840.48/6598
The Department of State to the British Embassy 13
Aide-Mémoire
The Department of State has carefully considered the Aide-Mémoire presented by the British Embassy on June 8, 1944 concerning the division of the cost of relief in Europe in the military period. The Department [Page 314] is pleased to confirm its acceptance of the proposal made in paragraph II and the reservation made in paragraph III of the Aide-Mémoire. The United States Government will accordingly instruct its representatives forthwith to proceed with procurement on the basis specified in paragraph II and assumes that the Government of the United Kingdom will take corresponding action.
The Department of State has noted the general observations made in the Aide-Mémoire concerning a final settlement, including the statement that the British Government has not been able to regard an equal share of the burden of relief in the military period between the two countries as an equitable settlement. The Department takes the view that the final settlement should be on a fair and equitable basis, in the determination of which no relevant factors should be excluded.
The specific reservation as to the position of Canada which appears in paragraph II and is further referred to in paragraph VI of the British Government’s Aide-Mémoire is also noted.
- Marginal note by Assistant Secretary of State Acheson: “Tenor of reply discussed with and approved by H. M. Jr., at Treasury” (Henry Morgenthau, Jr., Secretary of the Treasury).↩