871.5018/10–2046
The Rumanian Chargé (Riposanu) to the Secretary of State
The Romanian Chargé d’Affaires presents his compliments to the Hon. the Secretary of State, and has the honor to ask his Excellency [Page 640] to be kind enough as to forward the text of the following note to the Hon. the Secretary of Agriculture, at his earliest convenience.
As a consequence of the terrible draught which ravaged Romania during the past two years, the Romanian Government has been compelled to appeal to the Allied Control Commission, composed of the three Great Powers, in order to forward to the Governments concerned, Romania’s request for cereals and, especially, for corn. Following that appeal, a conference took place in Romania, in August 1946, at the American Mission to the Allied Control Commission, where the U.S.A. was represented by the Hon. B. Y. Berry, representative of the U.S.A. in Bucharest, the Hon. N. E. Dodd, Under Secretary of Agriculture in the U.S.A., Mr. Kekitch, Commercial Attaché of the U.S.A., in Bucharest, on one hand; and Mr. T. Savulescu, Minister of Agriculture, Mr. G. Maurer, Under Secretary for Communications, on the other hand, and several technicians.
The result of that Conference was that the persons present fully realized that Romania was, indeed, in bad need of cereals and, especially, of corn.
Besides, some Romanian businessmen who were sent to purchase corn in the American markets, in order to prevent the famine which threatens the Romanian people, informed the Romanian Legation that they were unable to buy the corn wanted since Romania is not considered to be among the countries supposed to receive corn from the U.S.A. That list is set up by the Department of Agriculture.
Consequently, the Romanian Chargé d’Affaires begs the Hon. the Secretary of Agriculture to have Romania included in the above mentioned list, as from August 1946, when the Romanian Government informed the U.S.A., as to the urgent needs of corn for Romania, up to the amount of 1,000,000 tons.
The Romanian Chargé d’Affaires expresses to the Hon. the Secretary of State his deepest thanks for the assistance he will grant to the Romanian people in this matter of vital importance.