811.20 Defense (M) Bolivia/1326a: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Bolwia (Boal)
1417. You should be governed in your discussions of tin and quinine with the Bolivian authorities by the position of the Department and FEA as set forth in the Department’s 1393, December 4, 4 p.m.,5 and 1394, December 4, 5 p.m., rather than by the suggestions made in your 1872, December 2, 6 p.m.6 The Department feels that pressing for conclusion of rubber air agreement7 and promulgation of replacement decree at this time might encourage the Bolivians to believe that a 65–cent price for tin would be forthcoming as a quid pro quo. It is becoming increasingly difficult to justify even the 63½-cent offer already made in view of the general tendency toward decreases in metals prices, especially as tin deliveries have kept up since July notwithstanding the Bolivian thesis that they could not be maintained with a 60–cent price. This Government is, however, willing to keep its offer open for a reasonable period and is confident that the Bolivian Government will meet its long-standing commitment to conclude an over-all quinine and cinchona agreement.
In the course of the conversations at New York in May, the then Bolivian Foreign Minister8 informed representatives of the Department and BEW that the draft quinine agreement prepared in consultation with him was satisfactory to him and President Peñaranda but that as a matter of form it would be submitted to the Minister of Agriculture on their return to La Paz. He stated that the agreement would be presented to the Bolivian Congress for approval, that the memorandum of understanding drawn up at the same time to cover the interim period would be signed promptly, and that the Bolivian Government would immediately promulgate a decree in furtherance thereof prohibiting the shipment of quinine or cinchona to countries other than the United States. None of these promises have been kept. The Department is of the opinion that no useful purpose would be served by transferring the quinine negotiations to Washington.
The Department and FEA would of course be glad to receive Carrasco either as the representative of the Bolivian Government or of the tin producers in further tin discussions but feel that his proposed trip would be of doubtful utility as the positions of all parties to the negotiations have been made amply clear in the last 6 months.
[Page 577]The Department and FEA feel that inclusion of part A of the labor clauses in the form contained in the draft tin contract handed to Etchenique is essential from the point of view of both Governments. Otherwise it will appear that Bolivia and the United States have no interest in the labor problem and that the Magruder Mission report has been in effect abandoned. These labor clauses provide in essence that tin producers shall comply with local laws, pay wages no less than the generally prevailing scales for similar work, furnish laborers with adequate protection against accidents, disease, et cetera, and see that they get shelter, water, and food at reasonable rates. Similar provisions have been included in other procurement contracts in Bolivia and no reason is seen why a fair employer should object to them.