Office of the Historian

810.20 Defense/1247

Memorandum by the Adviser on Political Relations (Duggan) to the Under Secretary of State (Welles)

[Washington,] July 3, 1941.

Mr. Welles: Mr. Collado17 has consulted with me with regard to the negotiation of the basic agreements covering the lease-lend material.

The negotiation of the twenty agreements will require considerable time and effort on the part of some one person, so that it seems desirable to decide now who will undertake this job. It is obviously desirable that the same person handle all the negotiations.

At a previous meeting in your office you requested Mr. Acheson to take charge of the preparation of the basic agreements. Would you like him to handle the matter, with proper assistance, or would you prefer that Mr. Bonsal18 or Mr. Collado undertake the negotiation?19

Laurence Duggan
  1. Emilio G. Collado, Assistant Chief of the Division of the American Republics.↩
  2. Philip W. Bonsal, Acting Chief of the Division of the American Republics.↩
  3. A penciled notation at the head of the page reads: “Mr. Acheson with Mr. Collado SW”.↩