711.61/806
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Under Secretary of State (Welles)
The Soviet Ambassador called to see me today at his request.
The Ambassador inquired, emphasizing that it was on a purely informal basis, whether this Government in fact contemplated, as the newspapers alleged, a general freezing order covering all foreign balances in the United States. He said, jovially, that if such action were taken by the United States Government with regard to the Soviet [Page 695] Union he would “raise hell”. I said to the Ambassador that the questions he had mentioned were under consideration by this Government and that no decision as yet had been reached. I inquired upon what possible ground the Soviet Union could protest such action, were it to be taken by the United States, if the steps in question applied equally to the balances of all foreign nations. The Ambassador said if there were no discrimination shown against the Soviet Union there would be no ground for protest but he anticipated that if such a policy were undertaken, it would not apply to certain countries. Upon this I made no comment.