893.51/6–1245
Memorandum by Mr. R. Borden Reams of the Office of the Secretary of State to the Assistant Secretary of State (Clayton)
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Mr. Morgenthau then raised the matter of an exchange of telegrams with Ambassador Hurley regarding the supply of two hundred million dollars gold to China. His telegram to Hurley82 was for information purposes only and he now feels that the State Department officials who worked with him on this matter should have undertaken this function. His telegram was delivered to the Department (Mr. Collado) on May 18, was sent out on May 20 and garbles which made it unreadable were not cleared until May 31. Mr. Morgenthau takes strong exception to Hurley’s reply dated June 6 which came in through Navy with a copy to State.83 The last part reads, “I say to you frankly, however, and without criticism that I would have felt much better about the situation if you had asked my reaction on your suggestion before you were committed to the transaction rather than after it had been completed. If you will furnish me with sufficient background to enable me to formulate an intelligent opinion I will certainly cooperate with you.”
Since Mr. Morgenthau worked closely with State and War on this matter and was only trying to be helpful he feels that the implication that he was wrong and Ambassador Hurley is right should not be permitted to stay on the record. He hopes that you will write a message chiding the Ambassador and asks that he be permitted to see the message before it goes.