893.51/7666
The Secretary of State to the Secretary of the Treasury (Morgenthau)
Dear Henry: May I bring to your attention the file here attached, which is self-explanatory.
You will note that, except for the first two sentences and the last two sentences, the message16 which I am instructed to send consists of the text of the memorandum which you sent to the President. That memorandum was prepared for the information of the President. It occurs to me to wonder whether you would wish to have the whole of its contents communicated to President Chiang.17 There are, for instance, in it, a number of statements which, intended for the information and guidance of President Roosevelt, might readily give rise to irritation and lead to controversy were they likewise communicated to President Chiang. When it comes to the question of Recommendations, I cannot but wonder whether it would be in our best interest to lay before the Chinese and have in the record recommendations which I take to have been made to the President for consideration and action by this Government rather than to have been drafted for consideration and action by the Chinese Government. Further, in as much as the President seems to have taken kindly to the suggestion that we send a Commission to China to confer with President Chiang and Dr. Kung regarding the problems indicated, I cannot but feel that it might be well for us not to commit ourselves at this point to an expression to the Chinese of an opinion that a loan is unnecessary at this time and would be undesirable from the point of view of both countries.
[Page 827]Having in mind these points, I wonder whether you might not be inclined to consider the possibility of its being advantageous to prepare either an edited edition of the memorandum under reference or a new memorandum, having in mind in either case the objective of putting into the message from the President to President Chiang just what and only what might most advantageously be said in such a message as contrasted with what you have said in a memorandum prepared for the consideration of our own President. Should this idea appeal to you and should you care to have officers of this Department collaborate with officers of the Treasury for the purpose indicated, our services are at your disposal. Should you feel that, notwithstanding the points to which I have called attention, the indicated message to President Chiang should go forward without change, please let me know and I shall send it forthwith.
Sincerely yours,