810.24/95½
Memorandum by the Secretary of State and the Secretary of War (Woodring)
After consultation between the Department of State and the War Department, the plan of procedure outlined below has been agreed upon for dealing with the sale of surplus arms by this Government to foreign governments.
- 1.
- Properly authorized representatives of foreign governments desiring to purchase surplus arms from this Government will be referred to the Division of Controls, Department of State. The Chief of that Division, after ascertaining from the appropriate officers of the Department of State whether the sale of arms in any given case would be in conformity with the foreign policy of the Government, will, if there is no objection on the ground of foreign policy, refer the representatives of the foreign government to the Chief of the Military Attachés Section, G–2 Section, General Staff, War Department, and will see to it that the Secretary of War is formally notified in writing that the said named representatives of a foreign government have been referred to the War Department with the request that the War Department negotiate with the said representatives with a view to the sale of such arms as may have been declared surplus.
- 2.
- The Chief of the Military Attachés Section, G–2 Section, General Staff, War Department, will refer representatives of foreign governments who have been referred to him to the Clearance Committee, Army and Navy Munitions Board, which will conduct the necessary negotiations with a view to the sale of surplus arms. Any questions arising during the course of these negotiations which may seem to [Page 2] require the attention of the Department of State will be referred orally and informally by the Chairman of the said Committee to the Chief of the Division of Controls, Department of State.
- 3.
- When the negotiations referred to above have proceeded to such a point that a tentative agreement has been arrived at, the Committee mentioned above will see to it that the Secretary of State is formally notified in writing by the Secretary of War of the details of this tentative agreement. The Chief of the Division of Controls, Department of State, after having consulted the appropriate officers of the Department of State, will see to it that the Secretary of War is informed formally and in writing whether or not there is any objection on the ground of foreign policy to the conclusion of a definite contract on the basis of the tentative agreement.
- 4.
- If no objection to the tentative agreement is expressed by the Department of State, the War Department will understand that that agreement is in accord with the policy of the Government, and the appropriate officer of the War Department will be directed by the Secretary of War to proceed to consummate the sale to the representatives of the foreign government.
It is understood and agreed that the transactions contemplated herein shall be between this Government and a state or foreign government with which the United States is at peace as provided for in the Act of June 5, 1920 [41, Stat. 949; U. S. C. 10: 1262; Sections 1991, 2013, Military Laws 1929],3 with the further proviso that no surplus arms or munitions will be disposed of to any state or foreign government engaged in hostilities. The stipulations set forth above are necessary and are hereby made of record to give emphasis to the fact that under no conditions will negotiations be undertaken with individuals or groups of individuals acting as brokers or as intermediaries between this Government and a foreign government or with any person whomsoever except the duly authorized representative of a foreign, government.
Secretary of State
Approved:
Secretary of War
- Brackets appear in the original.↩