852.6363/809: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Spain (Hayes)
Washington, May 7,
1943—1 p.m.
1034. Your 1128, your 1127, your 1126, and your 1125 all of May 2, your 1117 May 1; my 984 May 1, and my 982 May l.33
- 1.
- I believe that a recapitulation of the immediate position with respect to the supply of oil to Spain will define more closely the question under discussion.
- 2.
- In the first place, I assume that you are only urging that the Spaniards should not be restrained from importing into metropolitan Spain during the second quarter up to the full amount of 135,250 tons [Page 686] of oil, which is one quarter of 541,000. The first figure represents the maximum which has ever been discussed or agreed with the British, the BEW or the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The British Embassy here has stated to the Department that there is no question of London suggesting at this time an increase in that quarterly amount and on the basis of its present information neither the Department nor the Board of Economic Warfare would approve an increase.
- 3.
- In the absence of the figures urgently requested in my 984, the possibility of a discrepancy between your computations and ours exists. On the basis of our figures the amounts a) landed since April 1 in Spain, b) now afloat, c) loading this week, and d) clearances which you authorized according to your 1098, if loaded, would bring total importations of mainland Spain for the second quarter to approximately 134,000 tons. I therefore assume that it has been your intention from the outset to reject any and all nominations put forward by the Spaniards for loading in the June 3–4 loading period.
- 4.
- I appreciate the position to which you refer in your 1128, but it has its origin in the sailing authorizations reported as given in your 1098 of April 30, which followed less than 24 hours after your 1086 of April 2934 informing us of the nominations, and was made in the face of the suggestion contained in my 970 of April 29 and against the background of my 958 of April 27, which clearly warned of the possible necessity of “a very extensive postponement of nominations for the late May and early June loading dates”.
- 5.
- You refer in several of your telegrams under reference, notably your 1127, to a reduction in petroleum supplies. 100,000 tons of oil per quarter is of course no reduction in terms of what the Spaniards have been receiving. It would constitute the maintenance of the rate which has existed in the past 6 months.
- 6.
- Please expedite urgently the statistics requested in my 982. Your despatch 761 of April 2,35 to which you refer in your 1127 and your 1125, has not yet been received. You may therefore wish to telegraph a brief summary.
Hull