817.24/2
The Secretary of War (Weeks) to the Secretary of State
My Dear Mr. Secretary: I acknowledge the receipt of your letter (Under Secretary Fletcher) of October 7, 1921, relating to the purchase of certain arms and ammunition by the Nicaraguan Government.
The Assistant Secretary of War, who is charged with the matter of sales, has been informed that there is no objection to the sale to the Nicaraguan Government of such of these articles as may be surplus at this time. In this connection, however, I desire to invite your attention to my letter of May 11, 1921, to you13 giving my opinion as to the undesirability, as a general policy, of the War Department selling arms to other governments. In that letter I requested that I be advised as to the views of the State Department with reference to the policy that should be pursued with regard to the general question of the sale of arms and munitions to other countries. No reply has been received. May I ask that you inform me as to your opinion of this policy or whether you believe that such matters should be decided on the merits of individual cases as they may come up.
Very sincerely yours,
- Not printed.↩