894.24/1339
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Adviser on Political Relations (Hornbeck)
Mr. Thorold of the British Embassy, with Mr. Hill, called on me this morning at Mr. Thorold’s request.
Mr. Thorold said that the British Government was eager to get, if possible, a reply to and action along the lines of the memoranda which the British Ambassador left with the Secretary of State on March 3 relating to cooperation in the field of trade restrictions and to the [Page 798] possibility of dealing more effectively with the problem of preventing excessive accumulation of supplies of oil by Japan.
Mr. Thorold said that it seemed to the British especially desirable to have discussion of these matters and arrival at some conclusions regarding them before the discussions which are going on between Japanese representatives and interested parties, including the government and the oil companies, in the Netherlands East Indies are concluded.
I told Mr. Thorold that the papers which the British Ambassador had left with the Secretary on March 3 had been promptly put into circulation to the offices of this Department primarily concerned; that I did not know where the matter now stood; that I would do what I could to accelerate consideration of it; and that in my opinion it might be well for the British Embassy to bring the matter to the attention of the Under Secretary.
Mr. Thorold handed to me a paper dated March 19, 1941 entitled “Oil for Japan,” to which there was attached a statistical exhibit.37 In this paper and the exhibit it is shown that shipments of petroleum from the Persian Gulf area for the years 1938, 1939 and 1940 have been small in absolute amount and almost negligible in comparative amount.
I shall send those papers forward under a separate memorandum.38