847.24/766: Telegram
The Minister in Australia (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
6. I saw Chifley at first opportunity which was December 24 and left an explanatory memorandum48 similar to that which the Department handed Dixon on December 13 (Department’s 387, December 16, 9 p.m.).
The matter is to be decided at War Cabinet on January 17 and I learn from various sources that members are inclined again to reject our proposal. I expect to see Chifley and Evatt49 once more before that meeting and I believe it would help if I could say to them that Exhibit A was a reasonably definitive rather than just a tentative public procurement program. This would definitely dispel fears [Page 205] entertained in some quarters that we might later come upon them with a demand for wool under reverse Lend-Lease.