641.5531/16a: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador to the Belgian Government in Exile ( Biddle ), at London
Belgian Series No. 2. Department’s 1094, March 16, 1942, your [Embassy’s] 1362 of March 21 and your [Embassy’s] 1396 of March 24. As you are aware, there has been some confusion in the past in the satisfaction of UK and US supply requirements in the Belgian Congo and likewise in satisfying Congo needs. This has arisen in part from the failure of the Congo Government to inform the UK and the US of its needs on a comprehensive basis. Last week the Ministry of Supply in London telegraphed its representatives in Washington, its conclusion that a broad over-all arrangement should be reached with the Government of the Belgian Congo which would comprehend the Congo’s requirements as well as UK and US purchases in the Congo. The Ministry proposed that the UK and the US, through appropriate representatives in London, should together approach the Belgian Minister of Colonies for the purpose of negotiating such an arrangement. Before doing so, it was obviously necessary to secure assurances from the US Government that the latter was willing to participate jointly in such negotiations and further that the US Government would sympathetically consider the future requests of the Belgian Congo for those materials of which the US would be the supply source.
Several meetings have been held in Washington, in which representatives of the Department, the Board of Economic Warfare, the Combined Raw Materials Board and the British Embassy have participated. There was unanimous and complete agreement at such meetings that the suggestions of the Ministry of Supply provided a constructive procedure for simplifying and coordinating the problem of exports to and imports from the Belgian Congo on the part of both the UK and the US.
Confirming the agreement reached at these meetings, the British Embassy is telegraphing London that they found the Department [Page 5] and other interested agencies entirely favorable to the objectives in view and willing to give assurance of their sympathetic consideration to such future applications for equipment etc. on the part of the Belgian Congo, Such assurances are naturally subject to the reasonableness of the requests and our own supply situation. The specific procedure suggested is that the Belgians should submit to London a single statement of the total quantities of materials which they can supply, and a similar statement of their total requirements from both the UK and the US. These lists would then be considered both in London and Washington, with reference as necessary to UK and US experts on the spot. In connection with the latter, the US Government believes that technical experts should proceed to the Congo as soon as possible so that their reports would be available when detailed discussions with the Belgians occur. The present proposal is to send Dean Frasché, of the War Production Board, as tin expert and another technical man to review the mining situation as a whole. A third man would be dispatched to study Belgian needs for equipment, consumers goods and other materials. In this same telegram from the British Embassy to London it is strongly urged that the UK send corresponding representatives to cooperate on the spot and join with the US representatives in the framing of joint reports.
The Department requests that you immediately consult with Harriman4 and the Minister of Supply with a view to initiating the projected negotiations with the Belgian Government. It is desired that this Government be represented directly in all such negotiations. The Department wishes to be kept continuously and fully informed of all developments in this matter.
The Department understands that the Belgian Minister for Colonies may be contemplating a trip to Washington in connection with the general question of Congo requirements. On the assumption that negotiations discussed in this telegram will proceed in London, the Department regards it as important that the Minister be promptly informed of projected discussions in order to assure his continued presence in London.
- W. Averell Harriman, Special Representative of President Roosevelt in the United Kingdom to facilitate Lend-Lease aid to the British Empire.↩