840.48 Refugees/11–3048
The Under Secretary of the Army (Draper) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Occupied Areas (Saltzman)
Dear Mr. Saltzman: The Department of the Army has considered the request of your letter, dated 20 November, concerning emergency use in the Pacific of certain ships to transport Displaced Persons from China. This letter confirms the decision with respect thereto communicated to your office informally on Saturday, 27 November 1948.
The Department of the Army agrees that three ships of the U. S. Army Transport Service now on loan to the IRO may, as an emergency measure, be used on the Australian run to facilitate evacuation of Displaced Persons from China with the understanding that two of the three ships will be so scheduled and phased as to be available in the Atlantic at all times, and that the ships will be used for one round trip only from Europe to Australia. The Department of the Army concurs that it is not feasible for the ships to enter Palestine ports and that routing via the Panama Canal would be preferable.
[Page 954]It is recommended that the International Refugee Organization pursue every possible means to supplement this service with ships of the Maritime Commission.
In accordance with your request that a member of the Army Staff be appointed with whom your office might work directly, the name of the following officer is furnished: Lt. Colonel R. D. Hoisington, Logistics Division.
It is realized that the above is only a partial solution to the problem you presented, and the Department of the Army recognizes that there remains the safety and welfare of the 8,000 White Russian refugees whose lives, as you point out, are endangered in Shanghai. Presuming that provisions for security of this group in the form of a temporary or permanent haven will receive the continuing urgent consideration of the Department of State and the International Refugee Organization, the Department of the Army has explored the possible utilization of Japan and certain strategic trusteeship areas in the Pacific without successful results to date. General MacArthur has suggested that the Philippine Islands or the southern complex of China offer the best prospects for a temporary haven from an operational standpoint.
Colonel, USA Assistant to the Under Secretary of the Army