860C.5034/4–3046
The Polish Ambassador (Lange) to the Acting Secretary of State30
The Ambassador of Poland presents his compliments to the Acting Secretary of State and pursuant to the note of March 29, 1946,31 and to the exchange of notes between the United States Government and the Government of Poland under date of April 24, 1946,32 has the honor to inform him about the issuance of rules and regulations under the Nationalization Act of January 3, 1946, and particularly about the decree of the Council of Ministers issued April 1, 1946, in the matter of procedure governing nationalization of enterprises.
The decree of the Council of Ministers issued April 1, 1946, contains the regulations relating to the procedure governing the final [Page 439] determination of enterprises subject to nationalization. These regulations guarantee the owners of enterprises which are sought to be taken over by the State an opportunity to assert their rights in proceedings before the appropriate Regional Nationalization Commission and before an appellate body, namely the General Nationalization Board attached to the Central Planning Office.
The agency in charge of executing the decree in question is required to publish a list of enterprises to be taken over by the State (Article 23) and sufficient time must be allowed for the filing of exceptions by any owner concerned, against the inclusion of a particular enterprise in the list of nationalized enterprises. (Article 28). Such owners are entitled to call witnesses and experts in the proceedings before a Regional Nationalization Commission. (Articles 37 and 43).
The owners concerned may appeal decisions of Regional Commissions to the General Nationalization Board attached to the General Planning Office within fourteen days from the date of publication of such decisions in the official Journal. Proceedings before the General Board shall be public. (Article 50). Notice of sessions of the General Board shall be given by publication in the “Monitor Polski”. (Article 56).
Another section of the decree is emphasized in view of its particular interest to the United States. Owners affected by the Act may appoint proxies and attorneys to protect their rights in proceedings before a Regional Commission and before the General Board. (Article 75). Thus, under these rules and regulations, compensation proceedings may be instituted only after it has been determined whether a particular enterprise is subject to the provisions of the Act and has been formally taken over by the State.
The Polish Government wishes to stress the close relationship existing between the time when it will be possible to pay effective compensation to citizens of the United States and the time required for the reconstruction of Poland’s war ravaged economy. In order to achieve the objectives sought in the note of January 17, 194633 —that compensation to citizens of the United States be “effected in a manner which would permit an exchange of the amounts paid for dollars in the shortest possible time”—the dollar reserves of Poland must first be substantially increased through the development of exports which in turn is contingent on the expansion of the country’s production. The Polish Government expresses its hope that the stabilization of the world’s economy will make it possible for large scale financial assistance [Page 440] to be made available to Poland in order that the reconstruction program may be accelerated and thus permit Poland to make compensation payments of the kind referred to in the note of January 17, 1946, sooner than would otherwise be the case.
In view of the difficulties explained in the above paragraph and the further difficulty of making final appraisal of any specific property involved in terms of a transferable foreign currency, the Polish Government feels compelled to point out that it would appear to be premature at this present moment to undertake final determinations of individual cases. The Polish Government wishes, however, to express its readiness to begin general discussions with the Government of the United States on compensation to any American citizen for enterprises taken over by the Polish State.
- This note was left with the Acting Secretary of State by the Counselor of the Polish Embassy on May 2; see memorandum by the Acting Secretary of State, May 2, p. 443.↩
- Department of State Bulletin, April 21, 1946, p. 670.↩
- Ibid., May 5, 1946, pp. 761–762.↩
- Regarding the note delivered by Ambassador Lane to the Polish Government on January 18, 1946, with respect to the nationalization of industry in Poland, see telegram 29, January 14, to Warsaw, p. 379.↩