800.515/1024a: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant)
3175. This is a personal message from the Secretary of the Treasury to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
“In accordance with the desire of the President which I communicated to you in our cable no. 265131 we are planning to call a conference beginning the last week in May. It is expected that the President will invite the United and Associated Nations to send representatives to a formal financial and monetary conference. The chief items on the agenda will be the drafting of proposals for the establishment of an international monetary fund and an international bank for reconstruction and development.
The President has indicated that he will appoint me head of the American delegation and will indicate in his letter that he hopes that each government will have its delegation headed by its chief financial officer. It is contemplated that the delegates will be instructed by their respective governments to assemble for the purpose of preparing concrete proposals to be formally presented later to the respective governments for their acceptance or non-acceptance.
It would be very helpful to me if I could have your personal views on these contemplated arrangements as soon as possible. It is important that there be no delay, as there is very little time to spare for completing arrangements. I should like to stress again the urgency of holding the conference before the political conventions in June. As soon as I hear from you we shall be prepared to discuss with you on an informal basis the calling of a drafting committee to begin work as soon as a conference is officially called.”