890F.61A/24a
The Secretary of State to the Chief of the United States Agricultural Mission to Saudi Arabia ( Twitchell )
Sir: Reference is made to the Department’s communication to you of February 27, 1942,13 in regard to your appointment as Chief, United States Agricultural Mission to Saudi Arabia, and to communications of like date addressed to Mr. Albert L. Wathen and Mr. James G. [Page 565] Hamilton, respectively, in regard to their appointment as Members of this Mission.
As you are aware, the Mission has been created in response to a request from the Government of Saudi Arabia, in order to be of service to the Government and people of that country, and to promote good will between them and the Government and people of the United States. The principal duties of the Mission are to investigate the agricultural and related resources of Saudi Arabia, to conduct such experiments as may be possible in view of the limited time and funds at the Mission’s disposal, and to furnish friendly counsel to the Saudi Arabian Government. The Department is convinced that the personal relationships which the Mission’s personnel establishes with Saudi Arabian officials and individuals in civil life can play an important part in the success which the Department sincerely trusts will attend the Mission’s work, and believes that these relationships should be carefully cultivated.
You are requested to inform the Department by telegraph of the Mission’s arrival at Cairo and in Saudi Arabia. You should also report briefly by telegraph, if possible, at least once a month, after the Mission reaches the scene of its activities, in regard to its welfare, progress and plans. All telegraphic reports, as well as originals or copies of all reports or recommendations made to agencies of this Government or to the Saudi Arabian Government, as the case may be, copies of memoranda of important conversations, et cetera, should be transmitted by the nearest American consular or diplomatic officer. You should request the officer concerned to transmit written material under cover of transmitting despatches and to indicate therein the distribution of originals or copies to other interested agencies of the Government, as desired by those agencies or by the members of the Mission.
If you consider that the Department’s instructions are necessary or desirable in any contingency, instructions should be requested, if practicable, through the channel above mentioned. You and the members of the Mission may, of course, feel free at all times to consult with the nearest American consular and diplomatic officer regarding any problems which arise.
You should so arrange matters that the Mission’s work and its return to the United States will be carried out within the limitations of the funds now authorized. While the length of time during which the Mission will pursue its work is left to your discretion, subject to unforeseen or urgent contingencies which may arise, your decision in this regard will, of course, be governed by the foregoing consideration.
Very truly yours,
Assistant Secretary
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