Major General J. H. Burns to Mr. Harry L. Hopkins 46
Washington, June 25,
1942.
- 1.
- In accordance with your memorandum of June 24, 1942,47 I telephoned Dr. Soong yesterday
as follows:
“The Munitions Assignments Board has not taken action to the effect that no munitions will be assigned to China during July and it will not take any such action without the approval of Mr. Hopkins.”
- 2.
- Dr. Soong seemed be quite satisfied with the above statement of policy but suggested that instructions be issued that production would not be curtailed on any item now being manufactured for China. I told him that I did not have the authority to make such a commitment as production might be in excess of possible shipments. He did not press this point further.
- 3.
- After this telephone discussion with Dr. Soong I phoned General Aurand and he told me that the only production item involved was 7.92 mm. ammunition and that no instructions had been issued to stop production although this is being given serious consideration at the present time by the War Department because of the shortage of copper and also because of the shipping situation. At the present time the War Department is manufacturing approximately 35,000,000 rounds of this matériel per month for China, the weight of which approximate 1,700 tons. I did not relay this information to Dr. Soong, as both General Aurand and I felt that it was not wise to make any further commitments at this time than are necessary.
J. H. Burns,
Major General, U. S. Army, Executive,
Munitions Assignments Board