893.24/2846: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Consul General at Shanghai (Josselyn)

199. From OFLC McCabe62 for General Marshall. Reference your 155, January 25 and our 101, January 17, section 4. Regarding civilian lend-lease inventory in hand of Chinese but unconsumed as of V–J Day. These goods include 1438 Dodge trucks and an unlisted amount of supplies roughly estimated by Stanton FEA Special Representative in China at 15,000 tons arsenal raw materials and industrial, transportation and communication equipment and manufacturing materials. August 19 [18,] 1945, Crowley as FEA Administrator wrote63 officially to the Chinese Ambassador, as Chairman of the Chinese Supply Commission64 suggesting discussions and negotiations for discontinuance of lend-lease and stating

“It will be necessary in the course of our discussions to have an inventory of lend-lease supplies furnished by the Foreign Economic Administration still under the control of your government. It is requested, therefore, that you furnish as soon as possible an inventory listing as of V–J Day all articles that have been transferred to your government by the FEA on lend-lease terms and that have not been lost, destroyed or consumed.”

This request of Crowley’s was brought to the attention of Wong Wen-hao as Chairman Chinese WPB65 in letter of November 27, 1945 from Stanton. This inventory can be supplied by the Chinese Government only and in order to have the figures available when negotiations [Page 937] begin, we suggest you may want to consider an inquiry by your office of the Chinese WPB as to the progress in preparing the requested inventory. Please advise action taken. [McCabe.]

Byrnes
  1. Thomas B. McCabe, Foreign Liquidation Commissioner and Special Assistant to the Secretary of State.
  2. Foreign Relations, 1945, vol. vii, p. 1130.
  3. Wei Tao-ming.
  4. War Production Board.