890F.24/10–2245

The Secretary of State to the Secretary of the Treasury ( Vinson )

My Dear Mr. Secretary: As you will remember the President at a meeting which we both attended on August 17 agreed to the continuation of those special Lend-Lease programs to the fulfillment of which this Government was firmly committed prior to the termination directive of August 17.25

At that time the United States had outstanding commitments to the Government of Saudi Arabia to supply $8,870,000 worth of commodities [Page 964] and $2,500,000 worth of silver to that country for coinage. The program having been approved by both President Roosevelt and President Truman, the Saudi Arabian Government was informed in writing by Minister Eddy on July 28 [29], 1945,26 that this Government would share equally with the Government of Great Britain in a joint 10 million dollar supply program, and that the United States would provide Saudi Arabia with a supplementary supply program of six million dollars, which included the silver for coinage into riyals needed to meet the currency needs of Saudi Arabia. This commitment was discussed in detail with the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia on August 1, 1945 during his visit to Washington.

On August 29, President Truman informed Mr. Snyder, Director of the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion, that this United States commitment to Saudi Arabia was one of the three to be fulfilled by special continuance of Lend-Lease throughout the rest of 1945.

The Foreign Economic Administration has told the Department of State that it has completed all the details and filed the necessary requisitions for the 2½ million dollars worth of salver to be minted into riyal coins. The FEA however states that the Treasury Department has not yet agreed to release the necessary silver for this purpose.

Because this silver is specifically part of the Lend-Lease aid which this Government is committed to provide to Saudi Arabia in 1945, and in view of the fact that President Truman has taken the position that this program of Lend-Lease aid to Saudi Arabia shall be completed, I should be grateful if you would review the facts in this matter, with a view to making available to the Foreign Economic Administration the silver required to fulfill this Government’s commitment to Saudi Arabia.27

Sincerely yours,

James F. Byrnes
  1. For text, see telegram 7012, August 18, 4 p.m., to London, vol. vi, p. 102.
  2. See despatch 161, July 30, from Jidda, p. 935.
  3. In a letter of November 13, 1945, the Under Secretary of the Treasury (Bell) informed the Secretary of State that on October 17 the Treasury Department had written to the Foreign Economic Administration that the needs of the Saudi Arabian Government for 3,437,500 ounces of silver should be met from Treasury stocks (890F.24/11–1345).