no action whatsoever in connection with unfounded charges and insults which have been directed against the Soviet Union and its representative in Washington, Mr. Oumansky, by the American press and in the Dies Committee.79
2. American authorities have “humiliated” Soviet citizens. For instance, Soviet engineers Kolesnikov, Davydov and Tsyganovski and his wife whose documents and American visas were in full order were upon their arrival in New York on December 6, 1939 on the steamer Gripsholm, prevented from landing and were taken to the “island of tears”80 for examination as immigrants. Moreover, immigration officials subjected these Soviet citizens to an absurd investigation, asking them whether “they had come for purposes of espionage.”
3. The American authorities have adopted the course of encouraging the disruption of commercial contracts between American firms and Soviet economic organizations, even to the extent of setting up a discriminatory regime against the Soviet Union.
The so called “moral embargo” on aviation equipment, airplanes, molybdenum, aluminum, technical assistance for the production of aviation fuel, et cetera, has been applied to the Soviet Union.
In connection with the “moral embargo” the American firms Lummus and Universal have recalled all their specialists from the Soviet Union.81 The Lummus firm in a letter to Machinoimport82 stated that it had recalled its specialists in accordance with instructions received from the Department. A telegraphic communication from the Lummus Company dated January 4, 1940 and subsequent communications from Amtorg in February and March indicate that the American firms Lummus and Universal, although they had not fulfilled their contractual obligations to send specialists to enterprises in the Soviet Union, cited the refusal of the Department of State to grant visas for the travel of American specialists to the Soviet Union.
5 [4]. Government authorities of the United States have recommended to industrialists that they apply the “moral embargo” to the Soviet Union and by so doing have encouraged firms having connections with economic organizations in the Soviet Union to violate their contracts and to render more difficult the placing of Soviet orders as is proved by the refusal to accept our orders on the part of several firms such as Pratt Whitney, Brown Lebland Hunday, Cincinnati, as well as by impeding the placing of our orders in respect of prices and dates of delivery as in the cases of the firms Glisson Fellow Leblabor [Lebland] Weeks.
[Page 261]5. Visits by Soviet specialists to American plants are made difficult, even sometimes impossible. The firms concerned in this connection apply for decision on this point to the War, Navy and State Departments. Thus Soviet engineers in compliance with decisions by the War and Navy Departments were refused permission to visit the Wright plant.
6. On March 6, the Chase National Bank referring to instructions from the State Department notified Amtorg that the bank would settle accounts with firms only upon advice from Amtorg in each case that the purchases involved did not contravene governmental regulations applying to the non-export of deficit raw materials.
7. The American Merchant Marine Commission places difficulties in the way of the chartering of steamers designated to export goods to the Soviet Union.
8. Soviet citizens and institutions in the United States are persecuted and court proceedings are being instituted against organizations connected with the Soviet Union. When the Attorney General at Washington held a hearing of the Board of Directors of Bookniga, Nikolsky and Ilin, Directors of Bookniga, were accused of violating the law requiring the registration of foreign agencies operating in the United States despite the fact that Bookniga was registered with the State Department in May 1939.83 Under the circumstances the institution of criminal proceedings against members of the Board of Directors of Bookniga and the imposition of a fine of $1000 upon Nikolsky, of $500 upon Urn and $1000 against the Board of Directors is incomprehensible. Persecutions of such organizations as Bookniga and Amkino,84 and the New York Intourist85 Office have already resulted in the curtailment of their activities and doubtless is adversely affecting the cultural and economic relations between the two countries.
9. Unfriendly acts with respect to the Soviet Union on the part of American governmental officials such as those described above have taken place within recent days.
