Truman Papers

No. 1317
The Representative on the Allied Commission on Reparations ( Pauley ) to the President
[Extracts1]

My Dear Mr. President: The question of the disposition of the German Naval and Merchant fleets has been raised by Generalissimo Stalin. As I understand it, he suggests that one-third of the tonnage of these fleets be allocated to each of the three powers.

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… If we award one-third of the German Naval tonnage to Russia, we would be making an outright gift to the Soviet Union. While I do not object to making this gift, I believe that it should be subject to certain specific conditions. These conditions are that:

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Three, The U. S. S. R. agree to provide approximately 50,000 barrels per day of petroleum or petroleum products from Hungary and Rumania to relieve the present burden on the U. S. and U. K. of providing tankers, needed for the Pacific war, for hauling petroleum supplies to Europe and the Mediterranean area.

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Respectfully,

Edwin W Pauley
  1. For the full text of this letter, see document No. 1008.