Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1943, The British Commonwealth, Eastern Europe, the Far East, Volume III

860C.515/109: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Consul General at Algiers (Wiley)

Washington, August 16, 1943—11 p.m.

1517. For Murphy. Your 1246, July 10, 10 p.m. You may inform Michalski that the United States Government is prepared to facilitate the shipment of the gold to this country at the risk and expense of the Polish Government; subject to the approval of the Navy Department, the shipment could be made by Naval vessel.

Pursuant to the Provisional Regulations issued under the Gold Reserve Act of 1934,²⁰ there are two procedures available for the importation of the gold. It may be imported under Section 40 of the Provisional Regulations²¹ if the Polish Government desires that the gold be sold to the United States, and in that case the requirements of Section 40 should be observed. If the Polish Government desires, on the other hand, to hold the gold in this country, it should be placed under earmark in an appropriate account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in the name of the Bank of Poland or of the Government of Poland.²² The Bank of Poland has an earmarked gold account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in which this gold would be deposited. If the gold is to be held under earmark, it should be consigned to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The latter holds a license issued by the Secretary of the Treasury whereby it is authorized to import gold to be held under earmark for foreign central banks and foreign governments.

Section 40 of the Provisional Regulations provides that the mints are authorized to purchase only such imported gold as has been in customs custody throughout the time it has been within the customs limits of the continental United States, and subject also to stated requirements as to notation upon formal entry and as to the filing of a relevant affidavit.

Hull

20. Approved January 30, 1934; 48 Stat. 337.
21. Treasury Department, Office of the Secretary, Provisional Regulations Issued Under the Gold Reserve Act of 1984 as Amended to April 15, 1942 (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1943), p. 18.
22. In telegram No. 1471, August 23, 6 p.m., Mr. Murphy reported that Mr. Michalski had stated that the Polish Government wished to have the gold held in New York under earmark and would select that procedure for entering the gold into the United States (8600.515/110).