811.20 Defense (M) Bolivia/1186
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Chief of the Division of the American Republics (Bonsal)
The Bolivian Ambassador came in at his request. He showed me a telegram from Dr. Elio in La Paz asking for a report on the progress of the tin negotiations and recalling Mr. Welles’ promise that he would do his best to have this out of the way by the end of the month of June.
In reply, I told the Ambassador that this matter had been given the most careful attention by all concerned, both in the Department [Page 566] and in the Board of Economic Warfare. I recalled that the position of this Government as to price, the extension of the contract, as well as to low-grade ores, had been at least informally made known to him at a meeting last month. I stated that, as he knew, the main question with which both the Department and the Board of Economic Warfare were wrestling was the one involving the relationship between the tin contract and specific improvements in Bolivian social conditions. The Ambassador and I had an extremely frank exchange of views on this point in the course of which he made the following points:
- (a)
- It would not be understood in Bolivia if there were to be included in the tin contract covering the acquisition of tin from producers certain obligations involving the Bolivian Government in social and labor matters.
- (b)
- The Ambassador does not consider feasible the proposal of certain BEW officials to include two or three cents per pound in the tin contract for these purposes.
The Ambassador recalled that the point of view of the Bolivian Government on this subject had been made quite clear by President Peñaranda and Dr. Elio on the occasion of their visit.
The Ambassador then told me that he expected in the course of this month to receive from La Paz an instruction containing the results of a study currently under way by officials of the Bolivian Government regarding the recommendations of the Magruder mission. This instruction will cover (a) the action which the Bolivian Government plans to take and (b) the matters in regard to which cooperative arrangements might be worked out. I suggested to the Ambassador and he willingly accepted the suggestion that, when the instruction is received, he might confer with Mr. Duggan and myself as to the most expedient way in which the views of the Bolivian Government on these matters might be officially presented to this Government.
The Bolivian Ambassador also told me that he had received an instruction from La Paz asking that he endeavor to except from the tin contract some 1,200 tons of tin per annum for export from Bolivia to other American republics.