855.24/11–1945
The Assistant Secretary of State (Clayton) to the Secretary of War (Patterson)
Dear Mr. Secretary: Discussions have been under way between our respective staffs with regard to the implementation of the recent agreement reached between this Government and the Government of Belgium, and particularly with respect to the problem of the transfer of excess Army property to the Belgium Government in accordance with the provisions of that agreement. The Memorandum to the President from the Secretary of State on the subject of Belgian lend lease, which the President approved on October 18, recommends that the War Department transfer to Belgium, pursuant to the authority granted by Section 14 of Military Appropriation Act of 1946, defense articles of civilian utility to Belgium which are no longer required by the War Department for its own uses up to the amount of $48,000,000. The steps outlined in the Memorandum approved by the President on October 18 were made known to the Belgians in the letter from the Secretary of State to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, dated October 19, 1945. This letter, however, informed the Belgians that the defense articles to be transferred from the United States Army would be in an amount not to exceed $45,000,000.
The question has been raised as to the valuation to be placed upon the articles to be transferred pursuant to this authority. While neither [Page 115] the Memorandum to the President nor the letter are explicit on this point, it was clearly understood in the negotiations with representatives of the Belgian Government that the articles in question were to be valued at the prevailing prices laid down by the Army-Navy Liquidation Commissioner for similar items. Thus, although the transfers to the Belgian Government take place pursuant to the lend lease authority, the articles are to be valued as if they were being disposed of by the Army-Navy Liquidation Commissioner. If the articles transferred were valued at higher prices or if the customary Army surcharge for transportation and handling were added to the prices normally set by the Army-Navy Liquidation Commissioner, the result would be to diminish the quantity of the articles transferred and to fail to carry out the understanding reached in the discussions between the representatives of this Government and the representatives of Belgium. I am transmitting to you herewith conformed copies of the Memorandum approved by the President on October 18, the Secretary of State’s letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium of October 19, and the letter for the Secretary of State to the Belgian Ambassador of October 19.54a
Sincerely yours,