700.00116 M.E./14

Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of Controls (Green)

Mr. C. S. Reed, President of the Lummus Company, telephoned me from New York this morning. He said that he had received another telegram from the company’s engineers at Ufa stating that the Soviet authorities had refused to permit them to leave that city. He said that the company’s officials were in great anxiety in regard to the safety of its engineers and he asked what, if anything, the company should do in the circumstances.

I replied that the Department was fully aware of the situation, was in frequent communication with our Embassy in Moscow in regard to the matter, and was taking all necessary steps to insure the safety of the engineers and their immediate departure from the Soviet Union. I said that I did not believe that the company should attempt to take any further action at this time.

Mr. Reed said that Amtorg7 had been making every effort to persuade the company to send four more engineers to the Soviet Union, that the company was refusing to do so, and was citing the desires of this Government as a reason for its refusal.

J[oseph] C. G[reen]
  1. Amtorg Trading Corporation, official purchasing and sales agency of the Soviet Union in the United States.