848A.24/10–2544

The Secretary of State to the Minister in South Africa (Holcomb)

No. 196

The Secretary of State refers to the Legation’s despatch number 41, dated August 1, 1944, entitled “Transmitting Memorandum on Modification of American Policy with respect to the furnishing of Supplies [Page 267] for South African Gold Mines”17 and to the Legation’s telegram number 181 dated September 20,18 in reference to the same subject.

The Department desires to inform the Legation that a meeting was held with the other interested agencies of the Government to discuss the question of relaxing export controls over gold mining supplies. For general information, the following is an extract from the minutes of this meeting:

“It is the consensus of this meeting that it is desirable to adopt a policy on the part of the United States to relax requirements for the export of gold mining machinery for both MRO19 and new equipment, taking into consideration the existing supply position at the time the application is made. In the event applications are made for articles in critically short supply, the Foreign Economic Administration and the War Production Board will use their best offices in recommending substitutions to take the place of the short supply items, in order to permit the carrying out of a rehabilitation program for operating properties.”

The Department is further informed that all pending requests for gold mining supplies have been processed within the last month.

It is imperative that the Department emphasize that in no case is it intended that gold mining supplies be recommended for importation into a foreign country if the result in the use of such supplies would be to divert necessary labor from other employment that would more beneficially affect the prosecution of the war effort. It is recognized that mining companies necessarily must carry an inventory of supplies for operations. There appear to be no present objections by United States Government agencies to mining companies acquiring such an inventory, provided it does not interfere with the prosecution of the war effort. The present supply position in the United States indicates that all mining supplies will not be readily available, but each application will be processed and considered in the light of existing supply conditions when the application is made.

It is pointed out that the gold mining companies referred to in the despatch under reference will be given the opportunity to acquire those supplies that are available for export from the United States if they desire them, so that they may anticipate their needs and be in a position to expand their operations to assist in the stabilization of the [Page 268] economy of the country and prevent unemployment among workers who are released from other war activities.

  1. Memorandum not printed.
  2. Not printed; the concluding paragraph of this telegram read as follows: “Relaxation of restrictions proposed in my despatch 41 of August 1, 1944, would permit certain desirable replacement of worn out equipment and possibly some additional mechanization to offset labor shortage. It is unlikely that this would result in any increase in gold output or that it would have any effect on recruiting of labor for corundum and coal mining. FEA Johannesburg concurs.” (848A.24/9–2044)
  3. Maintenance, Repair and Operating Supplies.