During the conversation last night, I remarked to Mr. Lozovski that with a few exceptions the complaints recited by him had already been the subject of discussions between Potemkin and myself quite some time ago86 and that he would doubtless find a record of those discussions in his files. Specifically, I reminded him that, in so far as Mr. Johnson’s comments are concerned, while I was not aware of the exact nature of the remarks attributed to him they must of course be viewed in the light of the fundamental American principle of the right of free speech; as to the attacks on Ambassador Oumanski, I stated that I was aware of no such attacks of recent date; as to the detention of the three [Page 262] engineers at Ellis Island, I pointed out that the granting of a visa did not in itself guarantee admittance into the United States and remarked that taking into consideration the hundreds of Soviet citizens who have been entering the United States each year and who continue to enter in great numbers, any minor difficulties in connection with the admission of three would not seem to constitute adequate basis for a complaint.
I took the occasion to remind him of the persistent Soviet practice of refusing visas for Americans and of causing inordinate and inconvenient delays in the case of Americans desiring to enter the Soviet Union; with respect to the alleged breaches of contract by American firms, I pointed out that the American courts afford equal treatment to foreigners who may regard themselves as aggrieved; as to the moral embargo, I commented rather extensively on the abhorrence felt in the United States toward the bombardment and machine gunning of open towns, with the resultant loss of life among noncombatant civilians, women, and children and stated that it could hardly be expected that American citizens and their industrial enterprises should through cooperation with the Soviet war industries be parties to such attacks.
Mr. Lozovski denied that the bombardment of open towns had been deliberate and pointed out what he described as “the comparatively small number of civilian casualties as proof of Soviet restraint in this respect.” I remarked that the recall of the Lummus and Universal engineers was attributed to the same sentiment in the United States; regarding the difficulties said to have been placed in the way of Soviet engineers who desired to visit American factories I expressed the opinion that the Soviet Government had come to expect unreasonable facilities in this respect and as he had particularly referred to the Pratt and Whitney and Curtiss factories I could see no reason why American factories engaged in providing for the American national defence and especially under present war conditions should be open for inspection by foreigners.
I requested him in this connection to cite a single instance where an American citizen had been allowed to inspect any Soviet aircraft factory; I stated that I have no knowledge of the incidents complained of in conjunction with the alleged action of The Chase National Bank and the Maritime Commission, but that as our banks are independent organizations and the Maritime Commission is an autonomous body they were of course at liberty to accept or [reject?] business in their own discretion; in so far as concerned the complaints regarding the difficulties encountered by Bookniga, Amkino, and Intourist, I pointed out that in the United States the entering of a plea of guilty was equivalent to an admission that the charge was well-founded and that under the circumstances it seemed to me that the sentences [Page 263] imposed had been extremely light particularly in the case of Bookniga which had admitted its failure to observe our laws.
The interview took place in an atmosphere of reasonableness and personal cordiality. Lozovski stated in conclusion that in the opinion of the Soviet Government the series of actions above listed could only be regarded as unfriendly and would affect the political as well as the economic relations between the two countries and increase tension. I remarked at the close of our interview that in all frankness as he was doubtless aware from reports received from the Soviet representatives in the United States of America the attack on Finland had aroused very deep feeling on the part of the American people and that it could hardly be expected that this feeling would not take some tangible form.
- Martin Dies, member of the House of Representatives from Texas, Chairman of the Special Committee to Investigate Un-American Activities.↩
- Presumably intended as a reference to Ellis Island.↩
- For correspondence regarding the recall of experts from the Soviet Union, see memorandum of December 15, 1939, by the Chief of the Division of Controls, and later papers, pp. 179–197, passim. ↩
- All-Union Combine for the import of equipment, electrical goods, and hauling machinery.↩
- Regarding difficulties with the Soviet Government over the requirement for the registration of agents of foreign principals, see Foreign Relations, The Soviet Union, 1933–1939, pp. 926 ff.↩
- Amkino Corporation, New York, N. Y., the Soviet motion picture film organization in the United States, distributors.↩
- Ail-Union Corporation for Foreign Tourism in the Soviet Union, official Soviet travel agency.↩
- See the Ambassador’s telegram No. 89, January 22, noon, p. 249.↩