800.8890/973¹⁄₆: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Afghanistan (Engert)
52. … as mentioned in your 47 of August 5 and related telegrams, the Department has been endeavoring to provide means for bringing to the United States the items mentioned in your 48 of the same date, together with additional quantity of wool regarding which the Afghan Consul at New York has requested the Department’s assistance.
The British Embassy at Washington suggests that the assistance which the Department is endeavoring to render is not warranted, maintaining that the majority of 1941 Afghan lambskins are now unsold in the United States, that those skins the movement of which the Department is endeavoring to effect constitute only an insignificant quantity, and that with regard to wool and pistachio nuts, India and Russia are the normal markets. …
The Department remains of the opinion that from the point of view of this country the assistance recommended by you in your telegrams under reference should be accorded if possible. However, … your comments on the subject are urgently requested.