824.6354/12–744
Memorandum of Telephone Conversation, by Mr. Louis J. Halle, Division of Northwest Coast Affairs
In the course of a telephone conversation this afternoon, I asked Mr. Ballivian whether he knew that the group of tin producers had written a letter to the FEA regarding this Government’s proposal for an amendment to the tin contract. He said Mr. Adolph Blum, General Manager of the Hochschild Interests, had mentioned the matter casually in the Embassy yesterday, but that he had not seen the letter. I told him, for his personal information, that the letter accepted the proposal on certain conditions which I believed were not unreasonable and would not be unacceptable to the Bolivian Government, since they had to do with guarantees that the Government would take no action to increase the costs of production. He said the necessity of such guarantees was clearly understood.
He also told me that after the conversation of November 29 between the Ambassador, himself, Mr. Wright and me regarding certain [Page 496] observations made by the Bolivian Government on the United States proposal, the Ambassador had cabled La Paz for instructions. Mr. Ballivian felt certain those instructions would be to accept the proposal, and he rather thought they would be forthcoming this afternoon or tomorrow.81
- The amended contract was agreed to on March 3, 1945.↩