File No. 860d.48/99
The British Chargé ( Barclay) to the Secretary of State
My Dear Mr. Secretary: I have the honour to inform you, by instruction of Mr. Balfour, that he has received a visit from the three Scandinavian Ministers in London to ask, on instructions from their Governments, whether His Majesty’s Government would be prepared to facilitate the entry into Finland of a minimum quantity of 8,000 tons of grain, to meet the Finnish needs.
Mr. Balfour proposes to reply that the requirements of the Allies in respect of both food and tonnage would in any case have made it difficult for His Majesty’s Government to accede to this request; that they would, however, have been anxious to do everything in their power to relieve the distress in Finland, but that so long as Finland is in the occupation of German military forces, which are constantly increasing, and so long as the Finnish Government is entirely under German influence, it is impossible for His Majesty’s Government to agree to send food to a country which may, for any guarantee we have to the contrary, be used as a base for enemy operations against the Allies.
His Majesty’s Government understand that similar representations have been made to the United States Government, and they would be glad to learn whether they concur in the above reply.
Believe me [etc.]