854.24/106
Memorandum by the Parliamentary Secretary of the British Ministry of Economic Warfare (Foot) to the Head of the Economic Warfare Division of the American Embassy in the United Kingdom (Riefler)93
The Swiss Minister called this morning and handed me the three attached memoranda,94 dealing respectively with supplies required [Page 896] by the Army, the issue of Geleitscheine under the Compensation Deal, and Swiss imports of fats.
As regards the first memorandum, (marked ‘A’) I said that we fully understood the desirability of strengthening the Swiss Army. But most of the materials for which he was asking were now extremely scarce, and the claims of the Swiss Army had to be balanced against other claims which were no less urgent. The supply authorities had originally agreed to the release of certain of these materials in the expectation that they would obtain some return under the Compensation Deal. But the matter wore rather a different aspect if, in fact, we were to receive nothing in exchange. I asked whether, if rubber, toluol, nickel and chrome (to take only four examples) were released, the Swiss Government would count that as part of the Compensation Deal. M. Thurnheer promised to make enquiries on this point. I said that our original intention, when the Compensation Deal was drawn up, was to release such commodities for export to Switzerland as and when we obtained delivery of the compensating Swiss exports. We had, however, agreed to allow 50 tons of rubber and 50 tons of toluol in advance of Swiss deliveries. If we now received in return a consignment of Swiss manufactures, I thought that the British and American Governments might consider some further release in advance of fresh Swiss deliveries, though I could not promise that such an arrangement would be approved.
As regards the third memorandum, the Minister dwelt on the inconvenience to the Swiss of having to switch their purchases from the Argentine to Portuguese Colonies and then finding further difficulties placed in their way. He wondered whether this was due to a political reason, namely the desire of the United Nations to put pressure on the Argentine. I said that while it was common knowledge that the Argentine Government were not exactly the blue-eyed boys of the United Nations, these changes were, I believed, due to supply rather than political reasons. Even if the Minister had not raised the subject himself, I had been intending to write him a letter on the subject of fats, and I hoped to dispatch this within a day or two.